Bars and Melody facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Bars and Melody
Background information
Also known as	BAM
Origin	United Kingdom
Genres	Hip hop, pop, pop rap, R&B
Years active	2014–present
Labels	Syco Music, Universal Music Group, Zeneration Records, BetterNow Records,
Members	Leondre Devries Charlie Lenehan

Bars and Melody (often called BAM) is a music duo from the United Kingdom. It includes rapper Leondre Devries and singer Charlie Lenehan. They became famous after appearing on Britain's Got Talent in 2014.

During their audition, the main judge, Simon Cowell, pressed the "golden buzzer." This meant they went straight to the live semifinals! They ended up finishing in third place in the competition. Their first song after the show was "Shining Star," released in July 2014. It came with an acoustic version of their song "Hopeful."

Bars and Melody released their first album, "143," in August 2015. It quickly reached number four on the UK music charts. Later, they released an EP called "Teen Spirit." Then came "Generation Z" and "Sadboi" in 2020. In 2021, they released the "Carpe Diem E.P." This album showed a new sound for the duo. Their fans are often called "bambinos" or the "bamfam."

History of Bars and Melody

How Bars and Melody Started

Leondre Devries and Charlie Lenehan first met online in September 2013. Leondre had seen Charlie's music videos. They met in person in January 2014 to form their music group, Bars and Melody.

Their Britain's Got Talent Journey

On February 8, 2014, Bars and Melody auditioned for Britain's Got Talent in Manchester. They performed a song called "Hope," but Leondre changed the words. His new lyrics spoke out against bullying. After their amazing performance, Simon Cowell pressed the golden buzzer. This sent them straight to the live semifinals!

Before the semifinals, the boys even performed on The Ellen DeGeneres Show in the United States. In the BGT semi-final on May 29, they sang "I'll Be Missing You." They added new verses about losing a friend. The audience waved candles during their performance. They won their semi-final and made it to the final. There, they sang their audition song again and finished in third place. Their audition video became super popular. It was one of the top trending videos of 2014, with over 200 million views!

Their First Album: 143 (2014–2015)

Even though they didn't win Britain's Got Talent, Bars and Melody signed a big record deal. It was worth £500,000 with Simon Cowell's record label, Syco Music. They released "Hopeful" in July 2014. This first song went straight to number five on the UK Singles Chart. The music video for "Hopeful" was released on YouTube on July 7, 2014. To share their music, they appeared on TV shows like Good Morning Britain.

Bars and Melody also went on a signing tour at HMV stores to promote "Hopeful." They released another song called "Shining Star." Their second song, "Keep Smiling," came out in February 2015. The music video was filmed in Plymouth. It reached number 52 on the music charts. Their third song, "Stay Strong," was released in April 2015 and reached number 53.

Album Release and Tours

The boys released their first album, 143, on August 21, 2015. It reached number four on the UK Albums Chart. The album included their earlier songs and new ones. To promote the album, they toured across the United Kingdom. They also had a winter tour in the UK, the Netherlands, and Poland. In Poland, the album sold so well it became platinum!

Bars and Melody also appeared on the CBBC show Friday Download in May 2015. They were even in the Friday Download movie called Up All Night. They sang the third ending theme song, "Unite (Live Forever)," for the anime series Future Card Buddyfight Triple D. They also appeared on BBC's Newsround in February 2015 to talk about bullying.

New Music and Tours (2016)

In 2016, Bars and Melody toured five cities with Kiera Weathers. She was a contestant from The X Factor. The cities included London, Birmingham, Bristol, Glasgow, and Liverpool. They also became helpers for an Anti-Bullying Charity campaign that year.

In August 2016, their album Teen Spirit was released by Syco. They toured Australia and Japan around the same time. In Japan, they released their first Japanese album, also called Hopeful. It had songs from their UK albums "143" and "Teen Spirit." They also toured 13 cities in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland. They opened shows for German singer Lukas Rieger.

Generation Z and More (2017)

On February 15, 2017, they released their second Japanese album, "Never Give Up." In April, they announced a new album called Generation Z. It was planned for September 2017. They also released a new song, "Faded," digitally on April 14. In April, they toured ten cities in the UK, opening for the dance group Diversity.

On May 27, they released another song from Generation Z called "Thousand Years." Its music video has been watched over 28 million times on YouTube! On September 1, they released the full Generation Z album. It included songs like "Not A Love Song," "Fast Car," and others. The album has 13 songs in total.

Busy Year (2018)

In early 2018, Bars and Melody went on their Generation Z Tour across Europe. On October 12, 2018, they released a new song called "Put Ü First." They also announced and performed shows in Tokyo, Nagoya, and Osaka, Japan, in December.

New Songs and Tours (2019)

In early 2019, Bars and Melody released "Love To See Me Fail." This song was from their next album. A few weeks later, they started their Choke Tour. It lasted from late March to mid-May. On July 26, they released their song "Waiting for the Sun" on YouTube and music platforms.

In late August, they competed on Britain's Got Talent: The Champions. They sang "Waiting for the Sun" and made it to the final. In the final, they sang their newest song, "Lighthouse." On September 13, they were featured on a German/English song called "Killa." On October 4, they released their single "Lighthouse." This song would be on their new album coming in 2020. They also started their Lighthouse tour in the UK. They had three shows in Japan in January 2020.

On December 13, they released "Teenage Romance." This was their first song featuring another artist, Mike Singer. On December 7, they announced their album Sadboi would be released in 2020. To end the year, on December 20, they announced the Sadboi Tour across Europe. Charlie hinted it would be a "world tour" with another band, Dudes With Harmony. Sadly, the tour was postponed and then cancelled because of the pandemic the next year.

Sadboi Album (2020)

On January 27, 2020, they competed on America's Got Talent: The Champions. On January 29, Bars and Melody announced the songs for their Sadboi album. The album had 12 songs, including "Love to See Me Fail," "Waiting for the Sun," "Lighthouse," and "Teenage Romance." It was supposed to come out on March 6. However, it was delayed due to problems with shipping the albums.

On March 6, their new song "Ain't Got You" was released. On March 13, they surprised fans by releasing "Invisible." On March 27, 2020, their album was finally released. In late March, they had to postpone their Sadboi tour. This was because of the COVID-19 outbreak. Some concerts were cancelled, and others were moved to later dates.

Carpe Diem (2021)

On January 15, 2021, Bars and Melody released the album Carpe Diem. It included songs like "Own Ways," "Santorini," "Oriental," "No Type," "Russian Model," and "Little Missy."

Members of Bars and Melody

Leondre Devries (Bars)

Leondre Antonio Devries was born on October 6, 2000. He is from Port Talbot, Wales. He has three older brothers and a younger sister. His brother, Joseph Devries (Joey), was in the boy band Overload Generation. They were on The X Factor. Leondre has shared that he was bullied for four years before he changed schools. Before Bars and Melody, he rapped by himself as 'Little Dre'.

Charlie Lenehan (Melody)

Charlie Lenehan was born on October 27, 1998. He is from Frampton Cotterell in Gloucestershire. He now lives in London. He has a mother, a stepfather, and a younger sister. Charlie started singing at age 11 when friends asked him to join a band. He was interested in drama, music, and engineering. He went back to school the day after the Britain's Got Talent finale.

Discography

Studio albums

Extended plays

Singles

As lead artist

Promotional singles

See also

In Spanish: Bars and Melody para niños