Girls Aloud are a Smash Hits Poll Winners, TMF Award winning and BRIT Award nominated British girl group who found fame after winning the ITV1 talent show Popstars: The Rivals in 2002 on which they were created. The group, consisting of Cheryl Cole (née Tweedy), Nadine Coyle, Sarah Harding, Nicola Roberts and Kimberley Walsh, has gone on to become one of the most successful British pop groups of the decade with a record breaking sixteen consecutive Top 10 singles (including three number ones), four platinum albums (including a number one) and record sales in excess of 4.6 million in the UK alone.
Their British production team Xenomania are well-known for embracing various influences, from Electronica, House, Power Pop and Dance among others. Indeed, the music of Girls Aloud ranges from the distinctly 1980s sound of "No Good Advice" and "Jump" to the sixties sound of "Love Machine" to the more futuristic sound of " The Show" and "Sexy! No No No..."
Girls Aloud hold the record for the shortest time between forming and reaching number one in the UK Charts (with their platinum-selling début single "Sound of the Underground"), and have since become one of the few reality television groups to have had continued success with Guinness World Records listing them as the Most Successful Reality TV Group in the 2007 edition. Their record of sixteen consecutive top ten singles is also unmatched by any other girl group, beating the Spice Girls' previous record of ten, but not Spice Girls' record of number 1s.
For a contemporary pop group manufactured on reality television they have received unprecedented praise from broadsheet newspapers and the rock music press, with publications including the Observer Music Monthly, giving their music rave reviews, with The Observer calling "Biology" the "single of the decade".

Formation

2002–2004: Sound of the Underground

Main article: What Will the Neighbours Say? 2004–2005: What Will the Neighbours Say?

Main article: Chemistry (album) 2005–2006: Chemistry

Main article: The Sound of Girls Aloud 2006–2007: The Sound of Girls Aloud

Main article: Tangled Up 2007 - Present: Tangled Up
The Popjustice £20 Music Prize is awarded every year by a panel of judges (or sometimes a public vote) to the best British pop single of the previous twelve months. The competition has been running since 2003. Girls Aloud have been nominated every year, and have won it three times.

2003 "No Good Advice" - won
2004 "The Show" - short-listed (2nd)
2005 "Wake Me Up" - won
2006 "Biology" - won
2007 "Something Kinda Ooooh" - short-listed (4th) Popjustice

Non-musical issues

Main article: Girls Aloud: Off the Record Girls Aloud: Off the Record
The Girls are to star in a new television series on ITV2, Passions, sometime before Christmas. The premise of the show will be the girls achieving something that they have always wanted to do:


Cheryl will try street dancing in Compton
Kimberley will try musicals in the West End
Nicola will be creating her own make-up range
Sarah will be learning Polo in Argentina
Nadine will learn to conduct a classical orchestra. Passions
The group also remain constant tabloid fodder.
June 2006 saw the group facing a great deal of press attention: first rumours that Harding was tired of the band and quitting to go solo, which prompted the singer to post a message on the group's official website stating she "would be insane to even consider leaving". Tweedy's relationship with footballer Ashley Cole has kept her in the papers. During the 2006 World Cup in June and July 2006, she was in the paper along with other WAGs. Coyle and Harding have recently been in the tabloids because of their Hollywood relationships. Coyle was dating Jesse Metcalfe of Desperate Housewives before she dumped him for cheating on her. Harding was rumoured to be seeing Stephen Dorff, and she dated Daily Star writer Joe Mott, although the couple have since split up. August 2007 saw the girls defend Amy Winehouse in a TV interview.

Tabloids
Girls Aloud signed a one-year deal to endorse hair care brand Sunsilk. The endorsement is reportedly worth £1.25m.

Sponsorship deals
In 2005, Girls Aloud filmed a one-off documentary entitled Home Truths. This would later make way for Off the Record. A year later, they appeared in an episode of Ghosthunting with..., in which Yvette Fielding guided them through haunted locations.
In April 2007, Girls Aloud filmed a cameo appearance on the new St. Trinian's movie, playing the St. Trinian's School Band. The film is scheduled to be released in the UK on December 21, 2007, with Girls Aloud rumoured to be performing the official single for the movie. The Girls also make a cameo in the Oasis documentary, Lord Don't Slow Me Down.
In addition to their live concerts, Girls Aloud have released two other DVDs - Girls On Film and Style.

Miscellaneous

Main article: Girls Aloud discography Discography

Number-one singles

2005 - What Will the Neighbours Say? Live
2006 - Chemistry Tour
2007 - The Sound of Girls Aloud: The Greatest Hits Tour

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