In the 90's dance music hit BIG, and although people did tend to know songs rather than the people who made them, there were SOME who enjoyed success with personal fame to go along with their musical one.
Faithless, formed in 1995, with Rollo, Sister Bliss and Maxi Jazz, and their first album Reverence put them on the map in a big way with the singles "Insomnia" and "Salva Mea" each selling over a million copies, pushing the album to platinum status.
The second album, "Sunday 8PM," contained "God Is a DJ" which elevated Faithless from festival darlings to a major touring group, joining other dance groups like, Chemical Brothers, The Prodigy, and Daft Punk, as their popularity also got a boost from the success of Rollo's sister Dido, who also sang on Faithless songs.
By 2001, their third album Outrospective immediately hit with the single "We Come 1" and a "Muhammad Ali." Their sound expanded from its trance roots into other forms of dance and R&B, as their versatility made them less of just a dance group and more of a pop collective. This form of musical blending would be the precursor to what eventually is now known as EDM.
Their fourth album No Roots, broke creative ground as the album was a conceptual continuous piece of music in one key, with features from Dido, L.S.K, and the late Nina Simone. The album pushed the group into the political arena, with the song "Mass Destruction," whose video alluded to abuses of power during the Iraq War, tracing a connection from childhood bullying to terrorism.
Their fifth album, "To All New Arrivals," continued the groups social awareness side as the single "Bombs," anti-war message gave the group a radical presence, and saw them headline Coachella in 2007.
The group would be on again and off again in the years after 2010, but would come together as a whole in 2020 with "All Blessed". Released in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, the album is a love letter to electronic music, with features from Nathan Ball, spoken word artist Suli Breaks, Caleb Femi, and Soul II Soul founder Jazzie B, Gaika, and Damien Jurado. It would be the last full group creation, as Maxi Jazz died in 2020. The group still continues today, however as Sister Bliss announced Faithless' return with the group confirmed for Camp Bestival Shropshire in August.
The music of Faithless is one of no restriction, and a deep understanding of the human condition as they take some of the most profound themes into the world of dance music with masterful artistry that's unmatched in the scene.