The Beautiful South was an English pop group formed at the end of the 1980s by two former members of Hull group The Housemartins, Paul Heaton and Dave Hemingway. Other members were Sean Welch (bass), Dave Stead (drums) and Dave Rotheray (guitar) and a succession of female vocalists - Briana Corrigan, Jacqui Abbott and Alison Wheeler. The group broke up in January 2007, claiming the split was due to "musical similarities", having sold around 15,000,000 records worldwide. In January 2009, it was announced that the former members Dave Hemingway, Alison Wheeler, and Dave Stead would reform under the name "New Beautiful South" which was later changed to "The South".