We all know by now that the pop industry is a ruthless beast; discarding once-lucrative acts as soon as their fortunes start to dwindle.

So it’s remarkable – even now, 20 years later – that Atomic Kitten were even allowed to release Whole Again in the first place; given that its predecessor Follow Me stalled at No20 and parent album Right Now only made it as far as No39.

When they miraculously persuaded Virgin to take a punt on this last-ditch effort to turn things around, their chances didn’t look good. They really weren’t a top-tier pop group, their debut album era was already on its fifth single, the music video looked extremely low-budget… and when Kerry Katona quit just weeks ahead of its release, prompting a hasty line-up change, it seemed the writing was on the wall.

And yet! It was an immediate smash, and then some.

Whole Again entered at No1, ahead of U2, and stayed there for a whole month. It was so big that it secured the group’s future for another few years, and – get this!!! – it was the biggest-selling girlband song of the 2000s in the UK (the 13th biggest-selling single of the decade overall). With gentle, demographic-crossing production and sweet, heartfelt lyrics – plus some impressive ad-libs from Natasha Hamilton towards the end – it endeared itself to the masses, and became utterly inescapable.

So happy 20th birthday to this brilliant little career-saving song; the stuff of Radio 2 wet-dreams.