The Mamas

The Mamas are a Swedish-American pop and soul group. They won Melodifestivalen 2020 with their single "Move", which reached number one in Sweden in March 2020.

The Mamas
LaMotte, Haynes and Yonas Manna at a Melodifestivalen press conference in 2020.
Background information
Origin	Sweden and United States
Genres	Pop Soul
Years active	2019–2023[a]
Labels	Universal Music Sweden
Members	Ashley Haynes Loulou LaMotte Dinah Yonas Manna
Past members	Paris Renita

Career

The group consists of Ashley Haynes (born 19 January 1987 in Washington, D.C.),^[1] Loulou LaMotte (born 16 April 1981 in Malmö)^[2] and Dinah Yonas Manna (born 5 September 1981 in Stockholm).^[1] Founding member Paris Renita left the group in 2019.^[3]

As a four-piece, the group provided backing vocals for John Lundvik's Melodifestivalen 2019 entry "Too Late for Love".^[4] Lundvik went on to win the competition and got to represent Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 held in Tel Aviv, Israel, with the Mamas continuing to provide backing vocals.^[5] The song finished 5th in the grand final on 18 May 2019.^[6]

In late 2019, it was announced that the Mamas (without Paris Renita) would take part in Melodifestivalen in 2020, this time in their own right with their entry "Move".^[7] They performed in the first heat on 1 February 2020 in Linköping, and qualified directly for the final that took place on 7 March 2020 in the Friends Arena in Stockholm.^[8]

The Mamas went on to win Melodifestivalen 2020 with a total of 137 points, earning the right to represent Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 held in Rotterdam, Netherlands.^[9][10] However, the contest was cancelled in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[11]

They returned the following year and participated in Melodifestivalen 2021 with the song "In the Middle". They performed in the fourth heat on 27 February 2021^[12] and qualified directly for the final which was held on 13 March 2021 at the Annexet in Stockholm. The Mamas finished in 3rd place in the final with a total of 106 points.

The Mamas played on the Swedish Socialdemocratic Workers Party international workers day celebrations in May 2021.^[13] In November 2021, they released their third EP Won't Let the Sun Go Down.

In April 2023, the Mamas announced that they would go on indefinite hiatus to pursue their solo careers.^[14]

Discography

Extended plays

Title	Details	Peak chart positions
		SWE [15]
Tomorrow Is Waiting	Released: 25 September 2020[16] Format: Digital download, streaming Label: Universal Music	—
All I Want for December	Released: 21 November 2020[17] Format: Digital download, streaming Label: Universal Music	19 [18]
Won't Let the Sun Go Down	Released: 12 November 2021[19] Format: Digital download, streaming Label: Universal Music
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released.

Singles

Title	Year	Peak chart positions			Certification	Album
		SWE [15]	SCO [20]	UK Down. [21]
"When You Wish Upon a Star"[22]	2019	—[A]	—	—		We Love Disney
"Move"	2020	1	52	55	GLF: Platinum[24]	Non-album single
"Let It Be"[25]		—	—	—		Tomorrow Is Waiting
"Touch the Sky"[26]		—	—	—
"A Christmas Night to Remember"[27]		88	—	—		All I Want for December
"In the Middle"	2021	9	—	—		non album singles
"Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini"[28]		—	—	—
"Sun Goes Down"[29]		—	—	—		Won't Let the Sun Go Down
"Say So"[30] (with Ash Haynes)		—	—	—
"Just a Little"[31] (with Dinah Yonas Manna)		—	—	—
"Don't Kill the Groove"[32] (with LouLou LaMotte)		—	—	—
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released.

Other charted songs

Title	Year	Peak chart positions	Album
		SWE Heat. [23]
"Shine a Light"	2020	7	All I Want for December

Notes

1. "When You Wish Upon a Star" did not enter the Swedish Singellista Chart, but peaked at number five on the Swedish Heatseeker Chart.^[23]

1. Indefinite hiatus

References

1. "The Mamas: Vi flyger fortfarande". Sydsvenskan. Archived from the original on 2 February 2020. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
2. "LouLou Lamotte". Discogs. Retrieved 1 February 2020.
3. "The Mamas". Universal Music Sweden (in Swedish). 12 November 2019. Archived from the original on 25 January 2020. Retrieved 1 February 2020.
4. Eriksson, Anna Karolina (16 May 2019). "Här är kvinnorna bakom John Lundvik". Göteborgs Posten (in Swedish).
5. Sweden's John Lundvik storms into Eurovision final Archived 25 December 2019 at the Wayback Machine The Local Retrieved 2 February 2020
6. "Miss i Eurovision – Sverige kom femma". Sveriges Radio. 22 May 2019. Retrieved 7 March 2020.
7. "Här är artisterna som tävlar i Melodifestivalen 2020". SVT Nyheter (in Swedish). 26 November 2019. Archived from the original on 1 February 2020.
8. Robin Bengtsson and The Mamas to Melodifestivalen final Archived 2 February 2020 at the Wayback Machine eurovision.tv Retrieved 2 February 2020
9. "Sweden: The Mamas win Melodifestivalen 2020 with "Move"". wiwibloggs. 7 March 2020. Archived from the original on 15 March 2020. Retrieved 7 March 2020.
10. Thornéus, Ebba; Demirian, Natalie; Ek, Torbjörn (7 March 2020). "The Mamas vinner Melodifestivalen 2020". Aftonbladet (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 8 March 2020. Retrieved 8 March 2020.
11. Emanuelsson, Felicia; Lindstedt, Moa (18 March 2020). "Eurovision Song Contest 2020 ställs in". Expressen (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 18 March 2020. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
12. "LISTA: De tävlar i Melodifestivalen 2021". Aftonbladet. December 2020. Retrieved 4 December 2020.
13. Första maj 2021, retrieved 3 May 2021
14. @scandipop (20 April 2023). "Swedish group The Mamas, who won Melodifestivalen in 2020 but had their Eurovision Song Contest cancelled due to COVID, have announced that they are pausing the band to focus on their solo careers" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
15. "Discography The Mamas". swedishcharts.com. Retrieved 22 May 2020.
16. "Tomorrow is Waiting (EP)". Apple Music. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
17. "All I Want for December (EP)". Apple Music. Retrieved 21 November 2020.
18. "Veckolista Album, vecka 52". Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
19. "Won't Let The Sun Go Down (EP)". Apple Music. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
20. "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart". Official Charts Company. Archived from the original on 7 June 2020. Retrieved 22 May 2020.
21. "Official Singles Downloads Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Archived from the original on 1 June 2020. Retrieved 22 May 2020.
22. "When You Wish Upon a Star - single by The Mamas". Apple Music. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
23. "Veckolista Heatseeker, vecka 52". Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
24. "Veckolista Singlar, vecka 19" (Scroll down to number 84 on the chart). Sverigetopplistan. Archived from the original on 3 June 2020. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
25. "Let It Be by The Mamas". Spotify. Retrieved 16 May 2020.
26. "Let it Be - single by The Mamas". Apple Music. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
27. "A Christmas Night to Remember by The Mamas". Apple Music. 13 November 2020. Retrieved 21 November 2020.^{[permanent dead link‍]}
28. "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini - single by The Mamas". Apple Music. 11 June 2021. Retrieved 11 June 2021.
29. "Sun Goes Down - single by The Mamas". Apple Music. 3 September 2021. Retrieved 3 September 2021.
30. "Say So - single by The Mamas". Apple Music. 8 October 2021. Retrieved 9 October 2021.
31. "Just a Little - single by The Mamas". Apple Music. 15 October 2021. Retrieved 16 October 2021.
32. "Don't Kill the Groove - single by The Mamas". Apple Music. 22 October 2021. Retrieved 23 October 2021.

External links

Media related to The Mamas at Wikimedia Commons

Preceded by John Lundvik with "Too Late for Love"

Melodifestivalen winner 2020

Succeeded by Tusse with "Voices"