Girls Aloud biography
Despite their prefabricated
formation through a television program called Popstars:
The Rivals, Girls Aloud achieved both mainstream success and
widespread critical acclaim in their native England. Through Popstars' process of elimination, Girls Aloud's membership amounted to Nadine Coyle, Sarah
Harding, Nicola Roberts, Cheryl Cole (née Tweedy),
and Kimberley Walsh. The group took shape in November 2002, and soon began
a streak of Top Ten singles that broke a record for all-woman groups and
remained unbroken through the end of 2006, when the compilation The Sound
of Girls Aloud: The Greatest Hits was issued. Their first three proper
albums -- 2003's Sound of the Underground, 2004's What Will the
Neighbours Say?, and 2005's Chemistry -- were similarly successful,
though the latter stalled at number 11 on the album chart. Girls Aloud recharged
with Tangled Up (2007) and Out of Control (2008), a pair of
albums that were just as strong as any others in their past. As with their
second and third albums, these releases were produced exclusively by Brian
Higgins and Xenomania. The latter release was the group's fourth
number one U.K. album. Ten, the group's second compilation, was released
in November 2012 and featured four new songs.