BabesXL

BabesXL is a Canadian girl group formed in, in 1998 and launched in  by BMG Ariola Hamburg. BabesXL's original lineup consisted of Aimee Hamer, Meghan Jagielka, Bree Jach, RJ Villagrasa, and Ashley Noyes. Their self-titled debut album was released in Canada and European countries in May 1999, debuting in the U.S. market later that year in September with the single "You're Mine", which peaked at no. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Jach left the group to pursue other interests in 2004. The group continued as a quartet until Jach rejoined permanently in 2014. The band completed several concert tours and has sold over 86 million records, making them the second-biggest selling Canadian girl group behind sister group FanGirls.

Formation
Aimee Hamer, who had missed the cut for FanGirls, asked Barry Berlin and Kåre Berrefjord about forming a second group. Berrefjord told Hamer that he would officially form a second group if Hamer could find other female singers to join her. Hamer met indie pop singer RJ Villagrasa while she was busking in the in  and asked her about joining her vocal group.

Meghan Jagielka, a native, had moved to  with her family in the late-70s when her father, actor Roger Jagielka, decided to further his acting career. For a time, she had commuted between Montreal and Ottawa, and was considering building a music career. She and her friend Ashley Noyes both made demos at the Jagielka family home in. After a chance encounter with Hamer, Jagielka decided to join the group, recommending Noyes in the process, who was saving up to move to to plan on working on her music career there.

The group needed another singer to round out the lineup, and after auditioning several people without success, Hamer called her vocal coach, who recommended an old friend of Hamer from her native, by the name of Bree Jach. Hamer called Jach, who flew out to Ottawa to audition. Jach, a male-to-female transgender woman, did not disclose the fact she was transgender to Berlin nor Berrefjord. Though both eventually figured it out, they still thought Jach was a good singer and she was immediately accepted into the group. Jach, who danced ballet in high school, didn't know how "pop choreography" worked prior to auditioning, so she was given a "crash course" in dancing by the group's choreographer, Jessica H. B. Pollock, which helped to improve her skills. BabesXL received their name after Kylie Davenport referred to Hamer and her group as "a bunch of larger-than-life... y'know, babes."

Berlin set the BabesXL members up in a house in, where they rehearsed constantly, learning dance routines and vocal parts, and working on promotion for their first public performance at in Montreal on August 1, 1998. Berlin and Ric Rykener, who also were managing FanGirls at the same time, chaired the BabesXL management team. Soon after the La Ronde performance, they performed for a group of BMG executives. After the successful audition for BMG, they were signed to.

After being signed to BMG Ariola Hamburg, the group was assigned to record their debut album in under Berrefjord and his team, including JE-Boy, Romeo Mayer, Magnar Berrefjord, Fredrik Warholm, and Tore Pettersen. The official lead single, "Sweetness (My Middle Name)", written by Warholm and Pettersen, was released in Europe and Canada as the official lead single for their self-titled debut album on April 13, 1999, and entered the top 10 in Norway,, , , , and Canada. Their self-titled debut album was released on May 10, 1999 by BMG Ariola Hamburg in Europe and BMG in Canada. The group soon became an overnight success throughout much of Europe.

Breaking the American market
After A&R man  saw BabesXL performing with FanGirls at a YTV concert in, Canada, he signed them to RCA in June 1999, only a month after the debut album became a smash success in Europe and Canada. The American label had the group record some new tracks to adjust their album for the US market. The single "You're Mine" was released in the U.S. on September 2, 1999, followed by the U.S. version of their debut album on September 14, 1999. Album sales were sluggish, debuting at number 114 on the Billboard 200, but were helped when the group made an appearance with FanGirls on The Rosie O'Donnell Show, where FanGirls introduced them as "our unofficial sisters in law", and BabesXL performed "You're Mine" and "Sweetness (My Middle Name)". Three weeks before the Rosie O'Donnell Show appearance, the album sat at number 120 on the albums chart; three weeks after the Rosie O'Donnell Show appearance, the album reached number four and was certified two times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for sales of 2,000,000+ units.