The Wanted have released a new single, the new track sees the boyband cover the East 17 song “Stay Another Day”. The group took to their Instagram to announce the release of their new cover.
The boyband’s cover of the Christmas hit has coincided with this year’s festive period. Meaning, the group’s new release may be in the running for this year’s Christmas number one. Scoring a festive hit would be a triumphant return for the group who have reunited after a seven-year hiatus.
The band disbanded in 2014 and consists of members Max George, Tom Parker, Nathan Sykes, Jay McGuiness and Sive Kaneswaran. The group formed through a series of auditions which saw over 1,000 singers participate. The process took over nine months to cement the group and the winning members were signed to Geffen Records. Their debut album, The Wanted, was released on 22nd October 2010 and included their first number-one single “All Time Low”. Last year marked the group’s tenth anniversary, unfortunately, due to COVID-19 the celebrations were cancelled.
The original track was released on 21st November 1994 by East 17 via the record label London. East 17 were key players within the 90’s boyband movement which preceded the genre’s resurgence within the 00’s, which spawned such groups as The Wanted. The original release of the track became the Christmas number one for 1994 and was the group’s only number-one single. The single competed in a now-famous chart battle with the festive anthem “All I Want For Christmas Is You” by the Queen of Christmas Mariah Carey. Both were neck and neck in competition for the Christmas number-one single of 1994 but “Stay Another Day” won by outselling Carey’s beloved track.
The group’s festive cover has been released ahead of the band’s Greatest Hits album, set to be released on 12th November 2021. The upcoming collection is a compilation of the band’s most loved songs including such hits as “All Time Low”, “I Found You” and the 2012 megahit “Glad You Came”. Along with their back catalogue, the upcoming album also features the new track “Rule The World”. The single was released on 13th October 2021 and saw the band adopt a heavier dance sound. Also included within the upcoming album’s tracklist is the band’s Comic Relief Single “Gold Forever”, released in 2011 the track debuted at number three within the UK charts.
It has been reported that Parker’s health was one of the reasons which led to their reunion. Last Summer, the 33-year-old singer was diagnosed with a terminal brain tumour. Since then, Parker has been raising money and awareness, he recently hosted a charity gig for Stand Up to Cancer. This week it was announced that Parker’s condition was improving and was now under control. In a press release, the singer spoke on the good news, “It feels amazing it is quite nice to be able to do something that is not related to treatment, it is like nothing has ever changed.”
The Wanted will be hitting the road later this month with a series of acoustic shows and Q&A sessions. The intimate tour will start on 12th November and will continue through the month with five more gigs, including two album signing dates. In 2022, the group will also be embarking on a 12 date headline tour across the UK.
The Wanted UK tour
12/11/2021 – Pryzm (With Banquet Records) – London
13/11 – HMV Birmingham (Album Signing) – Birmingham
14/11 – Gorilla – Manchester
15/11 – HMV Glasgow (Album Signing) – Glasgow
17/11 – Leeds Beckett (With Crash Records) – Leeds
18/11 – The Brook (With Vinilo Records) – Southampton
03/03/2022 – SSE Hydro, Glasgow – Glasgow
04/03 – Utilita Arena – Newcastle
05/03 – First Direct Arena – Leeds
07/03 – International Centre – Bournemouth
08/03 – Brighton Centre – Brighton
09/03 – Motorpoint Arena – Cardiff
11/03 – Motorpoint Arena – Nottingham
12/03 – Utilita Arena – Birmingham
13/03 – A0 Arena – Manchester
15/03 – The O2 – London
16/03 – Bonus Arena – Hull
17/03 – M&S Bank Arena – Liverpool
Click here to purchase tickets.
Click here to buy/stream/download “Stay Another Day”
Click here to pre-order Most Wanted The Greatest Hits.
