With Perrie (Edwards) the third member of Little Mix to go solo with her debut single ‘Forget About Us’ shooting in to No.10 on the UK Official Singles Chart recently, I’m looking at girl bands of the last 30 years to see which members have become breakout solo stars in their own right and here are ten of the biggest success stories:
Beyonce
Sitting first in my list is arguably the ultimate girl group member gone solo story, as Queen B continues to enjoy success some 20+ years into her solo music career, scoring the rare chart double earlier this month when ‘Cowboy Carter’ and it’s lead single ‘Texas Hold ‘Em’ simultaneously sat at the top of the Official UK Charts. Not content with racking up 14 Top 40 UK singles and 5 Top 40 albums with her group Destiny’s Child in the late 90s and early 00s, Beyonce has gone on to become one of the biggest popstars of a generation. Every album she drops seems to become an event; from the surprise release of her eponymous album to the visual album for ‘Lemonade’, the black queer scene that influenced ‘Renaissance’ to Country music on the new album.
Cheryl
Cheryl is the breakout star of Girls Aloud accumulating 11 Top 40 solo hits and four Top 10 studio albums. Her profile was raised through her high profile relationship with footballer Ashley Cole and being watched by millions each week at the peak of X Factor. Her intricate dance routines and catchy bops saw her take the crown from Geri Halliwell as the British female solo act with the most UK number 1s with five to her name (since eclipsed by Jess Glynne). After featuring on Will.i.am’s ‘Heartbreaker’, Cheryl started her solo career proper with ‘Fight For This Love’ in 2009 which went straight to the top of the charts. We last heard new music from her in the summer of 2019 when ‘Let You’ didn’t quite manage to become her twelfth Top 40 hit (#57). Girls Aloud have reformed as a four-piece following the sad passing of Sarah Harding and are hitting the road for an arena tour this summer.
Mel C
All five Spice Girls have released solo material (see our handy timeline) and shortly after Mel B released her collab with Missy Elliott staking her claim on the R&B/Hip Hop pop area, Mel C showed her Rock credentials with her Bryan Adams duet ‘When You’re Gone’. In 2017, OfficialCharts.com announced that this duet was the biggest selling solo Spice Girls song. Mel C can also boast the best-selling album from a solo Spice with her debut ‘Northern Star’ being certified triple Platinum in the UK. She’s also gone on to release more solo material than any of the girls, racking up eight studio albums in her career so far and she’s not showing any signs of stopping.
Geri (Halliwell now Horner)
Geri unexpectedly left the Spice Girls whilst they were promoting the final single ‘Viva Forever’ from their second album ‘SpiceWorld’. It wasn’t long though until she returned to music by releasing her debut single ‘Look at Me’ in May 1999 which peaked at No.2 on the UK charts. She bettered that position with her second solo release ‘Mi Chico Latino’ which went to the top of the UK charts and was the first of 4 consecutive number 1 solo hits for Geri, giving her the honour of being the UK female solo act with the most UK no.1 singles of all-time (at that point). Her first album spawned three of those no.1s and was certified double platinum. Geri released three studio albums at the start of her solo career and has since dropped occasional one-off singles including a tribute to good friend, the late George Michael with ‘Angels in Chains’ in 2017.
Camila Cabello
The former Fifth Harmony member had a more gradual start to her solo career with features on both Machine Gun Kelly and Major Lazer tracks giving her chart success alongside her debut Christina Aguilera sampling ‘Crying in the Club’. An artist trying to find her sound perhaps, but with 2017’s ‘Havana’ it felt like she had hit the nail on the head. The track spent 5 weeks at No.1 on the UK charts. She went back to the top spot with another latin drenched track ‘Senorita’ – a duet with her then boyf Shawn Mendes – in 2019. Just earlier this month she released new track ‘I Luv It’ which sees her moving to a more electronic and experimental direction. In total, Camila can claim 15 UK Top 40 singles and 3 Top 40 albums (two of which have been certified Gold).
Kelly Rowland
Starting strong, Destiny’s Child memeber, Kelly teamed up with Nelly for her debut release with the No.1 hit ‘Dilemma’ at the end of 2002. This was quickly followed by ‘Stole’ which narrowily missed out on the top spot peaking at #2. Her debut album ‘Simply Deep’ reached the top spot and featured 4 Top 20 hits. Second album ‘Ms Kelly’ didn’t fare quite so well, and even with a slightly confusing repack and two Top 5 singles it didn’t get any higher than #23. A change of musical style came in 2009 when she worked with dance producer David Guetta and gained her second No.1 single with ‘When Love Takes Over’ and Top 10 hit ‘Commander’. Sticking with the dance route and a stint as a judge on X Factor UK, generated another couple of Top 10 hits. She returned to a more classic R&B sound for her fourth album and has even added a bit of disco funk on most recent single ‘Crazy’. In total, Kelly has had 13 top 40 singles and 3 top 40 albums.
Emma Bunton
Emma’s first solo release was as a featured artist on dance act Tin Tin Out’s cover of Eddie Brickell’s ‘What I Am’ which ended up the runner up in a chart battle with Geri’s third solo track ‘Lift Me Up’ and had to settle for no.2 peak. However, Emma’s first fully solo track ‘What Took You So Long?’, released over a year later, did give Emma a no.1 UK single. Emma has since gone on to enjoy 9 Top 20 hits and released four albums so far with her last release her ‘My Happy Place’ album and a one-off seasonal song ‘Coming Home For Christmas’ both released in 2019.
Nicole Scherzinger
The Pussycat Dolls main vocalist, Nicole and her band mates accrued 11 Top 40 singles including two No.1s. Much like Camila (above) Nicole’s solo career was perhaps a little confusing to start with a couple of features (including P Diddy’s ‘Come To Me’ and Timbaland’s ‘Scream’) and her first proper solo track ‘Baby Love’ in 2007. Her debut album was shelved however, and it wasn’t until 3 years later that we’d get her first statement single with ‘Poison’, which peaked at #3. A No.1 in ‘Don’t Hold Your Breath’ followed and the parent album ‘Killer Love’ was Gold certified. In 2020 the PCD girls reformed for the brilliant ‘React’ and a tour that then had to be cancelled due to the pandemic. Not one to rest on her laurels, the former X Factor judge, turned her sights on to the stage and has being wowing critics and fans alike with her performance in Sunset Boulevard; winning an Oliver Award for Best Actress.
Louise
Eternal were the first girl group in UK history to sell over a million copies of an album, when the then four-piece released their debut album ‘Always and Forever’ in 1993. Despite this success, Louise wouldn’t return for the follow up. Instead she kicked off a solo career that saw her gain 12 Top 40 singles and 4 Top 20 studio albums. Starting with a Top 10 hit in 1995 with ‘Light Of My Life’, it was probably her third hit ‘Naked’ that really got her solo career going. The Janet Jackson-esque track peaked at No.5 and helped her debut album of the same name gain Platinum status in the UK. After a musical hiatus of nearly 20 years, fans were treated to new music from Louise with her 2020 ‘Heavy Love’ album and she has recently teased new bangers are on the way!
Alesha Dixon
When trio Mis-teeq disbanded in 2005 after two hit albums and seven Top 10 hits, Alesha always seemed the most likely to have solo success. She’d already been spotted by Pharrell Williams and asked to star in his group’s video for N.E.R.D’s ‘She Likes To Move’ whilst still in Mis-teeq and she shone. In the summer of 2006 she released her first single ‘Lipstick’ which peaked at #14 but follow up ‘Knockdown’ unfortunately failed to reach the Top 40 and she parted ways with her label leaving her debut album campaign adrift. In 2007, she won Strictly Come Dancing (she would later join as the panel) and this lead to a new record contract and her biggest hits to date as a solo act when ‘Boy Does Nothing’ peaked at #5 and follow up ‘Breathe Slow’ reached #3. Her album ‘The Alesha Show’ has been certified platinum and Alesha went on to release two further studio albums.
Many other girl group alumni have had success with solo endeavors with other personal highlights being Sugababes’ Siobhan Donaghy’s second album ‘Ghosts’ and (not strictly solo) Appleton’s ‘Everything Eventually’ album from the sisters from All Saints.
Meanwhile, there’s one more Little Mix member, Jade Thirlwall, who is waiting in the wings with her solo material rumoured to be coming soon and All Saints’ Shaznay Lewis will release her second album ‘Pages’ next month.
Tell us your favourite girl group gone solo act on our socials.
