Now United

In mid-2016, Idols creator and Spice Girls manager Simon Fuller began searching for talent to fulfill his plan of creating a global pop group with members from all over the world. The selection took place through the help of digital platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and TikTok as well as dance schools and music academies, using expert choreographers, vocal coaches, songwriters.

Fuller confirmed to MBW in September 2018 that "in order to recruit the 11 youngsters in Now United, he employed 20 people to travel the world for 18 months, holding auditions with groups of 10 to 20 people at a time.[4] But after seeing the talents of various youngsters he decided to make a group of 14 members of different nationalities and may add more members in the future if audiences respond to their music.

From November 11 to 22, members were revealed. On November 13, the first teaser of the complete group was released, in the song "Boom Boom" by RedOne.

On December 5, 2017, Now United released their first single "Summer In The City", on Al Gore's 24 Hours of Reality, a global broadcast intended to work to raise awareness around the global climate crisis.[5] The song is an English version of "Sommaren i City" by the Swedish girl group Angel in 1992.

From April 2018, the group began their Promo World Tour, where they appeared on many TV shows in different countries, as well as doing performances.

The tour began in Moscow, where they made their first public appearance on television performing "Summer in the City" on the finale of Russian program The Voice Kids.[6] At the end of the 2018, the group toured all of the member's countries and two others as well, notably Sweden and Austria. On May 30, Now United was featured in the single "One World", the group's first collaboration with RedOne and Adelina. The video song, directed by Daniel Zlotin, was shown on all beIN Sports channels during FIFA World Cup throughout the Middle East, North Africa and France. The song was the musical signature of beIN Sports throughout the tournament. On July 5, Now United debuted in the United States at The Late Late Show with James Corden performing their new song "What Are We Waiting For".[7] In less than three months, the group released the official videos of three singles, on July 24, "What Are We Waiting For", shot in South Korea; on September 28, "Who Would Think That Love?" shot in Mexico; and on November 6, "All Day", shot in California. During their Indian tour, Now United shot and released "How We Do It" on December 15, which featured Indian rapper Badshah. On January 29, 2019, "Beautiful Life", which was also shot in India, was also released. On December 29, Dreams Come True: The Documentary was released, showcasing the creation process of the group.

During the Philippines tour, Now United shot and released "Afraid of Letting Go" on March 17. Canadian-Filipino dancer AC Bonifacio, who had previously appeared in Dream Comes True: The Documentary, had a cameo. On April 28, "Sundin Ang Puso", which was also shot in the Philippines was released, which was a Filipino language version of the group's jingle in partnership with Pepsi, "For the Love of It". The group also participated in the Opening Ceremony of the 2019 Special Olympics World Summer Games in Abu Dhabi. On June 7, "Paraná", which was shot in Brazil.

By mid-2019, it was announced that two new members would be added to Now United. The selection took place through social media, where fans were able to decide which country and which members should be part of the group. It was announced that the first new member would be from Australia and later the second member would be from the Middle East or North Africa.[8]

On June 1, 2019, the group performed live at the 2019 UEFA Champions League final in Madrid. On July 25, Now United released "Sunday Morning".

On August 11, "Crazy Stupid Silly Love" was released, featuring dancers from Velocity Dance Convention and filmed in Las Vegas, USA, and was directed by Kyle Hanagami. The month after, "Like That" was released on September 8. The group also travelled and performed at several YouTube Space countries all over the world with the collaboration of Pepsi and YouTube Music. They also shot their music video called "Legends" while on the tour, which was released on November 14. On September 20, "You Give Me Something" was released. The song is a bilingual cover of the song by James Morrison, and is sung in English and Portuguese by members Lamar Morris and Any Gabrielly.

The group toured Brazil in November 2019, as a part of their Dreams Come True Tour.

On December 15, "Na Na Na", which was filmed at the Municipal Theatre in Rio de Janeiro was released, and on September 2, 2020, its Spanish version was released. On December 28, "Let Me Be the One" was released. It was also shot in various countries, featuring clips from the group on stage.

Now United released their single "Live This Moment", which only featured Bailey, Josh, Krystian and Noah on February 12, 2020.[9]

On March 7, "Come Together" was released. Later Come Together Tour was announced, to be held in Brazil, but when most countries in the world were quarantined due to COVID-19 pandemic, the tour was postponed causing the group members to return to their home countries.[10]

On April 3, their single "Wake Up" was released having been recorded in Orange County, California before the pandemic. Also on April 3, the group launched the video for "Hoops", but was later excluded, problems with the book of the Koran. "By My Side" was released, recorded by each member from their home country, due to the pandemic. On April 30, "Better" was released, a song that originally had been recorded in March 2018.[11][12][13]

On May 8, "Dana Dana" was released, also recorded by each member in their homes. On May 29, their single "Let the Music Move You" was released, and on June 18 the animated music video of the same was released, with the collaboration of ZEPETO app.[14][15]

On June 23, "Stand Together" was released, which was used to support the events happening in the world (Black Lives Matter and the COVID-19 pandemic). On July 29, Now United released a mashup of all the songs celebrating 1 billion views on YouTube.[16]

On July 30, their single "Show You How to Love" was released. On August 8, “Nobody Fools Me Twice” was released. The music video was filmed in Heyoon's apartment. On August 18, “Feel It Now” was released which was filmed by each member in their home country.[17][18][19]

On September 2, the music video for the Spanish version of "Na Na Na" was released and On September 11, the single was released on digital platforms.[20]

In an interview with the Hollywood Fix on September 5, Diarra confirmed her departure from the group.[21][22][23][24]

The single "The Weekend's Here" was released on September 18. The track features Heyoon, Sofya, Sina, and Savannah. The music video filming took place at the Al Seef Heritage and Paramount Hotel in Dubai and member Heyoon served as the co-director.[25] Three days later, Simon Fuller officially confirmed via a video call that new member Nour Ardakani will be joining the group. Hailing from Lebanon, she will be the first member to serve as a representative from the Middle East region.[26][27]

On September 30, Now United released another single, called "Somebody", featuring Heyoon, Sofya, Sina and Savannah, and Heyoon served as the co-director again. [28]

On October 7, Now United released another single, called "Chained Up", featuring the boys of Now United, Lamar, Josh, Krystian, Bailey and Noah and a guest starring of Heyoon which was filmed in Dubai and in the home countries of the boys. [29]

On October 10, Now United released their single "Paradise" in all digital platforms. The next day, Now United challenged the Uniters to create the official choreography for their single "Paradise" in collaboration with Rexona.[30]

The single and music video of "Habibi" was released on October 19, which was filmed in Lebanon and in Dubai with the rest of the group. The video raised over 7 million views in the first two days.[31]

The single and music video of "Golden" was released on October 28 featuring the vocals of Savannah, two days later the single was released in all digital streaming platforms.[32]

On October 31, Now United performed "Come Together" in Global Village Dubai. This marked Nour's first performance with the group, Joalin's return after a year and the group's first performance since the pandemic.[33]

On November 7, Now United released another single and music video, called "One Love" in collaboration with R3HAB, the music video raised over 3.7 million views in the first 24 hours. [34]

On November 18, Now United revealed a teaser for their next member. During that week, members revealed hints regarding the 17th member, Any reveled that the new member is from a country with a green flag, Diarra reveled that the new member speaks French and Noah reveled that the new member is 17 years old. On November 30, Now United officially revealed that the new member is from Ivory Coast. The next day new member Mélanie Thomas was officially revealed. [35]

On November 28, Now United released the music video for Paradise, featuring the Uniters and the choreography created by some Uniters in partner with Rexona Dance Studio. [36]

On December 3, Now United revealed that they are searching for a new boy member who officially will join in Spring of 2021. The next day, Now United asked the Uniters to send their bets for the new member and he could be from anywhere around the world.[37]

On December 5, Now United held a Goodbye Dance Party, marking the end of their stay in UAE.[38]

On December 10, the single "Pas Le Choix" was released in all digital streaming platforms. The music video was released a week later featuring the girls of Now United, Diarra, Sabina, Shivani, Sofya, Any, Hina, Heyoon, Sina, Joalin, Savannah, Nour and Mélanie and a quick cameo from Josh. This single marks the first song where all of the members have lines and was sung in multiple languages including French, English, Spanish, Portuguese, Hindi, Russian, German, Japanese, Korean and Arabic. The music video gained over 2.4 million views in the first 24 hours after release.[39]

On December 30, they released a music video, called "Hewale" featuring Mélanie and Diarra. The song marks the first time that the lyrics are in English, French and Wolof. The music video gained over 1.3 million views in the first 24 hours. At the end of the music video it was cited that, "Hewale" means strength.[40]

On December 31, they released a video, called "How Far We've Come - (The Journey So Far)", a compilation of the group's journey through the years. [41]

On January 1, the members celebrated a New Year dance party in each of their countries. [42]

In the first episode of Season Four of the Now United Show, the boys disguise themselves as auditionees for the new member spot. [43]

On January 8, Now United released the music video for their single "How Far We've Come". The music video was shot on their last day in Dubai during their trip. [44]

On January 14, at 11:59pm, Now United released their single "How Far We've Come" in all music digital platforms.

On January 15, Now United released the music video for their single "Lean On Me". The music video gained more than 5 million views first 2 days. The music video is choreographed by Nicky Andersen and was shot in Emirates Palace in UAE. [45]

On January 19, Now United released the video "Meet Nour from Lebanon" on their official YouTube account.[46]

On January 22, Now United released the studio version of their single "Hewale" in all digital music platforms.[47]

On January 29, Now United released the studio version of their single "Lean on Me" in all digital music platforms. [48] Now United also released their music video for their single "All Around the World". The music video was shot in the home countries of the members.[49]