Girls Aloud

Unusually for a group catapulted into the nation's consciousness via a reality TV/talent contest (2002's 'Popstars: The Rivals'), Girls Aloud managed to combine phenomenal single and album chart success with genuine critical acclaim. Their collaborations with the Xenomania production team have been particularly lauded, especially on CHEMISTRY (2005). As well as a mainstay of the charts, the five girls were also regular fixtures in the gossip columns, fuelled primarily by Cheryl Cole's much publicised marriage to footballer Ashley Cole and her participation as a judge in the 2008 edition of X-Factor.

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