Richard Abidin Breen was born to a Turkish father and Irish mother in the tough, working-class Hackney section of London. His dad, a musician and mechanic, left when he was young and mom Kay raised the boy herself, sending him to a Catholic school since it was the best in the area where they lived. At an early age, he was singing, imitating and playing pretend ....Kay would make Abs fancy costumes. He especially loved being Michael Jackson and even wrote him a 10 page letter once. At 8, he had a little band with a cousin. Recognizing his talent, he was accepted into the Italia Conti stage school and started auditioning around London. At this time, Abs became closer to his father, who lived nearby, and began helping out in the automotive garage his dad owned and learning to speak Turkish from his many cousins. He spent his spare time listening to the underground sounds of London, practicing rapping and learning to DJ by age 13. Abs had taken dance lessons for years (he loved the girls) and was naturally graceful. He was an average student but started hanging with a tough crowd in his teens and his grades and attitude went downhill.
It was a strange time for Abs as he had all these dreams and goals and so
much hard work that he knew laid ahead of him just as the dreaded teenage puberty kicked in and he got a bit distracted by girls and also began hanging around with a tough street crowd which made his school grades take a nosedive even though Abs' interest in music and performing stayed strong enough that one of his stage school teachers recommended that he would be right for a new edgy lad group being put together by Bob and Chris Herbert, the guys who 'invented' the Spice Girls, so Abs went to the auditions in London and sang R. Kelly's "I Like the Crotch on You", making up some of his own lyrics along the way which obviously impressed the Herbert's because he was chosen along with four other lads."Before I was in Five I was always either at home or at college. Now I could go to Australia, come home, appear on TV, go to America and sing in front of 10,000 people... it's amazing!"
Abs was known as the cool, romantic and nice member of Five. He grew up to like his new four brothers and never lost his cool, even when things went wrong. "So many famous people say they wouldn't recommend fame, but I totally disagree with them. You have to be seriously lucky to be famous - as well as having talent. If you've always wanted to be famous, like I have, and then you achieve your goal, it's brilliant. I'm definitely going to enjoy fame for as long as it lasts and make the most out of it."
5ive's debut single "Slam Dunk (Da Funk)" shot straight in to the UK Top 10 from its release 2 years ago. Thanks to the single's enormous success, 5ive begun appearing in numerous magazine interviews, TV shows, and even being a part of the Smash Hits tour in the UK. After conquering Europe and months of touring, 5ive decided it was time to cross over to the American market, like most British acts, including the famous Spices. The boys were received quite well, their first US single "When The Lights Go Out" shot across the Billboard Hot 100 Singles for weeks. 5ive was definitely added to the roster of new acts of 1998 spawning merchandise like home videos, books, t-shirts, and other 5ive collectibles. To the end of 1998 they sold more than 2,5 millions singles like "Slam Dunk (Da Funk)","When The Lights Go Out", "Got The Feelin'","Everybody Get Up" and "Untill The Time Is Through". Five becam in 1997 , they sold 7 millions their albums all around the world , including 1 million in US , Keep On Movin’, We Will Rock You è Let’s Dance became nomber 1 in UK.
Five splited in September 2001 while they were still sane, friends & at the top of the music charts and Abs found himself out of a job, so he sat around brooding for a few weeks until Chris Herbert & Simon Cowell, Five's former executive producer, asked Abs to consider a solo career and he was sent off to Australia to host a huge music festival and realized that performing was still what he wanted to do
"We're all happy and we knew this was something that had to be done. I just feel sorry for the fans but it had to happen. We have to say goodbye and deal with it and live our lives "."We are all really positive about it - it's the end of a chapter and we can't mope around. The biggest thank you to all you fans out there. Without you we would never have done it, I love you all."
"How many people get a chance at a career like this - let alone two chances?" he asks, as he prepares to open the book on the second chapter of his career. "When Five split I knew there was no guarantee of a solo career for me, I knew it was down to me to come up with some tracks that BMG just couldn't say no. In a way it was like starting all over again and I loved the challenge of that."
He may have sold more than seven million albums and seven million singles during his time with Five and have a mantelpiece groaning under the weight of the awards they accumulated along the way (including a Brit, an MTV and six Smash Hits Awards), but Abs knows that what happens next relies purely on the strength and quality of his music, "which is as it should be" he points out.
"I know better than most how fragile this business is and I know that only the best records make their way into the shops and onto the radio. But I can't pretend that I haven't enjoyed the reaction I've had to my tracks. Simon (Cowell) signing me as a solo artist is something I take as a big compliment because I know that there's no way he would have, or could have, signed me unless I was worth the investment."
So in early 2002 Abs began writing and recording a solo album in Dublin with his old friend Biff Stannard at Windmill Lane Studios while spending his free weekends back in London, DJing at various clubs and hanging with his old mates and mad Turkish cousins whom he hadn't really got to see much while he had been busy with FIVE, meanwhile the word was out that Abs was going solo and he started getting asked to do a few things here and there, such as helping to premiere the new XBOX video game system in London and getting rained on with other pop celebrities at the annual Soccer Six Charity matches, all the time working for 3 hard months on his album and completing it in May, so Abs and his record company, which was now S Records - a subsidiary label of BMG/RCA run by Simon Cowell - decided the best song to release as a first single would be a cheeky upbeat tune with a reggae/dance beat called "What You Got", a perfect song for the summer since that was when it would be released.
"The first single, What You Got, has got a real reggae vibe to it, which is something I grew up around in the East End, but there are so many influences on the album" he says. "I've tried to work together every style of music that's influenced me at some point and, hopefully, added a strong pop sensibility to the end product. There's a bit of everything in there; dance, rap, rock, rhyming, singing - even a few slow jams for the ladies!"
The influence Abs brought to Five's sound is evident throughout the album with his passion for Djing and dance music providing a driving force that hears big beats, subtle samples, witty rhymes and soul-laden vocals all vying for their place in his work.
Very succesful were his singles :Stop Sign,Miss Perfect,7Ways. 1st of September Abs realized his first album "Abstract Theory"
"I'm very proud of the result and can't wait to get it out there and get back on stage again. I want to take this album around the world and carry on where I left off with Five. When you've had a job that was as good as the one I've just left you'd be mad not to want to keep it going. And I'm ready to get going."
There was news (febr 2005) that Abs has all material for his second albums , but problems with record-company did not give to do this . Summer vacation he spent on Jamajka with his ex-girlfriend Alex (they split up in autumn 2005) . In this moment nothing known about him