Girls Aloud

Girls Aloud are a UK girl group that were created on the ITV1 talent show Popstars: The Rivals ^{Popstars The Rivals} in 2002. The group, consisting of singer songwriters Nadine Coyle, Nicola Roberts, Cheryl Cole, Sarah Harding, and Kimberley Walsh have been successful in achieving a string of 20 consecutive UK Top 10 singles (including four number ones and four number twos, also 15 top five singles), and two UK number one albums. All their albums are certified platinum, and have been nominated for five BRIT Awards, winning Best Single in 2009 for "The Promise ^{The Promise (Girls Aloud song)} ".

Girls Aloud have become one of the few UK reality television acts to achieve continued success, amassing a fortune of £25 million by May 2009. Guinness World Records lists them as "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. The band have been working with Xenomania, who produce all of their material, since the start of their careers. The group has sold seven million records worldwide.
Girls Aloud are currently in a year-long hiatus to pursue solo projects, but will reunite for a new studio album in 2010.

  Girls Aloud were formed on 30 November 2002, in front of millions of viewers on the ITV1 programme Popstars: The Rivals ^{Popstars The Rivals} . The concept of the programme, hosted by Big Brother ^{Big Brother (UK)} presenter Davina McCall, was to produce a boyband ^{boy band} and a girlgroup ^{girl group} who would be "rivals" and compete for the 2002 Christmas number one single. Following the initial success of Hear'Say (winners of the original Popstars show), several thousand applicants attended auditions across the UK in hope of being selected. Ten girls and ten boys were chosen as finalists by judges Pete Waterman, Louis Walsh and Geri Halliwell. However, two of these were disqualified before the live shows began: Hazel Kaneswaren was found to be too old to participate whilst Nicola Ward refused to sign the contract, claiming the pay the group would receive was too low. Kimberley Walsh and Nicola Roberts, who had made it into the final fifteen but not the final ten, were chosen as their replacements.

During October and November, the finalists took to the stage participating in weekly Saturday night live performances (alternating week-by-week between the girls and boys). Each week the contestant polling the fewest phone votes was eliminated, until the final line-ups of the groups emerged. The five girls who made it into the group were (in the order announced by the host) Cheryl, Nicola, Nadine, Kimberley and Sarah; Javine Hylton missed out on a place in the group, despite previous expectations that she would be placed in the line-up.
The two groups competed to become 2002's Christmas number one ^{Christmas number-one singles in the UK} single. Girls Aloud won the battle with their single "Sound of the Underground ^{Sound of the Underground (song)} ", produced by Brian Higgins ^{Brian Higgins (producer)} and Xenomania. The song spent four consecutive weeks at number one and was certified platinum in March 2003. "Sound of the Underground" received critical acclaim; Alexis Petridis of The Guardian wrote that it "proved a first: it was a reality pop record that didn't make you want to do physical harm to everyone involved in its manufacture." "Sound of the Underground" and another Xenomania production, Sugababes' "Round Round", have been called "two huge groundbreaking hits", credited with reshaping British pop music for the 2000s. The Telegraph ^{The Daily Telegraph} placed the song at number 15 on a list of 100 songs that defined the noughties, while NME included it at number 39. Spinner.com named "Sound of the Underground" the eighth best British song of the 2000s. Originally tipped to be more successful than Girls Aloud, One True Voice released just two singles before disbanding in the summer of 2003.
2002–03: Sound of the Underground





After the success of their first single "Sound of the Underground", Girls Aloud spent five months recording the follow-up single and their debut album. Sound of the Underground was completed in April 2003 and released the following month, described as a mix of "Blondie and Bananarama, with a smattering of the Spice Girls at their best thrown in." The album entered the charts at number two and was certified platinum by the British Phonographic Industry. One of the tracks, "Girls Allowed", was written for the group by ex-Westlife star Bryan McFadden, while "Some Kind of Miracle" was co-written by former B*Witched member Edele Lynch. The second single, "No Good Advice", was also released in May 2003 to similar success. Nadine Coyle said, "We waited from December to May before releasing a second single because we knew it had to be our strong point or we might as well kiss our careers goodbye." Kimberley Walsh further exclaimed, "We knew it was strong enough to come back with." for which Oasis songwriter Noel Gallagher has been credited.

In November 2003, Girls Aloud released a cover ^{cover version} of the Pointer Sisters' 1980s dance hit "Jump ^{Jump (for My Love)#Girls Aloud version} ". The song appeared on the soundtrack to the 2003 film Love Actually, recorded at the request of director Richard Curtis. According to Cheryl Cole in Girls Aloud's 2008 autobiography Dreams That Glitter - Our Story, the single "was the point when we realized everything we'd been doing was quite down and moody [...] and that's not what people wanted." Nicola Roberts further stated it "was meant to be. It was a turning point and everyone loved it." The single, which charted at number two, accompanied a new edition of Sound of the Underground. The reissue featured a new album cover and the replacement of three original songs with "Jump", "You Freak Me Out" (which appeared on the soundtrack of Freaky Friday ^{Freaky Friday (2003 film)} ) and "Girls on Film" (a cover of a Duran Duran song originally a B-side to "Life Got Cold"). "You Freak Me Out" was planned as the group's fifth single; however, the plans for this release were scrapped as work began on a second album.


2003–05: What Will the Neighbours Say?



After a brief hiatus, Girls Aloud released "The Show ^{The Show (song)} " in June 2004, the first single from their second album. It had an unusual structure for a pop song, consisting of a number of interchanged sections rather than the more typical verse-chorus form. Polydor built excitement for the release and the group's new look with a promotional campaign featuring five empty director's chairs with each of the girls' names on. "The Show" entered the charts at number two. The next single, "Love Machine ^{Love Machine (Girls Aloud song)} ", also peaked at number two in September 2004. "Love Machine" was nominated for ITV's The Record of the Year and finished in sixth place. Girls Aloud recorded a cover of The Pretenders' "I'll Stand by You ^{I'll Stand by You#Girls Aloud version} " as the official Children In Need charity single. Released in November 2004, the cover became Girls Aloud's second number one single, holding the position for two weeks.

What Will the Neighbours Say?, the group's second album, was entirely written and produced by Xenomania. Released on 29 November 2004, it entered the top ten and was quickly certified platinum. What Will the Neighbours Say? received excellent reviews; most critics deemed it an improvement on their debut release. The final single from the album, "Wake Me Up ^{Wake Me Up (song)} ", was released in February 2005. It charted at number four, making it their first to miss the top three but still their eighth top-five single. In early 2005, the group won Glamour Magazine's "Band of the Year" award, and were also nominated for a BRIT Award ^{BRIT Awards} for Best Pop Act. Following the album's success, Girls Aloud announced their first tour What Will the Neighbours Say? Live, which took place in May 2005. The group also released their first DVD, Girls on Film ^{Girls on Film (DVD)} .


2005–06: Chemistry





Following their first tour, Girls Aloud began work on their third studio album, Chemistry ^{Chemistry (Girls Aloud album)} . The album was described as "a concept album which relates to the girls and what it's like to be a twentysomething girl in London". The Guardian said that the album's "lyrics sound like Blur ^{Blur (band)} 's Parklife rewritten by the editorial staff of Heat ^{Heat (magazine)} magazine" and "holds a distinctly ambiguous mirror up to noughties celebrity." The album peaked on the charts at number eleven, their lowest so far, despite overwhelming critical acclaim. It was their third consecutive album to be certified platinum ^{Platinum record} . *** listed Chemistry as one of the decade's best albums.

The first single from the album was "Long Hot Summer ^{Long Hot Summer (Girls Aloud song)} ", recorded for inclusion on the soundtrack to the 2005 ^{2005 in film} Walt Disney Pictures reboot ^{reboot (fiction)} of the Herbie franchise, Herbie: Fully Loaded, although plans fell through. Released in August 2005, the single ended Girls Aloud's run of top five singles when it charted at number seven. The single was followed by the critically acclaimed "Biology ^{Biology (song)} ". The single saw a return to the top five for Girls Aloud, peaking at number four. Peter Cashmore of The Guardian labeled it "the best pop single of the last decade". Despite Girls Aloud's near total obscurity in the United States, the song was listed at number 245 on Pitchfork Media's "The Top 500 Tracks of the 2000s" list in 2009.

The release was followed by a cover of Dee C. Lee's "See the Day ^{See the Day#Girls Aloud version} ", released in the Christmas week of 2005. "See the Day" became Girls Aloud's biggest hit in terms of radio airplay since "Sound of the Underground", but became their lowest-charting single at the time when it peaked at number nine. Girls Aloud won the Heart Award for the single at the O2 Silver Clef Lunch. The group travelled to Australia and New Zealand in February 2006 to release "Biology" and Chemistry. Despite, a one-week promotional tour, "Biology" peaked at number twenty-six on the ARIA Singles Chart ^{ARIA Charts} , failing to break the group in the Australian market. "Whole Lotta History", the fourth and final single to be taken from Chemistry, was released in March 2006. The single charted at number six. In May 2006, Girls Aloud embarked on their second UK tour (and first arena tour), Chemistry Tour. The group performed for over 100,000 people across ten UK arenas, receiving critical acclaim. In the same month, Girls Aloud were moved to Fascination Records, a sub-label of Polydor Records; all future Girls Aloud releases will be published by Fascination Records.


2006–07: The Sound of Girls Aloud





In October 2006, Girls Aloud released their first greatest hits collection, The Sound of Girls Aloud. It debuted at number one on the UK album chart and went on to sell over one million copies. A limited edition was also available, featuring a bonus disc containing previously unreleased tracks. The album was accompanied by the single "Something Kinda Ooooh". Girls Aloud became the first British act to reach the top five purely on download sales; the single peaked at number three following its physical release. The next single was a cover of "I Think We're Alone Now ^{I Think We're Alone Now#Girls Aloud version} ", was dedicated to Jordan Duncan by "Cheryl Cole", this was previously a hit single for Tommy James and The Shondells (in 1967) and for Tiffany ^{Tiffany (singer)} (in 1987). The release marked the third time Girls Aloud had entered the Christmas chart battle; it peaked at number four. The song was also the official theme to the film It's a Boy Girl Thing. Girls Aloud collaborated with fellow British girl group Sugababes for their fifteenth single, a cover of the song "Walk This Way ^{Walk This Way#Sugababes vs. Girls Aloud} " by Aerosmith. The track was released in March 2007 as the official single for Comic Relief ^{Comic Relief (charity)} , billed as "Sugababes vs. Girls Aloud". It became the group's third number one and their fifteenth consecutive top ten single. In May 2007, Girls Aloud went on their third tour, The Sound of Girls Aloud: The Greatest Hits Tour. During the tour, the group appeared at fifteen arenas across the UK and Ireland.


2007–08: Tangled Up



Girls Aloud released their fourth studio album, Tangled Up, in November 2007. Called "yet another unrelenting pop masterpiece" by BBC, the album received was another commercial and critical success. It continued their streak of platinum albums. In 2009, The Times included it at number 62 on a list of the decade's best pop albums,

The first single, "***y! No No No...", was another top five single. It was described as "one of the most daring songs they've yet released" and "yet another sample of their [Girls Aloud's] perfect pop: bold, sassy, slightly loopy and unbelievably catchy." "Call the Shots", which entered the top three, welcomed even more critical acclaim, with pop music journalist Peter Robinson ^{Peter Robinson (journalist)} calling it the "greatest pop song of the 21st century." Cheryl Cole cited the song is her favourite from Tangled Up, and that it "gives me goosebumps ^{Goose bumps} ". The third and final single from the album, "Can't Speak French", continued Girls Aloud's top ten streak. A French version and "Hoxton Heroes", a satirical track aimed towards indie bands, as B-sides. Girls Aloud also received their second BRIT Award ^{BRIT Awards} nomination in 2008, nominated for the Best British Group award. In May and June 2008, Girls Aloud embarked on the Tangled Up Tour — their third arena tour and fourth overall. They played a total of 34 concerts around the UK.


2008–09: Out of Control




In 2008, Girls Aloud released their fifth studio album Out of Control ^{Out of Control (Girls Aloud album)} . The group called it their "most exciting and thrilling album yet". It entered the UK Albums Chart at number one. The album's lead single, "The Promise ^{The Promise (Girls Aloud song)} ", became their fourth number one on the UK Singles Chart, selling more than 77,000 singles in its first week of release — making it the fastest-selling single of 2008 up to that point. The single returned the group to the top two on the Irish Singles Chart.. Brian Higgins said, "We knew that was the piece of music Girls Aloud needed to announce them as a supergroup in this country, so we knew we couldn't drop the ball melodically or lyrically." Girls Aloud also performed at the BRIT Awards for the first time in their careers, with "The Promise" being awarded Best British Single.
"The Loving Kind", co-written by Pet Shop Boys, became the girls' twentieth consecutive top ten single. "Untouchable ^{Untouchable (Girls Aloud song)} ", the third single from the album, was released to coincide with the Out of Control Tour, which commenced in April 2009. In September 2009, Girls Aloud supported Coldplay along with Jay-Z at two Wembley Stadium dates. Fascination Records released a singles boxset collection to coincide with the tour.


2009–Present: Hiatus


Girls Aloud have signed a new record deal with Fascination which will see the group release another three albums. In 2009, it was announced that Girls Aloud would partake in a year-long hiatus ^{Recess (break)} to pursue solo projects, but would reunite for a new studio album in 2010.152 in the charts and just over 1,000 downloads. It is unknown whether the band will reunite this year as Nadine Coyle is still to release her solo album, Cheryl Cole is planning on releasing a new album later this year and Sarah Harding is just beginning work on her solo album. But later Cheryl confirmed on radio's 1 live lounge that girls aloud have signed a three album record deal before the hitus she said: "We did sign a three album record deal just before we all did our own thing."The last time we did anything together was when we supported Coldplay at Wembley, which was only September, so it hasn't even been a year. We haven't really spoken about anything yet."There are three albums just sitting there waiting to do – it just hasn't been put into place yet."

Other musical projects

Girls Aloud also appeared on the 2007 compilation Radio 1: Established 1967, celebrating the 40th anniversary of BBC Radio 1, with a cover of Wheatus' "Teenage Dirtbag", as well as singing backing vocals on Franz Ferdinand ^{Franz Ferdinand (band)} 's cover of David Bowie's "Sound and Vision". In addition to these appearances, Girls Aloud recorded two tracks for the soundtrack to the new St Trinian's ^{St Trinian's (2007 film)} movie ("Theme to St. Trinian's" and "On My Way to Satisfaction"). They also make a cameo appearance in the film as the school band. The soundtrack ^{St Trinian's: Original Soundtrack} was released on 10 December 2007, and the video for "Theme to St. Trinian's" premiered in mid December 2007. On 6 January 2008, "Theme to St. Trinian's" became the first Girls Aloud song to enter the UK Singles Chart without any plans of a physical release, peaking at number fifty-one. Additionally, the girls also performed covers of Amy Winehouse's "Rehab ^{Rehab (Amy Winehouse song)} ", Robyn's "With Every Heartbeat", and Timbaland & OneRepublic's "Apologize ^{Apologize (song)} " for Jo Whiley's Live Lounge programme on BBC Radio 1.

Girls Aloud recorded backing vocals for "My Love Is Better" from Norwegian pop singer Annie ^{Annie (Norwegian singer)} 's second album Don't Stop ^{Don't Stop (Annie album)} . It was reported that their mutual producer Brian Higgins didn't ask for permission, which upset Girls Aloud. However, Annie herself revealed in an interview that "Brian asked them if they'd like to help out. They were really up for it and came into my studio and it was really fun." She continued, "of course their record company said no and they ended up not singing on the song after all. I thought it was a little bit stupid but what can you say? It wasn't my choice. They were really nice, very sweet."
Film and television

In 2005, Girls Aloud filmed a one-off documentary ^{Documentary film} entitled Girls Aloud: Home Truths for ITV2. The group witnessed the group's first tour, the release of their single "Long Hot Summer ^{Long Hot Summer (Girls Aloud song)} ", and recording sessions for the group's third studio album Chemistry ^{Chemistry (Girls Aloud album)} . The success of the show later made way for Off the Record ^{Girls Aloud: Off the Record} , a six-part fly on the wall documentary ^{Documentary film} series ^{Television program} for E4 ^{E4 (channel)} . The program started its run on 11 April 2006. The series was filmed during the Chemistry era and focused on the band's promotional activities, including the shooting of the "Biology ^{Biology (song)} " video and the lead-up to and aftermath of the release of "Whole Lotta History". It also showed the band travelling abroad, to places such as Greece, Paris, Shanghai and Australia. A DVD of the series, which included an unaired episode, was released on 4 September 2006. Girls Aloud then appeared in an episode of Ghosthunting with... (without Nadine) towards the end of 2006, in which Yvette Fielding guided them through haunted locations.

In April 2007, Girls Aloud filmed a cameo appearance in the new St. Trinian's ^{St Trinian's (2007 film)} movie, playing the school band. The film was released in the UK on 21 December 2007, with Girls Aloud providing two songs for the movie's original soundtrack ^{St Trinian's (soundtrack)} . The Girls also make a cameo appearance in the Oasis ^{Oasis (band)} documentary ^{Documentary film} , Lord Don't Slow Me Down. The girl group starred in a new television series on ITV2, Passions of Girls Aloud, broadcast from 14 March to 4 April 2008. The premise of the show involves each member achieving something that they have always wanted to do. It was reported on the 13 November 2007 that Nadine would not be taking part, due to the programme's bosses refusing to let her undertake charity work.

Cheryl Cole became a judge on The X Factor ^{The X Factor (UK)} during its fifth series ^{The X Factor (UK series 5)} , replacing Sharon Osborne. Cheryl said that "whilst we get started on the next album, it will be brilliant to be a judge on The X Factor." Her fellow judge Louis Walsh was a judge on Popstars: The Rivals and formerly managed Girls Aloud. Cheryl's category on the X Factor was the 14 to 24 Girls, and her act Alexandra Burke made it to the final, and eventually won. The following year she returned as a judge she mentored the boys 16 to 24 boys and her act Joe McElderry made it to the final and eventually won as well. Girls Aloud appeared in a variety show entitled The Girls Aloud Party. The show aired on 13 December 2008 on ITV, between The X Factor finale and its results show. Girls Aloud performed hits and revealed their Christmas single, as well chatting to showbiz pals and performing comic sketches. Kimberley and Nicola also made a cameo appearance in the family drama show Britannia High. Sarah has starred in the direct-to-DVD feature film Bad Day as Jade Jennings, starred in a BBC film called Freefall ^{Freefall (BBC TV)} in 2009 and also starred in St. Trinian's II: The Legend of Fritton's Gold.


Merchandise and sponsorship deals

Girls Aloud came together with Mattel in 2005 to produce Fashion Fever Barbies. Each member designed the outfit and look of a doll modeled after themselves. In addition to live DVDs of their tours and both of Girls Aloud's television series, the group has also released Girls on Film ^{Girls on Film (DVD)} and Style ^{Style (DVD)} . Official calendars have also been issued annually from 2004 to 2009, the only exception being 2005. Girls Aloud co-wrote an autobiography titled Dreams That Glitter – Our Story ^{Dreams that Glitter - Our Story} . The book, named after a lyric in "Call the Shots", was published in October 2008 through the Transworld ^{Transworld (company)} imprint Bantam Press. Before the release, OK! magazine bought the rights to preview and serialise the book.

In 2007, Girls Aloud signed a £1.25m one-year deal to endorse hair care brand Sunsilk. The girls filmed a television advertisement and appeared in and magazine advertisements, with each of the five members being the face of a different shampoo. The same year, Girls Aloud also sealed a deal with the UK division of Samsung. They endorsed mobile phones and MP3 players, made personal appearances and sang at Samsung events, and contributed to competition prizes, among other activities. The Samsung F210 Purple came with a 1GB memory card featuring Girls Aloud content. Girls Aloud appeared in television advertisements for Nintendo DS the following year. The girl group signed a deal to front a promotional campaign for a new low-calorie KitKat bar called "Senses" in March 2008. The chocolate bar manufacturer also sponsored Girls Aloud's Tangled Up Tour. The exact worth of the endorsement is unknown, but a figure of £500,000 each has been suggested. Sales increased 6.8% in the United Kingdom. In Autumn 2009 Cheryl Cole became the new face of Loreal, starring in her own commercial for Loreal shampoo.


Obscenity case

A landmark obscenity case ^{Obscene Publications Acts} was brought before the British courts in 2009, involving an online story which featured the group. Believed to have been the first use of the Obscene Publications Act for written material since 1991, The case was dismissed on 29 June 2009, as the prosecution offered no evidence.*2003 – Sound of the Underground
*2004 – What Will the Neighbours Say?
*2005 – Chemistry ^{Chemistry (Girls Aloud album)}
*2006 - The Sound of Girls Aloud
*2007 – Tangled Up
*2008 – Out of Control ^{Out of Control (Girls Aloud album)}
Headlining

* 2005 – What Will the Neighbours Say? Live ^{What Will the Neighbours Say? Live (DVD)} (Theatre/Arena tour)>
* 2006 – Chemistry Tour ^{Girls Aloud: Greatest Hits Live From Wembley Arena} (Arena tour)>
* 2007 – The Greatest Hits Tour (Arena tour)>
* 2008 – Tangled Up Tour (Arena tour)>
* 2009 – Out of Control Tour (Arena tour)>


As supporting act

* 2009 – Viva la Vida Tour:See main article: Girls Aloud Discography ^{Girls Aloud discography#Music videos} .Girls Aloud have many celebrity fans such as the Jonas Brothers, Matt Helders, Duff McKagan,
They have also received varied compliments from legends in the music industry like U2 frontman Bono who revealed at the 2009 Brit Awards that he is a fan of the band when he spoke about them and said "Seriously I think Girls Aloud are at the cutting edge of pop music. They are a great band and they deserve to be centre stage". Chris Martin of the more modern rock band Coldplay also said that he is a fan of Girls Aloud, referring to them as "the ultimate form of life".

Former Spice Girls members Emma Bunton and Geri Halliwell are reported to be fans of Girls Aloud as well after they were seen at a concert.

The band themselves are known to be fans of artists such as Oasis ^{Oasis (band)} , Ne-Yo and Michael Jackson.

They have had their music covered by artists as varied as Arctic Monkeys and Bloc Party.
Chris Martin who is also a Girls Aloud fan has said that he wishes for his band Coldplay to do a rock version of one of the girl's pop tunes some time. Coldplay performed a portion of "Call the Shots" at a concert in Brixton.

English writer and novelist Julie Burchill has also stated that she is a fan of Girls Aloud. She has stated that they are 'simply the most perfect pop group since The Monkees'.