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Amelle Berrabah (born 22 April 1984, Aldershot, England) is the most recent member of the English girl band, Sugababes. She officially replaced co-founding member Mutya Buena on December 21, 2005, following Buena's departure from the group.
Berrabah is from Aldershot in Hampshire and is of Moroccan descent. Before joining the Sugababes, Amelle won Top of the Pops Magazine’s Star Search 2003 and she also went on to perform with her sister Samiya in a duo called "Boo 2", calling herself Emma. Boo 2 had recorded a five track sampler before Amelle joined the Sugababes.
She commented upon joining the band: "For years I've dreamt of breaking into the music business but never did I dream of waking up one day to be the third Sugababe! They're the biggest girl group in the country and absolutely the only band I would ever think about joining. When their manager approached me with the offer, I was in such a state of shock that I couldn't even answer him! Like millions of girls my age, I've grown up with Sugababes' music as a soundtrack to my life and I've been a fan of theirs for years. I still can't believe my luck!"
Sugababes completed their Taller In More Ways tour with Berrabah in the spring of 2006 as well as supporting Take That on the boyband's summer stadium dates. It was whilst on tour she was snubbed by Gary Barlow, and subsequently became engaged in a war of words with the Take That singer in the press.
Berrabah's first single with the group was a re-recorded version of the Xenomania produced, "Red Dress", taken from the Sugababes' fourth album, Taller In More Ways. The Sugababes re-released Taller In More Ways on February 27, 2006 with an all-new photoshoot featuring Berrabah and three songs re-recorded with Berrabah ("Gotta Be You", "Follow Me Home" and the single "Red Dress"). The re-issue also includes a song Berrabah wrote with Keisha Buchanan and Heidi Range, entitled "Now You're Gone". "Follow Me Home" was the next single from Taller In More Ways and was released on June 5, 2006.
On November 13, 2006 the Sugababes released a Greatest Hits entitled Overloaded: The Singles Collection - featuring Berrabah on three songs; "Red Dress" and two new tracks, "Easy" and "Good To Be Gone", the former of which is the lead single for the album - ahead of another Europe-wide tour in early 2007. They are currently working on their fifth album, including work with Dallas Austin and William Orbit, for release later in 2007.
Her ex-boyfriend Freddie Fuller was arrested in February 2007 for the attempted rape of Amelle's younger sister Samiya. She is now single and has said she is concentrating on her career.
On April 28, 2007, Amelle was arrested over allegations she assaulted an 18-year-old girl on the dance floor in the Bar Med club located in Bridge Street, Guildford, Surrey. The Daily Mirror and The Sun newspaper reported the pop star spent the night in the police station, before being released on bail. Amelle broke her silence on May 2, saying that she was left "devastated" by the incident, and that a group of girls had 'started on' both her and her sister Laila. She also claimed that one of the men who was with the 18-year-old girl hit Laila during the brawl.
