Beyonce’s moves are so iconic that they have spawned thousands of dance classes around the world inspired by her.
Yet it is now claimed that perhaps her most signature move – her famous booty shake – actually came from a very unexpected source.
In the BBC documentary Boybands Forever, 1990s British group 911 laid claim to the move, saying they taught Beyoncé how to do it.
The group, formed in 1995 from Lee Brennan, Jimmy Constable and Simon ‘Spike’ Dawbarn, scored ten UK top 10 singles in the five years before splitting up.
For their 1997 hit Bodyshakin’, they shook their bodies during the performance, with Spike revealing that Beyonce was fascinated by their show.
He explained, “There’s something about that move… we did a TV show with Destiny’s Child. We performed and we did Bodyshakin’ and Beyonce was like “show us that move! Keep doing it”.’
Beyonce’s moves are so iconic that they have spawned dance classes all over the world. Yet it is now claimed that her famous booty shake actually came from a very unexpected source.
Speaking on Boybands Forever, British group 911 laid claim to the move, saying they taught Beyonce how to do it (L-R Simon ‘Spike’ Dawburn, Jimmy Constable and Lee Brennan in 1996)
Spike continued, “And Jimmy and I just stood there moving because if Beyonce asked you to, you did it!
“So when you watch Beyoncé’s butt-shaking videos, I’m like, ‘Ah, she robbed him!’ We did it first!’
This is not the first time Beyoncé has been accused of stealing dance moves.
In 2011, Belgian choreographer Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker claimed that the singer had copied some of her moves for her single Countdown..
Speaking to a Danish blog, De Keersmaeker said she had not been asked for permission by Beyoncé’s record label to use her original work.
‘I didn’t know anything about this. “I’m not angry, but this is plagiarism,” she said.
Meanwhile, speaking about the inspiration behind Bodyshakin’ songwriter, John McLaughlin mused on the BBC show: ‘Spike and Jimmy were fantastic dancers. It wasn’t even dancing, it was acrobatics…
“So I thought, OK, let’s give them a song with a theme. We wanted it to sound like a dance. A word that sticks in your head.
“When Bodyshakin’ came along, I thought, oh, that’s it!”
MailOnline has contacted Beyoncé’s representatives for comment.
Spike revealed, “We did a TV show with Destiny’s Child. We did Bodyshakin’ and Beyonce was like “show us that move! Keep doing it.” She robbed it!’
For their 1997 hit Bodyshakin’, the band shook their bodies during the performance, with Spike revealing that Beyonce was fascinated by their show and asked them how to perform the move.
It’s not the first time Beyonce has been accused of stealing dance moves (pictured in her music video for her 2011 hit Countdown)
Belgian choreographer Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker previously claimed that the singer had copied some of her moves for her single Countdown
Boybands Forever revealed the dark side of bands from the 90s and 00s, with Lee admitting that his time with 911 was “a whirlwind of planes, hotels, gigs, press conferences.”
“We were so tired and we didn’t have a minute to think,” he admitted, before saying he found the attention from fans difficult to handle.
The band broke up in 2010 and Jimmy was tasked with breaking the news in a live radio interview on the Chris Moyles Show on Radio 1 in 2000.
In an interview with The Guardian in 2005, Jimmy revealed the impact it had on him. “I didn’t have time to think about it,” he said.
‘I had a lump in my throat when I said it, then we came out of Radio 1 and the other two boys went to the pub. I got in my car and left and I never saw them for two years.”
After the band split, Jimmy turned to drink and drugs, dealing with an addiction battle that eventually led to an appearance on the Jeremy Kyle show in 2013.
Following their split, 911 have reunited for several performances in recent years.
Just last year, the group collaborated with Vietnamese singer Đức Phúc for a bilingual version of I Do in English and Vietnamese, which reached No. 1 on the Billboard Top 100 in Vietnam.
They had several top 10 hits including Bodyshakin, Private Number and All I Want Is You.
Formed in 1995, the group scored ten UK top 10 singles in the five years before splitting up. They had several top 10 hits including Bodyshakin, Private Number and All I Want Is You
911 has reunited for several performances in recent years, and last year the group collaborated with Vietnamese singer Đức Phúc for a bilingual version of I Do in English and Vietnamese.