Shaznay's post-All Saints blues

Former All Saints singer/songwriter Shaznay Lewis was so bitter after the girl band split - she "forced" a writer's block upon herself.

The Pure Shores hitmaker, who is launching her solo career this month with Never Felt Like This Before, shunned her musical ability as she struggled to deal with the fall out with the other members – Melanie Blatt, and sisters Nicole and Natalie Appleton - of the chart-topping group.

A friend says: "When the group split, everyone assumed Shaznay would be the first to go solo as she wrote all their songs.

"But after the famous Appletons fight over who was going to wear a jacket at a gig, Shaz felt that any material she'd work on would feel like an All Saints record.

"She needed to distance herself and mature."

The band split in 2001 and so far none of the bandmates have managed to compete with their huge success. The Appleton sisters were dumped by their record company after poor sales of their debut album and Blatt did a modestly-received dance single with Artful Dodger.