The Veronicas

The Veronicas are an ARIA Award-winning Australian group led by identical twin sisters Jessica Louise Origliasso and Lisa Marie Origliasso. Their name came from Archie Comics character Veronica Lodge; when Archie Comics found out, they sued the duo for trademark infringement over their band name, but the two parties settled and have agreed on a cross-promotion deal. The Veronicas dislike being called a female duo, however, and everyday they work to separate themselves from the music business. "We like being called a band or group. We don't want to be a pop duo group with two girls singing about relationships, we have everything that a rock band would have, so we are a band," says Lisa.

The group was featured prominently in an issue of their namesake Veronica's comic book as a result of their cross-promotion deal with Archie Comics. The issue (167) featured a card with a code allowing a free download of their single "4ever" in MP3 form.

A few months later, Archie and Friends (100) featured The Archies meeting The Veronicas. The next issue of Archie and Friends (101) also featured The Veronicas, with Archie as their biggest fan.

They also appeared in the Free Comic Book Day Comic "Archie's 65th Anniversary Bash!"

The Veronicas debut album, entitled The Secret Life of..., was released in Australia on October 17, 2005, entering the ARIA Album charts at the position of 7. Since then, it has peaked at 2 and gone 4x Platinum. Due to the success of the album, five singles have been released in Australia.

The Secret Life of... spent a year in the ARIA album charts without ever leaving the top 40. In September 2006, the album was nominated for 3 ARIA awards including; "Best Pop Release", "Highest Selling Album" and "Best Breakthrough Album". The Veronicas won "Best Pop Release" but lost the other two to other nominees. The girls also performed their 2nd single "Everything I'm Not" on the night.

The album was released in the U.S. on February 14, 2006; it debuted at 133 on Billboard 200 and 3 on the Billboard Top Heatseekers chart. Only two singles have been released in the United States off the album. A special DVD was released with the U.S. version as a limited edition exclusive. The limited edition included two extra songs and videos, and was only available online. However, copies have been found to have been shipped to several stores in Australia as well. Other releases in the U.S. include Sessions@AOL which features their songs "Heavily Broken" and "Revolution" live in the AOL studios, also released was The Veronicas: Mtv.com Live EP which also features live performances of their songs including a new song, entitled "Stay".

The album has also had success in other countries such as New Zealand where it debuted at 5, in Switzerland a peak of 61 and it also reached the position of 75 on the Dutch Album Charts. In Belgium the album reached the peak of 11 and the girls won the award of Best International New Artist at the TMF Awards of 2006. "When It All Falls Apart" spent a record of 17 weeks of MTV Asia's Pop 10 Chart, in which 7 of then were at the number 1 spot. The song was recorded in Simlish and is featured in the Sims 2 expansion pack Seasons. In early 2007, The Secret Life of... was released worldwide. 4Ever is also a very famous Girl Power song in the U.S., played at many parties and special events.

Lisa and Jessica are the faces of Choice Calvin Klein and Australian hair product company nu:u. Blender named included them in their list of hottest women in rock in 2006. The sisters sang the title song on the short-lived television show Related which had featured songs from their debut album. They appeared as The Veronicas in an episode that aired 6 February 2006. In March 2006, their debut single "4ever" was featured in the Amanda Bynes comedy She's the Man. It was featured in the promotional television spots, the film itself and the soundtrack.

On December 2, 2006, The Veronicas released a CD/DVD, entitled Exposed... The Secret Life of The Veronicas in Australia. This release features live performances from their Australian 2006 Revolution tour and a DVD featuring parts of the sisters' lives throughout 2005-2006, including footage that had previously not been seen, and their music videos. The album debuted at 6 on the ARIA DVD Charts accrediting platinum in its first week. The second week it rose to its peak of 3 and was accredited Double Platinum. There is no word on whether or not this album will be released overseas.

The duo's lead single "Hook Me Up" from their second album was added to Australian radio on August 27, 2007. "Hook Me Up" was produced by Greg Wells (Timbaland, Mika, OneRepublic). The Veronicas second album, also titled Hook Me Up, was released on November 3, 2007, containing 12 tracks. The album in its entirety was leaked on the internet 8 days before its initial release. "Untouched" is the second single off the album, and was made available in stores and online