Cheryl Cole

Born 30^th June 1983 in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, Cole rose to fame after appearing in the 2002 British talent show Popstars: The Rivals. She was one of the five female finalists – along with Nadine Coyle, Sarah Harding, Nicola Roberts and Kimberley Walsh – and together they formed the group Girls Aloud. They released their debut single Sound of the Underground in December 2002 and scored a UK Christmas Number One. This was followed by their album of the same name, which went on to sell over 400,000 copies in the UK and produce the follow-up Top 5 singles No Good Advice and Life Got Cold.

Since then, Girls Aloud have released a further five albums – What Will the Neighbours Say?, Chemistry, Tangled Up and Out of Control – sold millions of records and released a total of eighteen singles, including the Top 5 hits The Show, Love Machine, I’ll Stand By You, Wake Me Up, Biology, Whole Lotta History, Something Kinda Ooooh, I Think We’re Alone Now, Walk This Way (ft. Sugababes), Sexy! No No No…, Call the Shots and The Promise. According to the Guinness World Records, they are the world’s ‘Most Successful Reality TV Group’ and also hold the record for ‘Most Consecutive Top Ten Entries in the UK by a Female Group’ with twenty.

In 2008 Cheryl Cole became a judge on the fifth series on the UK TV show The X Factor, and she quickly became a familiar face to almost everyone in the UK. This helped her launch her solo career, which began with an appearance on rapper will.i.am’s UK Top 5 single Heartbreaker, and soon led to her debut album 3 Words. Released in October 2009, the album shot to number one in the UK and produced the chart-topping lead single Fight for This Love, as well as the Top 5 singles 3 Words and Parachute.

Both Girls Aloud’s sixth album and Cheryl Cole’s second solo album are due for release later in 2010.