Queenbee is the debut album from US popstar, Helena Rossi. It was released June 1st, 2009.
After the release of October 2008's Dickhead, Rossi had announced a 14 track album set for release in November of the same year, at that time untitled. When the debut single failed to chart, the album was delayed and most of the material was scrapped due to Helena's insecurity of the material.
Rossi penned almost 20 songs after returning to the United States after being discouraged by her failure in the UK. While the material is unheard, Helena was unsatisfied and that is when collaborator, Elice Claire, stepped in to write for the album.
With the release of Vulnerable, the Queenbee project was revitalised, and was now set for a February release. The second single faired much better, but still not good enough to launch the full album.
An early promo sampler was sent to many US publications in Janaury, 2009. It featured 3 of the unreleased Helena Rossi tracks, and the 3 tracks written by Elice Claire. It was generally well received, but it didn't prompt any major publications to review it due to her unknown status at the time.
Over the course of the writing process after the second single, hundreds of rumours swirled, including covers of Ladyhawke singles, and Alex Washington writing for the album, neither of which panned out in the end. On January 31st, Rossi recorded more songs for the album, only one from this session making the final cut, Asian. Pop superstar begun writing for the album, and penned a handful of tracks which would eventually make the final cut. Reportedly there is one track from Helena's sessions with China that didn't make the album, but they have not been confirmed.
More tracks written by Helena were axed in favour of outside writers, and on Feburary 6th, Helena recorded up to 4 songs, including the third single Love Thug, written by China. The album had a final deadline of March 31 as it was intended to release only a week after the third single, but hit a brick wall when Helena postponed the release after yet another #7 debut. A week after she recorded the fourth single, No Fairytale, also written by China, and had confirmed that the entire album was finished and ready for release. The album released with the single on June 1st to a great response, but suffered from a lack of sales due to the overwhelming amount of singles spawned before hand.
The album also featured fifth single, Scream Her Name, which to this day remains her most successful single in the US, despite missing the Top 3.
- Dickhead was released October 8, 2008. It was Rossi's worst performing single, and did not chart in the UK.
- Vulnerable was the second single, released February 9, 2009. It peaked at #7 on the UK Single Chart and managed a Silver certification with sales of 132,403.
- Love Thug was the third single, released March 30, 2009. It peaked at #7 on the UK Single Chart and managed a Silver certification with sales of 130,001.
- No Fairytale was the fourth single, released June 1, 2009. It peaked at #4 on the UK Single Chart and managed a Gold certification with sales of 229,256.
- Scream Her Name was the fifth and final single, released August 24, 2009. It peaked at #4 on the UK Single Chart and managed a Platinum certification with sales of 314,044.
- Colour Me In received a remix EP in the US before it's cancelled release in January, 2009. The EP charted within the Billboard Top 200, but didn't fair well.
- One Thousand Stars was released in Australia to support Bushfire Aid, and peaked within the Top 10 during it's release.
- Thriller was released in Australia on June 26, to commemorate the tragic loss of Michael Jackson, and is featured on the Scream Her Name single.
- Closure was released as a single in Japan to promote her tour in the country at the time.
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| 13. |
"One Thousand Stars" | C. Braide |
4:22 |
| 14. |
"Dickhead" | H. Rossi |
2:48 |
| Chart (2009)
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Peak
position
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Sales
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| UK Album Chart
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4
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478,489
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| JP Oricon Weekly Chart
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14
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–
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| US Billboard 200 Albums
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89
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–
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| Year
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Chart
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Position
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| 2009
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UK Album Chart
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38
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| Country
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Date
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Label
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Format
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Notes
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| United States
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25 May 2009
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Saturdays Records
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CD, Digital download
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Standard edition
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| Australia
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| United Kingdom
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1 June 2009
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| Japan
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2 June 2009
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| Australia
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21 Agust 2009
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Tour edition
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| | Singles | |
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| | Other songs | |
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| | Concert tours | |
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| | Related articles | |
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