15 YEARS LATER: Cinderella Sanyu, Jackie Chandiru and Lilian Mbabazi are the pioneer trio of girl group band Blu *3 that was formed in 2004 after each of the girls stood out at the Coca Cola Popstars TV show. The girls were managed by Steve Jean and recorded two albums Hitaji (2004) and Burrn (2007), with the last album featuring Mya Baganda, who replaced Cindy. In 2008, the group disbanded but the artistes continued pursuing solo careers. Now 15 years down the road, Blu*3 are reuniting for a concert, aptly titled Legends of Sound. Isaac Ssejjombwe looks at the genesis of the reunion and what it means for the artistes going forward.
For years, it was no secret that the Blu*3 trio were not seeing eye to eye since the group split up, for reasons only best known to them. It is believed that their disagreements date back to 17 years ago when Cindy left the group. And today, the three are not shy to reveal that they did not like each other and their egos and successful solo careers also played a big part in that.
In a recent podcast interview on The sit down with Juliana, the girls admitted that they were not willing to sit down and squash the beef due to the grudges they had for each other and if it was not for Jackie Chandiru, maybe the whole re-union would not have been possible.
“It was bad that it emotionally and mentally drained me. I am the hardest person but I had to be the softest and was willing to put the past behind me, so why couldn’t Lilian and Cindy do the same?” Chandiru said during the interview before Cindy chipped in, saying the sight of Jackie softening to the idea disarmed her.
“Seeing Jackie after everything she had gone through and now being passionate softened us. She broke my wall,” Cindy said.
In the same interview, Jackie Chandiru revealed that there was a fourth party in their getting back together and that was fashion designer Martin Larry Mukooza, aka Larry Casual.
“Larry Casual pushed us to get back together. He told us that we do not know the power we had and wondered how bad the disagreement was that we could not forgive and forget. He initiated the meetings for our getting back together,” Chandiru stated.
Martin Larry
The Larry fashions proprietor has always been a very big fan of Blu*3 because of the unique approach to their music and how they brought a breath of fresh air to the music scene but only got to know them personally after they had split up.
“I knew Jackie first because she used to be friends with a relative and she visited a couple of times. When I entered the fashion industry, she was one of my clients. I was closer to her because even throughout her whole journey of addiction, I was her person. I met Lilian during her nights at Big Mikes with her Sundowners band while I Cindy and I met on a job. We were shooting an advert and she was a cast member,” Mukooza speaks of the trio.
He says the idea for a reunion popped up in his head seven years ago but he could not pull it off as Jackie was not okay.
“We first talked about this with Aly Allibhai in 2017. We thought we would have a Blu*3 reunion but unfortunately Jackie had a relapse and went back to rehab. Much later, Jackie bounced back and we revisited the conversation and this time round with all the three ladies. We started planning and looking at their journey but it was not easy because of the differences they had,” he said.
After insisting, he finally managed to get all of them together for a drink and dinner in Najjera where they discussed how it would work. Unfortunately, it took them another half a year to come around.
When they finally agreed, he spoke to Maestro Band’s Francis Baguma whether he could join the project. That is how the first activation came about last year at Skyz Hotel Naguru.
Asked why he badly wanted the trio to get back together, Martin Larry said he felt it necessary because he wanted Blu*3 to get a better send-off as they left a gap in the industry that needed to be filled.
“I think they are what the entertainment industry is missing. Real raw organic talent.”
Aly Allibhai comes in
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