90’s pop group dream
The late ’90s/early 2000s we’re the days pop music and boybands dominated the charts, from *N SYNC, Backstreet Boys, and 98 Degrees, they all owned the radio charts. But even though everybody always reminisces about those groups, there were equally awesome girl groups that deserve some credit. Remember Dream? If not, let me refresh your memory. They were Diddy’s girl group pre-Danity Kane. Although the members of Dream changed a bit over the years, the main foursome included Holly Blake-Arnstein, Melissa Schuman, Ashley Poole, and Diana Ortiz.
The American all-girl pop group, Dream first received widespread attention for their hit single, He Loves U Not in 2000. Based in Los Angeles, California, the group consisted of four members, all of whom were in their early teens in the late 90’s, when they were scouted by talent agent, Judith Fontaine. Invited to form a new girl group, they named themselves as First Warning, prior to re-branding themselves to Dream. Shortly afterward, they signed with Sean Combs’ Bad Boy Records label and were ready to embark on a professional music career. Prior to the release of their first record however, Chester quit which led to Diana Ortiz coming in. In the fall of 2000, Dream came out with their debut single entitled, He Loves U Not which eventually peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100.
The following year, Dream released their first full length album entitled, It Was All a Dream. Promoted by a concert tour that sent the girls performing in North America and the United Kingdom, it proved to be a moderate success, having reached the top ten on the Billboard Top 200. Since it was first released, the album has sold more than 1,500,000 copies across the United States. Around that same time, they also opened for Destiny’s Child in their 2001 TRL Tour, which brought them some publicity. From there, it wasn’t until a few years later that the girls recorded their second studio album, Reality which eventually saw a limited release in France in 2005; it was later released in the United States in 2008 via digital download. Considering the delay however, it was not surprising that it did not achieve the same level of success as their debut album. In addition to their albums, Dream has also dropped a number of singles including This Is Me, This Is Me (Remix), and Crazy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNHq9nFx98w
The group officially disbanded in 2003. So what paths did they end up taking?
Diana Ortiz: Years later and Ortiz is still nostalgic about the band. A few months ago, she posted a snippet of the “He Loves U Not” video on Instagram and declared her #WomanCrushWednesday the “ladies who experienced that roller coaster of blessings and lessons learned” with her. According to her private twitter, she left music and became “food & beverage manager.”
Holly Blake-Arnstein: After Dream broke up, she joined another band called Whirl Magnet. Unfortunately, they’re not together anymore. In case you’re wondering why she’s been MIA, she’s reportedly got married, began living in San Francisco, and working as an occupational therapist. Her love for music didn’t die though as she also continued to make music;
Melissa Schuman: Schuman began acting in movies including 2003’s Love Don’t Cost A Thing with Nick Cannon. In 2008, she and Poole wanted to form another band, so they recruited Ortiz to join! They called themselves Lady Phoenix, but the group only lasted until 2012. Even though that didn’t totally work out, she hasn’t given up.
In the summer of 2015, the original members came together for a mini reunion which later spawned the release of an acapella version of their hit 2000 single, He Loves U Not. Shortly afterward, it was announced that Dream would be making a comeback. In December of 2015, they released a recording of O Holy Night, while presumably working on their new album.
Despite the announcement however, it was later made known that the group has once again disbanded in October of 2016- after having spent the majority of 2016 touring with other artists. Disappointingly, it was also announced via their official Facebook page that they would not be releasing a new album.
neillfrazer@hotmail.com
