The Veronicas are an Australian Pop/Rock - Singer/Songwriter duo composed of identical twin sisters Lisa Marie and Jessica Louise Origliasso (born December 25, 1984 in Brisbane) who are of Italian ethnic background.
Born and raised in Brisbane, Australia in the suburb of Albany Creek and also where they attended Wavell State High School, the girls got their first taste of the show business at an early age. Performing small parts on various television shows, acting in local productions, and later on playing music as "Lisa and Jessica," and later on as "The Teal".
The girls were picked up by Warner Bros. Records/Reprise Records's Sire Records label in 2004, for a reported sum of 2 million dollars. The girls write their own songs, and have also written songs for other artists including T.A.T.u.'s "All About Us," and Australian Idol winners Casey Donovan's "What's Goin' On" and Kate DeAraugo's "Faded". Lisa and Jess are also the faces of Choice Calvin Klein and Australian hair product company nu:u. Lisa and Jess sing the title song of the television show Related which has featured songs from their debut album. They appeared as The Veronicas in an episode that aired February 6, 2006 [1].
In March 2006, their 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 film's official soundtrack.
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. At some point it has also been mentioned they were named after the movie Heathers which also has a character named Veronica.
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 in MP3 form.
A few months later, Archie and Friends #100 featured The Archies meeting The Veronicas.
Their debut album, entitled The Secret Life Of..., was released in Australia on October 17, 2005 reaching number 2 in the Australia charts debuting at #7 and so far going triple platinum. The album debuted at number 5 in New Zealand and was released in the United States on February 14th 2006 (Valentines Day). Two singles have so far reached #1 on thehothits.com countdown which is an Australian national wide hit top 40 countdown held weekly voted by the public.
The Veronicas were nominated for the 'Best Breakthrough Single' award at the Australian ARIA awards in October 2005. In April 2006 The Veronicas were nominated for 3 awards at the MTV Australian Music Video Awards 2006, winning Video of the Year and Spankin' New Artist, but losing Best Pop Video to Ashlee Simpson. That night they performed their third single, When It All Falls Apart. The girls were also in the top 5 for the Viewers Choice Award.
The single "4ever" has two different music videos, an original version made by the Australian record label and a subsequent second video made by the American record label for American audiences. Both versions have had high airplay on Australian free-to-air music video shows Rage and Video Hits, as well as on the cable TV music channels.
The first single "4ever" has been taken very well in Australia by spending its first 13 Weeks (over 3 months) in the top 10, spending 15 weeks in the top 50, going platinum (70,000+ Units sold) and peaking at #2. On the 5th of April 2006, 4ever officially sold 100,000 digital singles in the U.S.
The second single "Everything I'm Not" has peaked at #7, gone gold (35,000+ units sold) and has spent 21 weeks in the Top 50.
The third single "When It All Falls Apart" has so far also reached #7 and is still charting in the ARIA Charts staying in the top 20 for 7 weeks so far. The album has reached the position of #2 on the ARIA Album Charts, gone over triple platinum (210,000+ units sold) and has spent over 29 weeks (7 months) in the top 20 albums. The Veronicas are currently touring and doing heavy promotion for the album. An article published by Virgin Mobile in the U.K. stated that The Veronicas will begin releasing songs in the U.K. throughout the summer.
