Eternal (group)

Career

Eternal were formed in 1992 by music manager Oliver Smallman of First Avenue Management, after Eddie Gordon showed him how En Vogue's success was built in the United Kingdom. The group quickly signed to EMI Records and released their debut single "Stay" in September 1993, which reached number four on the UK Singles Chart. Easther and Vernie Bennett were scouted in a London nightclub, and Louise Nurding was eventually found; the trio began working together until Nurding introduced her longtime friend Kéllé Bryan to management, and Bryan joined the group.

Their album Power of a Woman entered the UK chart at number six and produced four hit singles, including "I Am Blessed", which they performed for Pope John Paul II at the Vatican in 1995. In 1997, Eternal achieved their first UK number one with "I Wanna Be the Only One", a duet with BeBe Winans that became the second most played song on UK Radio in 1997 and stayed at the top for one week. The song appeared on their third album Before the Rain, which peaked at number three.

Eternal's Greatest Hits package, released in late 1997, peaked at number two on the UK Albums Chart and became the highest-selling hits package of the year; in 2013 it was confirmed as the biggest selling best-of album by a girl group in the UK. The collection included their last top-10 single "Angel of Mine", which reached number four and was released as an EP featuring four different mixes, including a cover of Fleetwood Mac's "Dreams" with Grand Puba and Sadat X.

Solo careers

Louise Redknapp was the first member to leave Eternal for a solo career, releasing several top 10 singles and albums and performing two UK tours from 1995 to 2003. She has also presented television shows including The Clothes Show, Something for the Weekend and So You Think You Can Dance. Kéllé Bryan experienced minor success after leaving Eternal with a number 14 single called "Higher Than Heaven" in October 1999, but her debut solo album Breakfast in Bed was never released; a second single, "I Wanna Know", was cancelled due to further health issues.

She later launched her own artist management company, Red Hot Entertainment, finished as the female runner-up on the reality TV show Love Island, and appeared in the BBC sitcom Me and Mrs Jones (2012) before joining the British soap opera Hollyoaks as series regular Martine Deveraux. Easther Bennett teamed with reggae band Aswad to record a cover of Diana King's "Shy Guy" for their album Cool Summer Reggae; the single peaked at number 62 on the UK Singles Chart in August 2002.

She also recorded a solo cover of "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" for love-themed compilations around 2002/3, featured on Peter Cox's cover of "Your Precious Love", and turned to songwriting, writing for artists including Girls Aloud. Easther sang backing vocals on Dina Carroll's "This Time" and "Don't Be a Stranger" (1993) with her sister Vernie. Vernie Bennett stepped out of the limelight after Eternal split, completed her Bar Vocational course, and was called to the Bar in 2005.

She gave birth to her first child in 2006, signed with ASM Artist Management in August 2010, performed with Easther at James Ingham's Jog On for Cancer event for Cancer Research UK in 2015, and appeared on ITV's All Star Mr & Mrs with her husband Bryan.