With the Right Said Fred-quoting Get Sexy still in the charts, the last original member of Sugababes, Keisha Buchanan, has quit the band. From their official website:

“The current line-up of the Sugababes has disbanded. Heidi Range and Amelle Berrabah will continue as the Sugababes and will be joined by new member Jade Ewen. They release their album ‘Sweet 7’ on November 23rd through Island Records. Keisha Buchanan will continue to record for Island Records as a solo artist.”

I’ve always had a lot of time for this particular group. While a lot of female pop artists place high in FHM polls, the ‘Babes aren’t known for photo shoots and tabloid crotch-shots. They’re known for the music, music which is backed up by an attitude Jess Cartner astutely summarised four years ago: “Their songs about men, sex and relationships - from Freak Like Me to Push the Button - have a stop-you-in-your-tracks quality that comes from hearing young women sing like red-blooded, quick-tempered young women, rather than the dead-eyed, sexually available Playmate-of-the-month types embodied by the likes of Jessica Simpson.”

So the name continues, but is what’s left really ‘Sugababes’? The group have been subject of a long-running joke about their changing line-up, but with the departure of the last original member - and apparent lead songwriter - it’s hard to believe that there’s much milage left in what, now, feels more ‘brand’ than ‘band’.