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The Pussycat Dolls are an award-winning American music, dance and burlesque ensemble founded by choreographer Robin Antin in 1995. It began as a dance troupe based in Los Angeles, was "re-cast" as a music group in 2003, and expanded in 2005 with a parallel troupe at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The group released their first single in 2004, and have gone on to international commercial success.
Sources claim that Robin Antin began exploring the idea of a modern burlesque troupe in 1993 with her friend Linh Le and Christina Applegate (both friends since middle school); the troupe's first performance was in 1995. During this period they performed with numerous guest vocalists (see list below), with a repertoire of 1950s and 1960s pop standards and dressed in lingerie or old-fashioned pin-up costumes.
They secured a Thursday night residency at Los Angeles nightclub "The Viper Room", where they stayed from 1995 to 2001. In June 1999 Playboy ran a Pussycat Dolls pictorial, featuring at least contemporary members Kasey Campbell, Kiva Dawson, Antonietta Macri, Erica Breckels, Katie Bergold, Erica Gudis and Lindsley Allen. In 2002 they moved to The Roxy. The group became internationally popular and was featured in magazines, television specials for MTV and VH1, ad campaigns, and movies. Some of the Dolls appeared in the 2003 film Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle dancing to "The Pink Panther Theme".
Carmen Electra was the group's lead performer for many of their shows. She said: "I was part of the Dolls for two years and did every show with them... but financially, I couldn't become part of their new music project... It was a financial sacrifice I couldn't make." She did, however, make a cameo appearance in the music video for "Don't Cha".
With the involvement of music producers Jimmy Iovine and Ron Fair, the Pussycat Dolls were re-cast, transformed into a Pop / R&B recording group, and signed up as employees of Iovine's label Interscope Records.
In 2003, Electra formed another burlesque troupe called The Bombshell Babies, which included ex-Dolls Staci Flood and Nadine Ellis.
In 2003, Nicole Scherzinger, a former member of Popstars winners Eden's Crush, became the group's lead singer. The group's lineup from 2003-2006 was Scherzinger; Carmit Bachar (who joined in 1995); Kimberly Wyatt, Ashley Roberts (who joined in 2001); Jessica Sutta (who joined in 2002); Melody Thornton, (who joined in 2003). Asia Nitollano joined in 2007 when she won Pussycat Dolls Present: The Search for the Next Doll. By the time the recording group were launched, their stage costumes were developed to bear various branding and "PCD" logos, which preceded the sales of a branded clothing range and other merchandise (via websites and at performances).
They opened the MTV Asia Awards 2004. In September and October 2004, the soundtrack CDs for the films Shark Tale and Shall We Dance? were released, each containing one track by the Dolls. "Sway" from Shall We Dance? became the group's first single and first music video.
The Pussycat Dolls released their debut album, PCD, in 2005. It debuted at number five on the Billboard 200, selling about 100,000 copies, and spawned seven singles. The first single from PCD, "Don't Cha" (with rapper Busta Rhymes), a cover of the Tori Alamaze single, became the group's first hit. The follow-up, "Stickwitu", became the group's first U.S. number one Billboard Pop Radio hit, selling over three million digital downloads and CDs worldwide[citation needed] and becoming their second number-one single in the U.K. The third single, "Beep" (with rapper will.i.am. A subsequent single, "Buttons" (with rapper Snoop Dogg) reached number three on the UK singles chart; the next single "I Don't Need a Man" wasn't as successful. The group's sixth single from the album was "Wait A Minute", released in the U.S. in August 2006.
The group won a Billboard Music Award for "Don't Cha" (Ralphi Rosario mix) as Hot Dance Music/Club Play Single of the Year. The song was also nominated for Top-Selling Single of the Year and Top-Selling Dance Single of the Year.
At the SXSW music conference in 2006, Interscope lawyer Darryl Franklin said, during a panel discussion, that the contract with the group specifies that its members are salaried employees of the record label and, by design, interchangeable. The label also controls merchandise, websites and all other commercial aspects of the group and its income, excluding song publishing.
In 2006, San Francisco-based company Doppelganger (along with Interscope Records) launched the PCD Music Lounge, an interactive website.
On the June 30 VSpot Top 20 Countdown, host Matt Pinfield announced that Scherzinger has written twelve new songs for the follow-up album to 2005's PCD. The second album will be released in late 2007, and entitled Double the Trouble. It will feature collaborations with Lil' Kim and Christina Aguilera, as confirmed in an interview early April 2007.
On July 12, 2006 the single "Don't Cha" was certified gold and platinum.
In late 2006, The Pussycat Dolls were also featured in a commercial for Cingular Wireless along with Ludacris and KoRn
During 2005 and 2006, Scherzinger prepared her debut solo album, "Her Name Is Nicole...", due for release in June 2007. Her first single, "Steam", is set for a release in May 2007.
The group received a Grammy nomination on December 7, 2006, in the Best Pop Performance By a Duo or Group category for their hit ballad "Stickwitu". Later that month, the group was selected to perform for the introduction for ABC's coverage of the NBA. In 2007, a version of "Right Now" is being used as a theme song for the NBA, the lyrics have been altered.
On March 14, 2007, the Pussycat Dolls performed at the Manchester Evening News Arena in a concert that was streamed live via MSN Music.
In 2007, Interscope announced that they are looking for a "summer hit" from the group; and to mark the premiere of the "Next Doll" Asia Nitollano, they are going to release a cover version of "Lady Marmalade".
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