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Frankee Connolly
Francesca Rose Connolly is an English singer from Helmshore. She was a member of the groups Mini Viva, who had a No. 7 hit with "Left My Heart in Tokyo", and M.O, with whom she had a No. 18 hit with "Who Do You Think Of?". Life and careerFrancesca Rose Connolly[1] was born to Eddie and Lorraine,[2] and has two older sisters,[3] Natalie and Jade.[4] Both Natalie and their uncle were dentists in Rawtenstall. She grew up in Helmshore in Rossendale Valley in Lancashire,[3] and attended All Saints' Catholic High School in Rawtenstall,[4] before spending two months on a Business Access to Higher Education course at a college in Bury in Greater Manchester. Growing up, she idolised Beyoncé and Destiny's Child, and regularly attended their concerts; she also looked up to Mel B, as a successful Northerner. After dropping out of college, she formed an amateur girl band with two other members for fun.[3] In 2007, after Xenomania decided to form a band in response to Girls Aloud taking a year off,[5] they contacted Connolly via her Myspace account, prompting her to attend an audition in London, where she met Britt Love, a singer from Newcastle upon Tyne, who she bonded with over their shared Northern roots.[3] Their band name, Mini Viva, was a portmanteau of Love and Connolly's nicknames;[6] the pair told the Lancashire Telegraph in September 2009 that Love acquired her nickname after wearing a Minnie Mousesque polka dot dress and that Connolly acquired hers after Love described her as bright and beautiful.[7] Connolly then underwent her first singing lessons, having not taken any prior to being signed.[3] Mini Viva's singles "Left My Heart in Tokyo" and "I Wish" charted at numbers 7 and 73 on the UK Singles Chart,[8] and the pair supported the Saturdays,[9] Diversity,[10] and Aggro Santos on tour.[11] They announced their split in November 2010;[12] Connolly later formed M.O in 2012 with Nadine Samuels and Annie Ashcroft of the girl group Duchess,[13] taking their name from a lyric in "The Motto" by Drake.[14] Between 2014 and 2016, the band supported Little Mix on their Salute Tour[15] and entered the UK Singles Chart at numbers 49, 51, and 18 with "Dance On My Own", "Preach" and "Who Do You Think Of?",[16] and then teamed up with Kent Jones for "Not in Love", which peaked at No. 42.[17] Connolly left the band in June 2017; she was replaced by Chantal Benjalili, who had auditioned for the previous year's series of The X Factor.[18] DiscographyWith Mini VivaExtended plays
Singles
With M.OExtended plays
Singles
ToursAs supporting act
Filmography
Awards and nominations
References
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