Danity Kane

When O-Town and Da Band, the first two groups profiled on reality TV show "Making The Band," flopped, viewers wondered if the show could actually churn out any superstars. Then came Danity Kane.

In 2005, Shannon Bex, Aundrea Fimbres, Aubrey O'Day, Dawn Richard and D. Woods were picked by performer-turned-mogul Sean Combs, aka Diddy, to form a pop-R&B group that would combine the "girl power" of the Spice Girls with the sex appeal of the Pussycat Dolls. Named after a female superhero created by Richard, Danity Kane signed to Diddy's Bad Boy Records, home to artists like The Notorious B.I.G., Cassie and Young Joc.

A year later, the multi-ethnic quintet – Fimbres is Mexican-American – released its eponymous debut. Despite a lukewarm response from critics, Danity Kane featured two hit singles, Showstopper, a spare R&B and rap hybrid featuring the southern drawl of Young Joc, and Ride For You, a downtempo jam about being faithful.

In 2007, as Danity Kane finished touring in support of their debut, rumors of a break-up circulated on the Internet. Some speculated that Diddy was in a relationship with O'Day, but both denied the allegations. The group posted a blog entry on their MySpace page to quell the rumors, announcing it was staying together with the "intention of writing, singing, and dancing [their] way to the top."

Earlier this year, Danity Kane released its second album, Welcome to the Dollhouse. On the strength of Damaged, a thumping club track with slithering synths and crisp hand claps, Dollhouse propelled the group to its second number one album on the Billboard charts. It's no secret the girls were put together to sell TV commercials and then records but they insist they're not puppets: “We just did not want to be handed these songs and be handed an image … we needed to speak from a woman’s perspective and wanted to have a lot of variety of songs, not just ‘I want you, I want you, I need you, I need you.’”