Weekend

Weekend are a Chaos Award nominated Australian-British-Irish boy band consisting of members; Dustyn Blue, Scott Wellington, Oscar Ward, Riley Hamilton and Billy Khan. They were put together by G2L member and big cousin of Dustyn Blue, Lyrica Ocha. Following their formation in late 2011 they were quickly signed to Angel Music Records. In March 2012, Angel Music Records closed its doors and Weekend quickly signed to Chaos Records.
Weekend's debut single; "Everything About You" was released on 22nd January 2012. The single debuted at No.5 in the weekly Airplay Chart making it the 4th highest new entry that week, the single peaked at No.2. Their debut album "Fired Up" was released on March 17th 2012 alongside a limited signed edition of which only 300 copies exist. The group's second single, "Smile About It" was released on March 10th 2012 and entered at No.11 in it's first week, the next week it rose to No.1 giving them their first ever Number 1 hit. They announced that their third single will be "Fired Up" and was due for a release in May, however it was pushed back to June. It became another top 5 hit for the group. August 2012 saw the release of Lock It Up, the first single from the release of their debut album Fired Up: Reloaded. The single continued their string of top 5 hits and also became their second number one in the UK and the group's fastest selling single worldwide to date. They became one of the biggest selling acts of 2012 worldwide despite only being together for less than a year. Their debut album reached No.1 in 6 countries and the Top 5 in 20 countries. Fired Up: Reloaded entered at No.1 in 6 countries within its first week of charting, reaching the same level of success as their debut album.
==History==
===2009 - 2011: Before The Band===
Before being formed in October 2011, the 5 boys took part in various musical and artistic activities. Billy Khan took part in many school and community drama productions and was planning on becoming a professional actor. Oscar Ward was a member of local indie band 'Rising Water' from 2009 - 2011, however before releasing any material or being signed, they split due to creative differences. Scott Wellington was the only boy in the group with no professional musical experiences, before joining however he did write a few songs of his own but never had the chance to perform them. Riley Hamilton originally wanted to become a professional tennis player however he gave up on it due to joining a local band; 'Hot Shots'. After the group disbanded instead of following his sporting dreams, he auditioned for 'Weekend'. Dustyn Blue was known for busking in streets in his home town and was also very well known for his guitar skills. Dustyn was the first to join the group.
===Late 2011 - Present: Weekend & 'Fired Up'===
Following their formation, they signed a £1 million record contract with Angel Music Records which is home to G2L (alongside Stefani Vola & AJ Price as solo artists), Brown Sugar, Cinzia Ricci, Jake Richards and many more.
They started recording their debut album in November 2011, with 4 songs already written for them. The boys either wrote/co wrote the rest of the tracks. On 14th January 2011 it was confirmed that all of the songs have been written and only 4 songs remain to be recorded and mixed.
On January 5th 2011, they appeared on daytime TV show DayBreak and Riley Hamilton confirmed that their debut single would be released at the end of January. Weekend performed a cover of 'Say It Right' by Nelly Furtado. The performance was uploaded onto YouTube and has so far reached of 1.4 million views.
Their first single 'Everything About You' was released on 22nd January 2012 and has so far reach No.4 in the charts. The video premiered on 1st February. The clip sees the five boys messing around on a beach together with some friends. Clips of them swimming underwater and driving around also appear throughout. It has has far received over 32,000,000 views on YouTube. The song was written by Lyrica Ocha and Dustyn Blue. Some critics say that the song's instrumental sounds very similar to Raven's 'Colors Explode', however due to both being released at the same time it has been put down to coincidence instead of copying.
'Smile About It' was released as the second single in March 2012. The song is a mid tempo ballad which was written solely by Dustyn. The video was released a day later. In it, the boys walk through a small countryside village searching for their girlfriends. Whilst walking the notice other couples in love and showing affection towards each other. It was filmed in 3D and the surrounding scenery (forests, trains etc) appear to be almost prodruding from the screen. A lot of birds-eye views of the countryside and rivers are shown leading many to call the video 'beautiful' and 'stunning'. It entered at No.11 in it's first week of charting but then rose to No.1 the following week, giving them their first No.1 single. The video has so far received over 106 million views on YouTube.
Weekend's debut album 'Fired Up' was released on March 17th 2012. The tracklisting for the album was revealed through their official website in Febraury 2012. The boys have also been confirmed to make An appearance on Alan Carr: Chatty Man. In February 2012, they appeared on the second episode of The Queen Alexis Show, in which they talked about "Dustyn's bathroom bunk-up, STD's, Self Harming & Solo work". Fired Up debuted at No.1 in its first week, giving the boys the number one single and album simultaneously.
The third single to be lifted from the album was Fired Up. The video was shot in early April and will premiere sometime in June. Scott Wellington stated on Twitter that the video will have full on choreography. The video was directed by Emil Nava. The song received critical praise with many calling it 'the best song on the album'. It was written by Stefani Vola.
In July 2012, Weekend embarked on their first ever world tour. It is simply titled 'Weekend World Tour' or just, 'WWT'. The tour was sold out in a matter of minutes and the demand for tickets caused many online ticket offices to actually crash. WWT has received glowing reviews from critics for the boys outstanding live vocals and the choreography in each show. They were supported by Jacob Estrada, The Zone, Mercedes Payne and Serenity Scott. Whilst touring, they recording a number of songs during their days off of the tour. Weekend decided to put together a re-release of their debut album so that fans have something to listen to whilst they take a break from recording after the tour. The first single from this re-release was Lock It Up. The single entered the charts at No.4, continue their string of top 5 singles, the next week it rose to No.1 giving them their second number one single. It has became their fastest selling single to date and has already outsold their previous single, 'Fired Up', within just a week of release. The boys confirmed via Weekend's official Twitter page that 'Turn Up The Volume' would be their next single. On 24th of September 2012, Fired Up: Reloaded entered at No.1 in the album charts in 6 countries, matching the success of Fired Up.
==Non-Musical Activities==
===Books===
Two official books have been confirmed for release this year. The first of the two is a yet to be titled autobiography type book which gives bio's on the members and tells different stories about their pasts. The book is set for a summer 2012 release.
The second book will be the Official Weekend Annual 2013 (released in December 2012). The book will include rare photos, lyrics, interviews and up to minute news.
===Calenders===
A 2013 calender will be produced. It will feature photos from the album photoshoots and promotional shots. Each boy will appear on the months of their birthdays, with group photos on the remaining months.
An unofficial calender was produced in January 2012 for the same year. It features candid photos and press photographs. The calenders sales doubled after the release of 'Everything About You'.
===Dolls===
12 inch figures of Weekend have been confirmed to be produced. The figures will be sold in Toys R Us, Tesco, Amazon and through their official website. The figures are said to be life like and will be scaled down versions of their real heights (example; Oscar's figure will be the tallest and Dustyn's will be the smallest). The figures will also come with their own personal accessories and changeable outfits will be sold seperately. They are set to be released after their debut album hits the stores. Three versions of the dolls will be produced; the first being the standard plastic version, the second is another similar plastic variant only with life like hair that can be brushed and styled and third has the exact same appearance as the standard one but have the ability to say quotes and sing lines from songs. The dolls were officially released in May 2012.
===Ghost Hunting With Weekend===
Weekend took part in hit TV show; 'Ghost Hunting With....' in March 2012. They visited 5 different locations and took part in many paranormal events. The show was a ratings success and is set to be released on DVD. During the investigation many paranormal activities happened; a ghostly figure was actually captured by Dustyn when he was locked in a room by himself, a table is seen being dragged towards the group and the sounds of a woman whispering is clearly heard when Oscarand Billy are in the kitchen. Despite being well received, the show did gather a lot of complaints by parents due to strong language and nudity. Many were outraged as they let their young children who are Weekend fans, watch the show. The word; 'c*nt' was used by Oscar Ward and Dustyn Blue, meanwhile other words such as 'F**k' and 'Sh*t' were used by the whole group. During the second night, Oscar pulled down Billy trousers and underwear as a practical joke, exposing his backside to the camera. The DVD will receive a '15' certificate.
==Members==
===Oscar Ward===
Oscar Joseph Ward was born on 16th November 1994 (age 17) and is from London, UK. Before joing the group he was the lead vocalist of his own band; 'Rising Water'. He is also the cousin of Joey Frankson from Teen Titans. Weekend's manager knew of Oscar through Joey and when she discovered that Oscar's band split, she jumped at the chance to add him to Weekend. Oscar is known for his flirting and constant nudity. He is currently dating Eilidh Greene and the pair have confirmed that they are expecting their first child. Oscar sings the most solo parts on the groups debut album Fired Up. Oscar hosted the Chaos Award V alongside his girlfriend. He is now engaged.
===Scott Wellington===
Scott Jay Edward Wellington was born on 1st October 1991 (age 20) in Leeton, Australia. His family moved to the UK in 1997 after his father got a job transfer. He now speaks with a cockney accent. He has 3 tarantulas, 2 snakes and a tortoise. He auditioned for the band and was praised for his emotional vocals. Scott is the eldest of the group and claims that he acts very protective towards the other members. Scott was dating British model, Corrine McIlroy and the relationship remained low-key. The pair split up in May 2012 due to busy schedules which meant they hardly spent any time together. They still remain friends. Scott is now dating rapper/singer Chloe Smith.
===Dustyn Blue===
Dustyn Sean James Kian Blue was born on 25th December 1995 (age 16) in Tipperary, Ireland. He has an irregular heartbeat and suffers from a heart condition which could lead to heart failure and strokes. Dustyn also has severe anger issues and is dyslexic. He is the only one in the group who can play the guitar and has a close relationship with his cousin and manager Lyrica Ocha, which is the main reason he joined the group. Dustyn can speak 4 languages, English, Irish Gaelic, Japanese and Spanish. Dustyn is the youngest in the group. He was stabbed twice in the stomach after the Chaos Awards V. In April 2012, Dustyn came out as gay and is currently in a relationship with Blake Williams, cousin of Mandy Williams. He is also starring as the main role of Zane Taylor in sci-fi show Echo. Dustyn became father to Shay Aodhan Blue on May 23rd 2012. The baby was born 4 months premature and is partially deaf. Dustyn developed a cocaine addiction and was sent to rehab. It is said that he has recovered from his addiction and wants to set a good example to his young fans.
===Riley Hamilton===
Riley Conor Hamilton was born on 28th July 1994 (age 17) in Leeds, UK. He is a keen sportsman and has won numerous sporting awards during his time at school. He joined a local band; 'Hot Shots' to replace one of their members. Once they disbanded he continued to follow a musical career and auditioned for Weekend. He has also stated that he thinks as all of the boys as his brothers. Riley is learning to play the drums. He is currently dating British singer/songwriter Michelle Green and was the first member to state that he was in a relationship. Riley is currently filming 'Diary Of An Escort' in which he plays a male prostitute. His father and brother both died in summer 2012.
===Billy Khan===
Billy Khan was born on 24th May 1993 (age 18) in Hackney, UK. His mother is white British and his father is Pakistani with Mexican & Filipino ancestry. Billy is one of four siblings, two older sisters; Faiza and Nida and a younger brother, Deneil. He has been in numerous failed bands but his love for music kept him going. He auditioned for Weekend as soon as he heard about the auditions and received a lot of praise from Lyrica Ocha. He is the second eldest member of the group. Billy is jokingly known as 'Posh Spice' due to his constant pouting in photos. Many rumors are surrounding him as people suspect he is dating fellow musician and boss, Mykaylah, however these rumours were laid to rest when it was revealed that he is dating Andrea Mason. Billy returned to modelling in 2012. He is expecting to become a father this year. Billy and Andrea married on July 11th 2012. The wedding is reported to have cost around £1million which Billy paid for by himself. He also hired BCStyle&Co. to design the outfits and wedding dress. On September 6th 2012, naked photos that he sent to former boss, Mykaylah, back in February 2012, leaked onto the internet.
==Discography==
===Singles===
Single 	UK	IRE	US	AUS	FRA	GER	NOR	SWE	NZ	Album
Everything About You	2 	1 	2 	1 	4 	1 	4 	1 	1 	Fired Up
Smile About It	1 	3 	1 	1 	9 	3 	8 	9 	2 	Fired Up
Fired Up 	5 	3 	9 	1 	17 	3 	10 	8 	2 	Fired Up
Lock It Up 	1 	1 	1 	1 	3 	2 	3 	2 	1 	Fired Up: Reloaded
===Albums===
Album 	UK	IRE	US	AUS	FRA	GER	ITA	SWE
Fired Up 	1 	2 	1 	1 	4 	2 	1 	3
Fired Up: Reloaded	1 	1 	2 	1 	5 	2 	1 	3
==Awards==
Weekend have been nominated for a couple of awards despite only being together for a short period of time.
Recipient 	Work 	Awarded By 	Award 	Result
Weekend 	Weekend 	Chaos Awards	Best Band 	Nominated
Weekend 	Weekend 	Chaos Awards	Best Newcomer	Nominated
Billy Khan	Physical Appearance	Chaos Awards	Sexiest Male 	Nominated
Weekend (edit)
Dustyn Blue Riley Hamilton Billy Khan Oscar Ward Scott Wellington	
Singles: Everything About You | Smile About It | Fired Up | Lock It Up	
Studio Albums: Fired Up 	
Category:Artists
Category:Pop
Category:Pop-Rock
Category:R&B
Category:Genre