Frankee Connolly
English singer (born 1989)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Francesca Rose Connolly is an English singer from Helmshore. She was a member of the groups Mini Viva, who had a No. 7 hit with "Left My Heart in Tokyo", and M.O, with whom she had a No. 18 hit with "Who Do You Think Of?".
Life and career
Francesca Rose Connolly[1] was born to Eddie and Lorraine,[2] and has two older sisters,[3] Natalie and Jade.[4] Both Natalie and their uncle were dentists in Rawtenstall. She grew up in Helmshore in Rossendale Valley in Lancashire,[3] and attended All Saints' Catholic High School in Rawtenstall,[4] before spending two months on a Business Access to Higher Education course at a college in Bury in Greater Manchester. Growing up, she idolised Beyoncé and Destiny's Child, and regularly attended their concerts; she also looked up to Mel B, as a successful Northerner. After dropping out of college, she formed an amateur girl band with two other members for fun.[3]
In 2007, after Xenomania decided to form a band in response to Girls Aloud taking a year off,[5] they contacted Connolly via her Myspace account, prompting her to attend an audition in London, where she met Britt Love, a singer from Newcastle upon Tyne, who she bonded with over their shared Northern roots.[3] Their band name, Mini Viva, was a portmanteau of Love and Connolly's nicknames;[6] the pair told the Lancashire Telegraph in September 2009 that Love acquired her nickname after wearing a Minnie Mousesque polka dot dress and that Connolly acquired hers after Love described her as bright and beautiful.[7] Connolly then underwent her first singing lessons, having not taken any prior to being signed.[3]
Mini Viva's singles "Left My Heart in Tokyo" and "I Wish" charted at numbers 7 and 73 on the UK Singles Chart,[8] and the pair supported the Saturdays,[9] Diversity,[10] and Aggro Santos on tour.[11] They announced their split in November 2010;[12] Connolly later formed M.O in 2012 with Nadine Samuels and Annie Ashcroft of the girl group Duchess,[13] taking their name from a lyric in "The Motto" by Drake.[14] Between 2014 and 2016, the band supported Little Mix on their Salute Tour[15] and entered the UK Singles Chart at numbers 49, 51, and 18 with "Dance On My Own", "Preach" and "Who Do You Think Of?",[16] and then teamed up with Kent Jones for "Not in Love", which peaked at No. 42.[17] Connolly left the band in June 2017; she was replaced by Chanal Benjalili, who had auditioned for the previous year's series of The X Factor.[18]
Discography
With Mini Viva
Extended plays
| Title | Details |
|---|---|
| Engine Room Session |
|
Singles
With M.O
Extended plays
| Title | Details |
|---|---|
| Good Friends |
|
| Who Do You Think Of? |
|
Singles
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Certifications (sales thresholds) |
Album | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK | (indie) | IRE | ||||
| "For a Minute" | 2014 | 103[22] | 6[23] | — | Non-album singles | |
| "Dance On My Own" | 49[24] | 4[25] | — | |||
| "Preach" | 2015 | 51[24] | 4[26] | — | ||
| "Who Do You Think Of?" | 2016 | 18[24] | — | 56[27] | Who Do You Think Of? (EP) | |
| "Not in Love" (featuring Kent Jones) |
42[24] | — | 75[27] | Non-album single | ||
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | ||||||
Tours
As supporting act
- 2009: The Saturdays – The Work Tour (select dates)
- 2010: Diversity – UK tour
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Viva Mini Viva | Herself | Interactive online reality show |
Awards and nominations
| Year | Award | Category | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | MOBO Awards | Best Newcomer | Nominated[29] |
| 2016 | Best Song |