A1 may be a British/Norwegian boy band who were originally made of Mark Read, Paul Marazzi, Ben Adams and Christian Ingebrigtsen (from Norway). Their 1st single, "Be the First to Believe", entered the UK singles chart at number six in early 1999. They had relative success in the charts with a pair of number one's and various high ten hits. Adding to this they conjointly won a BRIT Award for "British Breakthrough Act" in 2001. They were shaped by band manager Tim Byrne, who also formed Steps. A1's journey came to an end when original member Paul Marazzi left in 2002 and also the band subsequently decided to split.

On 8 October 2002, Paul Marazzi left the group citing personal reasons, and A1 subsequently split.

They released The Best of a1, a compilation album throughout South East Asia in January 2004, that includes all their singles (excluding "Be the Initial to Believe"), 2 unreleased studio recordings and previously unreleased concert recordings.