Top 5 with Shannon Bex

shannon bex, portland trailblazers, danity kane, oregon celebrities, oregon artists
Shannon Bex / Photo by Paula Watts

written by Kevin Max | photo by Paula Watts


A native of Bend, Shannon Bex, 31, started her career as one of the Portland Trailblazer dancers and front woman for the band 5 Guys Named Moe. Since then, she was first runner-up on the NBC reality show “Fame.” In 2005, Sean “Diddy” Combs selected her to join his MTV hit reality show “Making The Band,” in which contestants compete to be members of a band. Bex made the band and became a member of the multi-platinum selling group, Danity Kane.

Danity Kane’s first and second albums released at the top of the Billboard Top 200 chart, earning the group a Guinness Book of World Record distinction as the first female group in Billboard history to make two consecutive albums at the top of the charts. Though the group had international recognition and saw much success in their four years together, Combs disbanded the group in 2009.

The Oregon singer moved back to Oregon to form her own band, Bex, with classmates from Mountain View High in Bend. This new country band debuted at the Dance Track Artist Awards in Los Angeles in March, 2011.

5 things…

I never would have known or done before the entertainment business

1 The “creator of all things sexy” Sean Diddy Combs wears socks with his sandals.

2 When on the red carpet, avoid running against the flow of traffic to meet your idol (Wynonna Judd) and definitely resist singing her song to her in the process.

3 Yes, you may be a platinum recording artist living in a mansion in Miami on a hit reality show, but you will be more excited to get your $36 per diem so you can eat and send money back home for rent and bills.

4 Always read past the headlines for the full story. For example, I have a picture of Taylor Swift dancing on a table. The full truth is that she was singing a country karaoke song on a coffee table at a Christmas party.

5 Danity Kane’s name was going to be Queen 5. Need I say who’s idea that was? Think socks and sandals.

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