Girls Aloud

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. ~ Andy Kellman, Rovi