History

2Be3 was formed in 1996 and comprised three childhood friends from Longjumeau

Longjumeau

Longjumeau is a commune in the southern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris.Inhabitants of Longjumeau are known as Longjumellois.-Transportation:...

 (a suburb of Paris): Filip Nikolic

Filip Nikolic

Filip Nikolic was a French actor and singer of Serbian extraction, best known as the lead of the French boy-band 2Be3.-Personal:...

, Adel Kachermi and Frank Delay. Inspired by English bands like Take That

Take That

Take That are a British five-piece vocal pop group comprising Gary Barlow, Howard Donald, Jason Orange, Mark Owen and Robbie Williams. Barlow acts as the lead singer and primary songwriter...

 and Worlds Apart

Worlds Apart (boyband)

Worlds Apart were a multi-national boy band of the 1990s that featured Marcus Patrick in the original group and Totally Scott-Lee's Nathan Moore in one of the later incarnations of the band...

, the group produced 3 studio albums and various compilations before disbanding in 2001.

The name 2Be3 was a pun

Pun

The pun, also called paronomasia, is a form of word play which suggests two or more meanings, by exploiting multiple meanings of words, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from the intentional use and abuse of homophonic,...

 on the English language phrases to be free (in French, "être libre") and to be three ("être trois"). Hence the band's name was pronounced in English ("Two Be Three") rather than French ("Deux Be Trois").

Hugely popular in France, despite attempts to break the American and British markets (via an English-language single, Excuse My French, produced in Miami by Desmond Child

Desmond Child

Desmond Child is an American musician, songwriter, and producer. He is a member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame.-Career:...

), their only significant chart success occurred in their home nation. In 1997 they appeared in their own television series (called Pour être libre) which ran for 40 episodes on TF1

TF1

TF1 is a national French TV channel, controlled by TF1 Group, whose major share-holder is Bouygues. TF1's average market share of 24% makes it the most popular domestic network...

, and several videos were released including a live concert from the Bercy

Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy

Opened in 1984, Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy, often abbreviated as POPB or Bercy, is an indoor sports arena on boulevard de Bercy located in the 12th arrondissement of Paris...

 arena in Paris.

During year 2000, they went on a promotional tour in France, Germany, England, Switzerland, Belgium and Yugoslavia.
In 2001, they left for Asia for a tour of several months and brought out the album "Excuse My French", which was a big success there.

After disbanding, Filip Nikolic had a role in the film Simon Sez

Simon Sez

Simon Sez is a 1999 action comedy film starring Dennis Rodman, Dane Cook, and John Pinette. The score for this film was composed by Brian Tyler.-Plot:Interpol agent Simon goes on a mission in France to save a kidnapped girl and defeat an arms dealer....

with Dennis Rodman

Dennis Rodman

Dennis Keith Rodman is a retired American Hall of Fame professional basketball player of the National Basketball Association's Detroit Pistons, San Antonio Spurs, Chicago Bulls, Los Angeles Lakers and Dallas Mavericks. Born in Trenton, New Jersey, he was nicknamed "Dennis the Menace" and "The...

 and appeared in the French version of I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! in 2006.
Nikolic later had a television career as a comedian. From 2002 to 2007 he had a recurring role as Yann Boldec in the French series "Navarro" and, from 2007 to 2009, in the spin-off series "Brigade Navarro".

Filip was reportedly preparing a solo album when he died by an heart attack in 16 September 2009. He was 35 years old.

Albums

Year	Album	FR	BE Belgium Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...	Sales
1997	Partir un jour Re-released later in the year	2	3	France: 3xPlatinum (780,000)
1997	Remix Collector	-	-
1998	2 Be 3	4	6	France: 2xGold (160,000)
1999	Bercy 98	38	-	France: 30,000
2001	L'Essential	-	-
2001	Excuse My French	-	-

Singles

Year	Single	FR France The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...	BE Belgium Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...	French Sales
1996	"Partir un jour"	2	4	Gold (250,000)
1997	"Toujours là pour toi"	4	12	Gold
1997	"Donne"	8	19
1997	"La salsa"	7	11	Gold
1997	"Pour être libre"	15	17
1998	"Don't Say Goodbye"	14	22	Silver (125,000)
1998	"Regarde-moi"	27	-
2000	"Excuse My French"	71	-
2000	"Even If"	-	-