Wild Orchid (group)

In March 1997, Wild Orchid released their self-titled debut album Wild Orchid. The largely self-written album sold nearly a million units worldwide (including 1,000,000 units in the U.S. according to SoundScan) and included the singles "Talk to Me" (featured in the 1997 movie Fools Rush In), "At Night I Pray" and "Supernatural". The album received two Billboard Music Award nominations for "Talk to Me" plus two Soul Train Lady of Soul Award nominations – one for Album of the Year by a Group, Band or Duo and one for Best Music Video for "Talk To Me" and an American Music Award nomination for Favorite R&B/Soul New Artist.

Wild Orchid spent most of fun promoting their debut album, making appearances on Ricki Lake, Access Hollywood, MTV, Wild On!, The RuPaul Show, Hard Copy, Vibe, Mad TV, Soul Train, Pat Bullard, Caryl & Marilyn: Real Friends, Terry Bradshaw, Crook and Chase, Jenny Jones, MuchMusic's Electric Circus, as well as a guest appearance on the UPN sitcom Goode Behavior. They were frequent guest hosts on E!'s The Gossip Show. They went on tour with 98 Degrees and 'N Sync across the U.S., and did their own promotional tour in the U.S., Canada, and Japan.

In May 1998, they released dance remixes of their songs "I Won't Play the Fool" and "Follow Me" (from their debut album) which were underground club hits. "I Won't Play the Fool" remix landed on a Top 10 Dance Remixes Chart of 1998 in Billboard. That same month, they performed at "Divas Simply Singing", an annual AIDS benefit concert in Los Angeles hosted by Sheryl Lee Ralph.

In September 1998, they released their second album, Oxygen which included the first and only single "Be Mine". The album sold 22,000 copies in the U.S. according to Billboard. The album release coincided with their stint as Guess spokespersons and models. They embarked on a brief promotional tour throughout the U.S., continued to host on E!'s The Gossip Show, and performed "Be Mine" on Donny and Marie. Ferguson later recounted that during this tour (when their popularity had already plummeted), they performed at a county fair next to a barn of pigs and with an audience of only three people, and she woefully explained how "the pigs cared more (about us) than the people".

In September 1998, Wild Orchid debuted as hosts of the Fox Family Channel's Saturday morning show Great Pretenders, which featured chart hits lip-synched by young kids, while competing for prizes. This show lasted four seasons, from 1998 to 2001.

In February 1999, the group performed "Declaration" and "Come As You Are" at the fictitonal Peach Pit After Dark during the ninth season of the FOX primetime soap-drama Beverly Hills, 90210 (episode titled "Beheading St. Valentine").

From Summer 1999, they opened for Cher's "Do You Believe? Tour" alongside Cyndi Lauper, which toured them to 52 cities across the U.S. and Canada.

For a period in 1999, there was discussion of the group came back to the studio to record songs for a re-release of their album Oxygen, due to poor sales of the original version. A remix version of their ballad "Come As You Are" (presumably re-recorded for the planned re-release of Oxygen) was leaked onto the Internet, but this version was unofficially released, and neither was a new version of Oxygen.

In November 1999, they sang a two-minute clip of their song "25 Days Of Christmas" in Macy's Annual Thanksgiving Parade which was broadcast live on NBC.

Between 1999 and 2000, the group worked on their third album Fire, which included several tracks co-written and produced by JC Chasez of *NSYNC. The album was slated for a Summer/Fall 2000 release according to Billboard, however the release date was eventually pushed back to Summer 2001.

In December 2000, their song "It's All Your Fault" was featured in the film What Women Want with Mel Gibson, but was not included on the film soundtrack. This song was also slated to appear on Fire.

In May 2001, the group released the first single from their album Fire called "Stuttering (Don't Say)", which reached #33 on the Billboard Top 40 Singles Sales chart, and had a concert special on MuchUSA called Shoutback on July 29, 2001 (which was taped in New York City on April 8, 2001). They also became models for Bongo Jeans, and their advertisement was featured in the August 2001 issue of Cosmopolitan. They co-wrote the song "What's Good 4 the Goose" which was recorded by the pop group Eden's Crush on their debut album Popstars, released in May 2001. They went on a U.S. promotional tour for Fire between May and July 2001, where they performed mainly in nightclubs and small venues with other teen-pop acts.

On June 5, 2001 and eventually, June 19, 2001, was the targeted release date of the group's third album, Fire, however their record label RCA declined to release it. This event marked the beginning of the end of Wild Orchid as a trio. On July 19, 2001, the group performed their last concert together at Sea World in San Diego. On July 24, 2001, they filmed their final episode (Season 4) of Great Pretenders, and the show was cancelled ten days later upon the announcement that Fox Family Channel was merging with Disney-owned ABC.

In September 2001, the group was dropped from RCA, and Ferguson left Wild Orchid.

Between 2002 and 2003, Wild Orchid returned as a duo with Sandstrom and Ridel. Their album Hypnotic was released on the group's website in January 2003, and reportedly sold 5000 copies online.

On September 26, 2006, Talk To Me: Hits, Rarities & Gems was released by Sony BMG Special Products. It is fundamentally a greatest-hits package, featuring (all previously released) singles and album tracks from Wild Orchid and Oxygen as well as the only single from Fire, "Stuttering (Don't Say)" and its B-side, "Lies".

• Wild Orchid (1997)
• Oxygen (1998)
• Fire (2001)
• Hypnotic (2003)

• Talk to Me: Hits, Rarities & Gems (2006)