Girls Aloud dominated the charts for ten years from 2002 to 2012 with their catchy songs and easy-to-pick-up dance moves.
The group who found fame on ITV’s Popstars: The Rivals faced harsh criticism in their early days, with former manager Louis Walsh admitting he didn’t want the group and students chucking things at them during university gigs.
But they defied all the odds against them, with the chart-toppers going on to become one of the most successful girl groups in British history.
READ MORE: Kimberley Walsh and Jay McGuinness supporting each other after co-stars’ deaths
As the girls join forces today (July 24), to celebrate the Race For Life for Sarah, Daily Star has taken a look at some of their biggest moments.
Popstars: The Rivals
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Nadine Coyle, Sarah Harding, Cheryl Tweedy, Kimberley Walsh and Nicola Roberts all dreamed of becoming the next big popstar during their younger days.
In 2002, each girl auditioned for a new ITV show, Popstars, which aimed to create a boyband and a girlband to compete with one another for the Christmas Number One.
The group, which was formed on November 30, 2002, competed each Saturday night to win the public vote before the five girls were announced as members of Girls Aloud.
Sound of the Underground, their debut single, instantly topped the charts before spending four weeks at Number One, later being certified platinum.
Debut album
(Image: Press Association)
After the initial shock of winning Popstars, the girls spent five months locked away in the studio, working on their debut album, Sound of the Underground.
The record which was finished in April of 2003, was released just one month later, instantly landing at Number Two on the official charts before it was certified platinum by the British Phonographic Industry,
Following the success of the album, Girls Aloud released three further singles from the record, No Good Advice, Life Got Cold and their hit single, Jump, which featured in the film Love Actually.
The group went on to release a new edition of Sound of the Underground given its astronomical success.
First BRIT nomination
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Despite two impressive albums and seven singles under their belt, the girls were finally recognised by the BRIT Awards in 2005.
Three years after winning Popstars: The Rivals, the girls found themselves nominated for Best Pop Act, nominated alongside Avril Lavigne, West Life, Natasha Bedingfield and winners McFly.
But despite not walking home with the award, the girls eventually struck gold at the Capital FM Awards, winning the Favourite Pop Act in 2005.
They walked away with Band Of The Year at the 2005 Glamour Woman of the Year Awards.
Greatest Hits record
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Four years after finding fame and three albums later, the girls opted to release their first greatest hits record which sold an eye-watering 1.2 million copies in the UK alone.
Ahead of the release, there had been rumours the group were preparing to part ways after their third album, Chemistry but they were keen to squash these rumours.
The album featured one of their biggest anthems, Something Kinda Ooooh, which charted at number five, later number three.
But the album was surrounded by controversy as Irish member Nadine noticed the artwork only featured the Union Jack.
The songstress later demanded the flag of Ireland be added but an epic blunder saw the flag appear backwards, which makes it look like the flag of the Ivory Coast.
Sugababes collaboration
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The chart-mauling group joined forces with the Sugababes in 2007 to celebrate Comic Relief in what is one of the biggest collabs in girlband history.
Richard Curtis, the co-founder of Comic Relief came up with the two groups joining forces with the groups later being given several choices before eventually choosing the Run-D.M.C hit.
Walk This Way was Girls Aloud’s first single to not be produced by Brian Higgins and Xenomania but it topped the charts with the two groups going on to perform the single on the official Comic Relief programme.
It eventually left the charts after three weeks but remained in the top three.
Big screen fame
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Despite featuring on their own TV shows and already being household names, Girls Aloud planned to take the big screen by storm.
In 2007, the girls appeared in the comedy film St Trinian’s, alongside the likes of Gemma Arterton, Jodie Whittaker, Colin Firth and Elon Musk’s ex-wife, Talulah Riley.
The group appeared towards the end of the film as The Banned of St Trinian’s – the official band of the school, consisting of school girls.
Performing the title track to the film, St Trinian’s Chant, they certainly got their classmates in the party spirit but they didn’t return for the second film, with only Sarah Harding taking a starring role.
Dreams That Glitter
Six years after becoming household names, the girls were offered a lucrative publishing deal to lay their souls bare in their debut autobiography, Dreams That Glitter.
Sarah hit out at claims that she was always in a relationship with bad boys, saying: “I think going out with the wrong men has taught me what not to accept and as I’ve got older I’ve become stronger.
“Tommy’s [Crane] really only my third long-term relationship and it did feel different when we got together. I’m hoping to settle down with Tommy and have marriage and kids and all that.”
Cheryl shed light on her marriage to Ashley Cole, who had been accused of cheating with a hairdresser.
The Geordie star wrote: “People make mistakes, stuff happens. I believe everyone should be a free spirit.”
In a heartbreaking admission, Nadine revealed she was hit with a cancer scare aged just 17 after discovering a lump in her breast.
BRIT Award victory
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In 2009, they received a BRIT Award for their single The Promise, nominated for Best British Single – a night that Sarah will never forget.
Upon receiving the award, she grabbed the microphone from Kimberley Walsh and yelled: “It’s about time!” before the group went off to celebrate.
To celebrate their award, the group performed their single The Promise for the star-studded crowd in dazzling outfits, leaving the audience and fans at home speechless.
Just one year later, they were nominated for Best Live Performance at the BRIT Awards for The Promise but sadly didn’t win.
Wembley Stadium shows
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Their fifth tour, The Out Of Control Tour had originally consisted of just ten dates before they added more shows due to demand.
Girls Aloud eventually performed over 24 shows from April 24, 2009, to June 6. 2009, breaking records including four nights in Newcastle.
As part of their tour, the girls were invited to play at Wembley Stadium, supporting Coldplay on their Viva La Vida tour with American mega-star, Jay Z.
It’s believed the girls made an eye-watering £13.4 million from The Out Of Control Tour which was later released on DVD for fans to enjoy at home.
Reunion
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Three years after going on hiatus, Girls Aloud finally broke their silence and announced they would be reuniting to celebrate their tenth anniversary in 2012.
As part of their celebrations, they teamed up with Pandora to release five specially designed bracelets, with fans instantly flocking to the high street to get their hands on the jewellery.
They once again became the face of Comic Relief, with their comeback single Something New being the official Comic Relief song of 2012.
(Image: Getty Images)
During their campaign for their first number one, the girls used the slogan Buy Girls, Bye Boys – which once again appeared as they battled for the top spot against Olly Murs
Ten years, 21 top ten singles, four number ones and four platinum-selling albums later, the girls embarked on their Ten: The Hits Tour, performing to fans up and down the country.
Sadly, the group announced just an hour after coming off stage in Liverpool on March 20, 2013, that they would be disbanding.
Race for Life for Sarah
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Today, Nadine, Cheryl and Nicola will be in London’s Hyde Park, taking part in the Race for Life for Sarah, raising vital funds for Cancer Research, while Kimberley will take part remotely.
Sarah tragically died aged 39 on September 5, 2021, after a battle with breast cancer which later spread, leaving her bandmates devastated.
Before her death, the girls promised Sarah that they would keep her memory alive and help raise vital funds for cancer research and The Christies, where she received treatment.
To sign up for the event and to raise funds, click here.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
