British Boy Band Dancer Claims He Taught Beyoncé Her Booty Shake
Beyoncé’s iconic dance move, known as the "booty shake," may have roots in an obscure British boy band from the 1990s, US Weekly reported. This revelation comes from Spike Dawbarn, a member of the pop trio 911, which was the UK’s version of the Backstreet Boys.
In 1997, 911 performed their hit "Bodyshakin" on the same music show as Destiny’s Child. According to Dawbarn, Beyoncé was captivated by their dance moves and requested to learn the routine. "There’s something about that move," he said in a new BBC documentary titled "Boybands Forever." He recounted, "We did a TV show with Destiny’s Child. We performed and Beyoncé was like, ‘Show us that move! Keep doing it!’"
Although Beyoncé had not yet reached her current level of fame, the boy band happily obliged her request. Dawbarn recalled, "If Beyoncé asked you, you did it!" He playfully declared, "When you watch Beyoncé videos doing the booty shake, I’m like, ‘Ah, she robbed it!’ We did it first!" He also noted the limitations of different ways to perform that particular dance.
Those involved in creating "Bodyshakin’" recognized the boy band's impressive dance abilities. "Spike and Jimmy were fantastic dancers," said John McLaughlin, the songwriter for "Bodyshakin'." He commented on their performances, stating, "It wasn’t even dancing, it was acrobatics. I was like OK, let’s give them a themed song. A word that just sticks in your brain." McLaughlin believed "Bodyshakin’" was the perfect fit.
The song achieved considerable success, reaching No. 3 in the UK singles chart and charting in Australia and New Zealand. However, 911 never achieved a breakthrough in the U.S. market. The group, consisting of Dawbarn, Jimmy Constable, and Lee Brennan, disbanded in 1999 but reunited several times in the 2010s. They found renewed success in Southeast Asia, selling out venues in Malaysia in 2019 and collaborating with a Vietnamese pop artist in 2023.
While 911 gained regional fame, Beyoncé's career soared. Recently, she was named Billboard’s Greatest Pop Star of the 21st Century. Since the 1990s, she has won an impressive 32 Grammys, 30 MTV Video Music Awards, and 28 Billboard Music Awards.
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