Remember Monday will represent the UK this year at Eurovision, and they got their first break when they reached the quarter finals of The Voice in 2019. But after that Lauren Byrne, Holly-Anne Hull and Charlotte Steel went back to their day jobs and it took four long years before they were in a position to quit and focus fully on the band.. The pop country trio describe themselves as “pop girlies with a little bit of yeehaw”. The band were originally called Houston - with the name Remember Monday coming from when they were studying together in 2013 at a sixth form college in Farnham, Surrey and would get together to sing covers and rehearse their music on the first day of the week. Twelve years on and Eurovision will be their biggest moment yet.
In November the girls got their first airplay on national radio from Scott Mills, who has since taken over the Radio 2 Breakfast Show. Mills played their song Famous and said he “really liked” them, comparing their harmonising to 1990s duo Wilson Phillips, who were the offspring of members of The Beach Boys and Mamas and Papas. The songwriter of the trio is Lauren, and Famous is about one of their exes. “He never really believed in us as a band and said we weren’t going to make it and all this stuff so we decided in order to get back at him we would become famous - so that’s our revenge,” they explained.
Specialising in three-part harmonies, they have been praised for their vocal abilities, their chemistry and their authenticity as a country act. They are influenced by artists such as Dixie Chicks, Pistol Annies, Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris, plus Taylor Swift and John Mayer. The trio has performed at several festivals and events, such as Country to Country, Buckle and Boots, and The Long Road and last summer supported Billy Joel and Natasha Bedingfield at British Summertime in Hyde Park, where they shared a trailer with Joe Jonas.
Having been best mates for a long time, the three feel they are now “more like sisters”, claiming that their friendship will always take priority over the business side of the band. Remember Monday have half a million followers on TikTok - a platform which they have described as being “a game changer” - with fans loving their strong vocal range. One year ago the singers posted a TikTok version of themselves singing Sam Ryder’s runner-up entry Space Man, tagging him with the message: “Hey get us on Eurovision!” It looks like their dream came true...
Like Sam Ryder, whose TikTok covers became hugely popular in lockdown, the band’s version of Queen’s Fat Bottomed Girls went viral, with Brian May sharing it on his Instagram. In 2019 - the same year as The Voice - Remember Monday won best group at the British Country Music Awards, with their debut single, Drive, going to No.1 in the iTunes Country Music Chart. In 2023 they became full-tiime band members, dedicating all their time to planning new music and tours. After 12 months, they posted a message to fans which said: "It’s officially been a whole year since we all quit our jobs to do the band full time. We can’t thank you all enough for supporting us on this crazy journey we’ve been on so far.”.
They ended the year with the release of an EP and UK tour, now they have Eurovision to think about and are planning an album for later in 2025.. The song they perform in Basel, Switzerland for the ESC in May could be from their Crazy Anyway EP, released in October, which has several tunes of the right length, including the title track. Or it could be something completely new. US singer Jennifer Hudson has been big support to them ever since she was their coach on The Voice UK - a position she secured by throwing a show at them. They later got to the quarter finals, having auditioned with a cover of Seal’s Kiss From a Rose. They have stayed in contact with Jennifer and a few months ago they appeared on her TV show in the US, performing a cover of Alanis Morissette’s Hand in My Pocket.
On the trip they also visited Nashville and said the whole experience was “just incredible”. “It kind of validated our decision to quit our jobs and do this full-time,” they said afterwards. Lauren admitted that appearing on Jennifer’s show had been “terrifying” but said they’d loved the warm response they got from the audience. “She’s been so kind to us. It gives us faith we might do OK.”.
Back home, the interest in them has continued. “There was a moment of realisation when we played the (London) Omeara and it sold out in, like, 15 minutes and we didn’t know a single person in the crowd,” they said. "We were like, ‘We can actually make it’.”. Like this story? For more of the latest showbiz news and gossip, follow Mirror Celebs onTikTok,Snapchat,Instagram,Twitter,Facebook,YouTubeandThreads.
