C21

C21 was a Danish boy band consisting of three key members: Søren Bregendal (vocals, lyricist, producer and keyboards), Esben Duus (vocals, lyricist and guitar), and David Pepke (vocals, lyricist and guitar). The band has sold more than 40,000 copies in their native country Denmark, and more than 250,000 copies in Asia.

The band was formed in 1998 when Danish music producer Lars Quang heard Søren Bregendal singing in the locker room after his son’s soccer game. Quang invited Søren Brengedal to his studio to test his vocals. Søren brought his fellow school friend, Esben Duus to the studio. At a warm up gig at a birthday party, the two met fellow musician David Pepke and the trio was formed.C21 have only just begun profiling themselves on the music scene. Their self-entitled debut album has been recorded, and the 14 C21 tunes will take on record stores all over Denmark on January 27, 2003. Until then, David, Søren and Esben are spending their time getting close to their continuously growing number of fans. When Christmas comes, C21 will have spent a busy fall performing live for roughly 40.000 people in Denmark, and it is quite apparent that the band’s three-voiced chorus lines will not be forgotten right away…

Over 3.000 fanmails have been sent to C21’s homepage, and the line for autographs looks more like the pre-sale line for a grand film premiere than what it really is: The chance to have a quick chat and maybe a hug from one of the three boys, who have already set many a young girl’s heart aflame. Meanwhile, the rest of us are only just coming to realize that a new pop phenomenon is seeing the light of day.

“We haven’t yet done any playback vocals at any of our live concerts, and to prove to the audience that we truly can sing, we always pull out our acoustic guitars and perform a couple of tune unplugged”, says Søren about the band’s good experiences on tour.

Their 2003 debut album C21 was the most successful Danish boy band debut album in Denmark. The first single, «Stuck in My Heart», was released on September 16, 2002 as the breakthrough single for the group and became popular in South-East Asia (namely Thailand). Further singles included «You Are the One» and «She Cries». The fourth single, «One Night in Bangkok», was released on September 29, 2003. The song was originally done by Murray Head in 1984.

C21’s second album Listen was also their last. Released on May 24, 2004, two singles was released off the album, with «All That I Want» entering the Danish singles chart at #6 on April 30, 2004.

In March 2005 Esben Duus left the band,[1] and during the recording of the third album, the remaining members Bregendal and Pepke decided to split, with Søren Bregendal pursuing a solo music and acting career.