PCD

PCD is the debut studio album by American girl group the Pussycat Dolls, released on September 12, 2005, by A&M Records. In 1995, the Pussycat Dolls were created as a burlesque troupe by choreographer Robin Antin. After attracting media attention, Antin struck a joint venture with Interscope Records to develop the Pussycat Dolls into a brand, with Jimmy Iovine assigning the project to Ron Fair. As one of the executive producers Fair produced the majority of the album and collaborated with producers like Kwamé, Polow da Don and Rich Harrison. The music style of PCD was described as pop/R&B and urban dance-pop. Lyrically the album incorporates sexual innuendo and explores the themes of feminism and romance. It features guest vocals from rappers Busta Rhymes, Timbaland and will.i.am.

PCD received mixed reviews from contemporary music critics who were favorable towards the selection of dance-pop songs but criticized the album's ballads and covers, feeling it contradicted the group's sexual image. PCD exceeded industry expectations and became a commercial success, reaching the summit in New Zealand and peaking in the top-ten in Australia, Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland. In the United States, it peaked at number five on the Billboard 200 selling nearly three million copies and currently stands as fourth best-selling album by a girl group in the United Kingdom (with sales of 1.3 million copies) where it reached number eight on the UK Albums Chart.

The first four singles from PCD—"Don't Cha", "Stickwitu", "Beep" and "Buttons"—were commercially successful topping the charts in various countries including New Zealand where all four of them reached atop the singles chart. Subsequent singles, "I Don't Need a Man" and "Wait a Minute", were less successful. Promotion includes radio appearances, print interviews, and live performances of its songs in various television shows such as the 2005 MTV Europe Music Awards and the American Music Awards of 2006. In conjunction with these appearances, the Pussycat Dolls extensively toured the album in a combination of headlining and supporting shows until 2007.