3rd Faze

Lore & Background

3rd Faze was created in September 2000 by HealthSouth Corporation and its former chairman and CEO Richard M. Scrushy to perform on the Go For It! Roadshow, a touring show produced by the company. The trio—Halie Clark, Minia Corominas, and Sara Marie Rauch—signed a performance and recording contract with GFI Productions, a HealthSouth subsidiary, on April 27, 2001. RDR Worth Music Publishing, a limited liability corporation formed by Scrushy, Don Perry, and Ralph Stringer, acted as go-between. On September 25, 2001, they released their self-titled album on the Edeltone label, which did not chart and failed commercially.

In 2002, the band signed with the Sony-owned Columbia label. That year, Scrushy assigned HealthSouth Vice-President for Marketing and Communications and former actor Jason Hervey to manage the group. During summer 2002, 3rd Faze opened for O-Town on tour and recorded four songs for Columbia produced by Rick Wake. However, a corporate restructuring at Sony led to the cancellation of the record deal, and by March 2003 the group had disbanded.

Reader's Guide

3rd Faze is significant primarily as a corporate venture into the music industry, illustrating how a healthcare company used a pop group as a promotional tool for its roadshow. The group's brief existence highlights the intersection of business interests and entertainment, particularly through the involvement of HealthSouth's leadership and the use of stock options to secure a record deal with Sony. Their failure to chart and subsequent disbandment underscore the challenges of manufacturing pop acts outside traditional music industry channels. The group's legacy is tied to the broader HealthSouth scandal, as Richard M. Scrushy later faced legal issues, though the article does not detail those events. 3rd Faze remains a footnote in early 2000s pop history, notable for its unusual corporate origins rather than musical impact.

Did You Know?

• 3rd Faze was formed by HealthSouth Corporation and its former chairman and CEO Richard M. Scrushy.
• The trio signed a contract with GFI Productions, a HealthSouth subsidiary, on April 27, 2001.
• Their self-titled album was released on September 25, 2001, on the Edeltone label and failed commercially.
• The group opened for O-Town in summer 2002, but there is no confirmed evidence they opened for Britney Spears.

Corporate Birth & Formation

3rd Faze came into existence in September 2000 as a direct creation of HealthSouth Corporation and its chairman and chief executive officer Richard M. Scrushy. The trio—Halie Clark, Minia Corominas, and Sara Marie Rauch—was assembled specifically to perform on the Go For It! Roadshow, a touring production put together by the company. On April 27, 2001, the group formalized their arrangement by signing a performance and recording contract with GFI Productions, the HealthSouth subsidiary responsible for producing that roadshow. The deal was brokered through RDR Worth Music Publishing, a limited liability corporation established by Scrushy alongside Don Perry and Ralph Stringer, which served as the intermediary between the band and the corporate machinery behind them. This origin story placed 3rd Faze squarely within the orbit of a major healthcare company's marketing apparatus rather than the traditional music industry pipeline, setting the stage for a career shaped as much by corporate strategy as by artistic ambition.

The Columbia Chapter & Touring Spotlight

In 2002, 3rd Faze's trajectory shifted dramatically when they secured a deal with Columbia Records, a Sony-owned label. The signing was directly linked to a corporate arrangement: HealthSouth's board of directors granted Sony Records CEO Tommy Mottola 250,000 shares in HealthSouth stock options, cementing the tie between the two entities. That same year, Scrushy assigned Jason Hervey—HealthSouth's Vice-President for Marketing and Communications and a former actor—to manage the group. The summer of 2002 brought the trio their most high-profile exposure as they opened for O-Town and Britney Spears on tour. In the studio, they recorded four songs for Columbia under the production of Rick Wake. However, the entire arrangement hinged on Mottola's continued presence at Sony. When he resigned, the record deal was cancelled, and the momentum that had briefly lifted 3rd Faze into the mainstream spotlight evaporated almost overnight.

A Slim Discography & Commercial Silence

3rd Faze's recorded catalog was brief and modest. On September 25, 2001, they released their self-titled studio album on the Edeltone label, accompanied by a promotional EP bearing the same name. The single "Shy" was also issued that year. Despite the corporate backing and the infrastructure of a major healthcare company behind them, the album failed to chart and ultimately proved a commercial disappointment. The group's output consisted of just one studio album, one promotional EP, and one single—a slim discography reflecting the short window of time they had to create and release material. The Columbia session in 2002 yielded four additional tracks produced by Rick Wake, but these never saw a commercial release after the deal fell through. In the end, 3rd Faze left behind a catalog that, while documented, never found an audience in the broader music market, a testament to the challenges of a project whose primary purpose was corporate promotion rather than organic fan growth.

Dissolution & the Aftermath

The final chapter of 3rd Faze was brief and unglamorous. Following the cancellation of their Columbia record deal after Tommy Mottola's resignation from Sony, the group lost both its major-label home and the corporate momentum that had sustained it. By March 2003, all three members—Halie Clark, Minia Corominas, and Sara Marie Rauch—had departed, and the trio had fully disbanded. Their entire existence spanned roughly three years, from their creation in September 2000 to their dissolution in early 2003. The group's story is inseparable from the corporate and financial machinations of HealthSouth and its leadership; the same board that granted stock options to a record executive was the same body overseeing a company that would later face significant legal and financial scrutiny. For the three young women who made up 3rd Faze, the experience represented a fleeting intersection of pop music aspiration and corporate strategy, one that ended without the fanfare or lasting legacy typically associated with a band's breakup.