Mutya Buena

1998–2005: Early career and Sugababes

In 1998, at age 13, Buena, along with Siobhán Donaghy and Keisha Buchanan, formed the girl group Sugababes. The group were managed by Ron Tom, who had previously managed the British girl group All Saints. Buena and Buchanan had known each other since they were eight years old, while Donaghy had been managed by Tom over the previous two years.^[9] Their debut single, "Overload", was released on 11 September 2000, and reached the top ten on the UK singles chart.^[10] It was nominated for a BRIT Award for "Best British Single" in 2001.^[9] The group's debut album, One Touch, was released in November 2000, and peaked at number 26 on the UK Albums Chart, eventually earning a gold certification.^[11][12] The album spawned three further singles, two of which reached the UK top twenty.^[11] The sales of One Touch did not meet the expectations of London Records and the group was subsequently dropped.^[13]

Donaghy left the group in 2001, after which Heidi Range replaced her and the group signed to Island Records.^[14] With this lineup, Buena achieved multi-platinum albums including Angels with Dirty Faces (2002), Three (2003), and Taller in More Ways (2005).^[11][12] The former album spawned the UK number one singles "Freak Like Me" and "Round Round", and was nominated for "Best British Album" at the 2003 BRIT Awards.^[11][15] On Three, Buena sang a primarily solo track titled "Maya", which is dedicated to her late sister who passed in 2002.^[16]

Following the release of two singles from Taller in More Ways, "Push the Button" and "Ugly", on 21 December 2005, it was announced that Buena had left the Sugababes. According to an announcement on the group's official website, "[Buena]'s decision was based purely on personal reasons and she will continue to remain the best of friends with both [Buchanan] and [Range]". Buena later stated in an interview that she was suffering from postnatal depression after the birth of her daughter combined with the group's increasingly hectic schedules, and chose to leave to spend more time with her daughter.^[17] In a retrospective interview in 2025, Buena revealed that if she had been allowed a one month break from the group after the birth of her daughter, she may have stayed.^[18] The last remaining original member, Keisha Buchanan, said upon Buena's departure, "...we will all miss Mutya, but we also knew there was still a place for bringing in somebody new who could help us carry on taking the Sugababes brand of music forward".^[19] Amelle Berrabah joined the group two days after Buena's departure.^[19]

2006–2011: Real Girl, other ventures and musical hiatus

Following her departure from Sugababes, Buena began working on her debut album in early 2006 after signing with her previous label, Island Records. She was featured on a ballad duet with George Michael, titled "This Is Not Real Love", from Michael's greatest hits album Twenty Five (2006).^[20] It was released in November 2006, reaching number 15 in the UK, and the top ten in Italy and Denmark.^[21][22] Her debut solo single, "Real Girl", was released in May 2007. It reached number two in the UK, and was shortlisted for "Best British Single" at the 2008 BRIT Awards.^[23] The song samples Lenny Kravitz's song "It Ain't Over 'Til It's Over", and was produced by London-based production company Full Phat, consisting of Matt Ward and Dean Gillard.^[24] "Real Girl" was also featured on the Sex and the City, Vol 2: More Music Soundtrack (2008).^[25]

Amy Winehouse (left), Groove Armada (centre), and George Michael (right) are featured on Buena's album Real Girl.

Buena's debut album, Real Girl, was released on 4 June 2007, and peaked at number 10 on the UK Albums Chart.^[26][27] The track "Song 4 Mutya (Out of Control)", her collaboration with dance duo Groove Armada from their album Soundboy Rock (2007), was released in the UK in July 2007. It peaked at number eight on the UK singles chart, and spent seven weeks in the top forty.^[28] The fourth release from Real Girl, "Just a Little Bit", reached number 65 in the UK.^[29] Buena collaborated with Amy Winehouse, on a re-working of the track "Be My Baby" by the Ronettes titled "B Boy Baby", which reached number 73 in the UK.^[29] Buena was nominated for the "Best UK Newcomer" award at the 2007 MOBO Awards, which took place on 19 September 2007.^[30][31] In December 2007, Real Girl was certified gold by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), denoting sales of 100,000 copies in the country.^[32] In February 2008, Buena was dropped by Island Records due to the poor charting positions of her last two singles from Real Girl, "Just a Little Bit" and "B Boy Baby".^[33] In October 2008, Buena appeared on Alan Carr's Celebrity Ding Dong.

On 2 January 2009, Buena entered Celebrity Big Brother 6 as a housemate. On 16 January 2009, day 15 of the series, she walked out of the Big Brother house after surviving eviction the same night, stating that she missed her daughter.^[34] In that same year, Buena began collaborating with various independent artists, including Ashley Walters' on the single "With You", from his album Ashley Walters,^[35] the Don-E track "The Time Is Now",^[36] "Fallin" with Agent X,^[37] and "Give Back" with Tah Mac.^[38] Buena joined an array of artists to feature on the debut single of the London-based production duo NightShift, titled "Can You Persuade Me", a remix of "I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho)" (2009) by Pitbull.^[39]

In March 2010, Buena filed a claim for ownership of the Sugababes name with the European Trademark Authority, following Buchanan's departure from the group in September 2009. Though Buchanan and Donaghy's names appear on the trademark submission, it was confirmed that Buena was the sole applicant for submission and Donaghy and Buchanan were not involved.^[40] The fourth line-up launched an opposition to the claim on the basis that goodwill and reputation in the mark and trading name "Sugababes" belongs to the partnership – not an individual.^[41]

In September 2010, Buena contributed six tracks to the compilation album The Sound of Camden.^[42] She recorded a series of covers of rock songs from rock bands such as U2, the Pixies and Iron Maiden.^[42] The album was made available on iTunes and sold at Camden Market in London.^[43] In October, Buena expressed uncertainty about continuing in the music industry and said she was currently training to become a psychologist for children.^[44] Despite the announcement, Buena teamed up with City Boy Soul, a band consisting of ex-Damage singer Coree Richards and British rapper Gak Jonze, and digitally released "Be Ok" in January 2011.^[45] Buena also recorded lead vocals for "Give Me Love", by the British DJ and producer Paul Morrell.^[46] On 28 May 2011, Buena performed at Birmingham Gay Pride.^[47] In December 2011, a video blog posted by The Sabotages Studio revealed that Buena was set to release "My Love" featuring Thor Alaye in early 2012, and "Bedroom" featuring Shide Boss that same year.^[48]

2011–2017: Forming Mutya Keisha Siobhan

In October 2011, several news outlets reported that the original line-up of the Sugababes would reform.^[49][50][51] In January 2012, both Buena and Buchanan tweeted they were in the studio with "two other females" and British rapper Professor Green.^[52] However, Buena later contrasted this on Twitter, saying: "No track with Keisha or Professor G, he was around the studio. I'm just working on my stuff at the moment [sic]".^[52] Scottish singer-songwriter Emeli Sandé confirmed to MTV UK that she had written new songs for Buena, Buchanan and Donaghy, saying: "Yes, that is true. I've written for the original line-up of the Sugababes [sic], which I'm very happy about because I just loved them when they first came out. I loved their sound, it was so cool. It was very different, so I'm happy to kind of be involved in what started the whole Sugababes journey. It sounds amazing".^[53]

In April 2012, it was reported that the line-up had signed a £1 million record deal with Polydor Records.^[54] In July 2012, it was officially confirmed the group had reformed under the name Mutya Keisha Siobhan and were writing songs for a new album under Polydor.^[55]

The group appeared on the cover of fashion magazine Ponystep in December 2012.^[56] That same month, they performed an intimate gig at Ponystep's New Year's Eve party.^[57] The performance marked the first time Buena, Buchanan and Donaghy had performed together in over a decade. On 26 March 2013, the group featured on a remix of Phoenix's single "Entertainment".^[58] Mutya Keisha Siobhan's first single, "Flatline", was released in June 2013.^[59][60] The track experienced moderate commercial success, peaking at number 50 in the UK.^[61] MKS performed their first official headlining gig at Scala on 1 August.^[62] On 6 November 2013, Buena said that she was open to reclaiming the Sugababes name.^[63] In November 2013, the group embarked on the Sacred Three Tour, playing six dates across the UK. In February 2014, Buena attended the NME Awards 2014 as part of Mutya Keisha Siobhan, where the trio performed with English electronic music band Metronomy.^[64] On 13 February 2015, the group released the single "Back in the Day".^[65]

2017–present: Solo projects and return to Sugababes

In March 2017, Buena started her own music agency, called Colour of Musiq.^[66] In April 2018, Buena was featured on the track "Game Over" with Rockwell, JSTN and Rico Flames,^[67] and also appeared in its music video.^[68] Around this time, Buena began undertaking various television projects. She appeared in an episode of MTV's Just Tattoo of Us, and appeared in series five of the British dating reality series Celebs Go Dating on E4.^[69] In 2019, she participated in the fourth series of the British reality game show Celebrity Coach Trip paired with So Solid Crew member Lisa Maffia.^[70][71] The couple won the series.^[72]

In September 2019, Buena, along with Donaghy and Buchanan, regained the rights to use the Sugababes name, after which the group changed their social media handles from "MKS" to "Sugababes" and began teasing new music.^[73] The group's first release since "Back in the Day", a cover of the Sweet Female Attitude song "Flowers", was released in October 2019 as part of DJ Spoony's album Garage Classical (2019).^[74] They performed the song on The Graham Norton Show that same month.^[75] Plans to release further music were later put on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[76] In February 2020, Buena released the single "Black Valentine", in collaboration with London-based pop duo Electric Pineapple.^[77] In April, she expressed an interest in releasing a solo R&B album.^[76]

In February 2022, Buena released the single "Feels Good" alongside Ryuken,^[78][79] followed by the single "Takin' It Easy" with Morfius in May.^[80] That same year, Buena, as part of Sugababes, appeared at various festivals, embarked on a headline tour and released The Lost Tapes, an album consisting of their 2013 single "Flatline" and previously unreleased material.^[81]

In April 2023, Buena released the single "All I Own", in collaboration with Dutch-Filipino DJ and producer Laidback Luke.^[82] On 15 September 2023, Buena, along with Buchanan and Donaghy, released their first solo single under the Sugababes name since reclaiming it, titled "When the Rain Comes", to positive reception.^[83][84] The group performed the song on The Graham Norton Show,^[85][86] and on Jools' Annual Hootenanny.^[87][88]

In September 2024, Buena appeared as a contestant on the nineteenth series of Celebrity MasterChef. She was eliminated in the third round.^[89] The following year, Buena contributed to the Sugababes self-released singles "Jungle", "Weeds", and "Shook", and embarked on the Sugababes '25 arena tour between April and May.^[90] In November 2025, she released her autobiography Real Girl,^[91] and appeared as a guest judge on the seventh series of RuPaul's Drag Race UK.^[92]