Girls Aloud

Girls Aloud
Girls Aloud performing live during the Ten: The Hits Tour in 2013
Background information
Origin	London, England
Genres	Pop electropop dance-pop dance-rock
Years active	2002–2009 2012–2013 2023–present
Labels	Polydor Fascination
Members	Cheryl Nadine Coyle Nicola Roberts Kimberley Walsh
Past members	Sarah Harding

Girls Aloud are a British pop girl group that was created through the ITV talent show Popstars: The Rivals in 2002. The line up consisted of members Cheryl Tweedy, Nadine Coyle, Sarah Harding, Nicola Roberts and Kimberley Walsh. In 2012, the group was named as the United Kingdom's biggest selling girl group of the 21st century so far, with over 4.3 million singles sales and 4 million albums sold in the UK alone.^[1] During their two decades together, the group achieved a string of twenty top ten singles on the UK Singles Chart, including four number ones. They also achieved seven certified albums, two of which debut at number one. They have been nominated for five Brit Awards, winning the 2009 Best Single for "The Promise".

The group's main musical style is pop, but they had experimented with other sounds including electropop, dance-pop and dance-rock throughout their career. Girls Aloud's collaborations with Brian Higgins and his songwriting and production team Xenomania earned the group critical acclaim,^[2] because of an innovative approach to mainstream pop music. The group became one of the few UK reality television acts to achieve continued success, amassing a fortune of £30 million by May 2010. Guinness World Records listed them as the "Most Successful Reality TV Group" in the 2007 edition. They also hold the record for "Most Consecutive Top Ten Entries in the UK by a Female Group" in the 2008 edition, and are credited again for "Most Successful Reality TV Group" in the 2011 edition.^[3]

The group went on an indefinite hiatus in March 2013 following the conclusion of the Ten: The Hits Tour.^[4] Band member Sarah Harding died of breast cancer on 5 September 2021, at the age of 39.^[5] In May 2024, the remaining members are set to embark on an arena tour – The Girls Aloud Show. Consisting of thirty shows, it will be dedicated in memory of Harding and serve as a "celebration" of their music.