Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Entertainment
Nadeem Badshah

Girls Aloud to reunite for tour in memory of late Sarah Harding

Girls Aloud on stage
Kimberley Walsh, Nicola Roberts, Nadine Coyle and Cheryl Cole will pay tribute to Sarah Harding (far right). Photograph: Dave J Hogan/Getty Images

Girls Aloud are to reunite for an arena tour in 2024 in memory of their late bandmate, Sarah Harding.

Nadine Coyle, Cheryl, Nicola Roberts and Kimberley Walsh shared a video on social media to announce the news on Wednesday. The post read: “Announcing the Girls Aloud Show arena tour next May/June 2024. A celebration of Sarah, our music & our incredible fans. We can’t wait to sing & dance with you again.”

Harding, who had 21 UK Top 10 singles as a member of the band, died aged 39 from breast cancer in 2021.

Cheryl told the BBC: “It hasn’t felt right, until now, to do anything without her. But now we feel strong enough, emotionally.”

Walsh added: “For us, it will feel very much like she’s there. She came alive on stage. That was the happiest she ever was. With grief, there’s definitely a shift where it’s like, ‘OK, you’re ready to celebrate that person.’”

The band also denied reports that they have recorded a new album and filmed a music video.

They formed in 2002 on ITV reality show Popstars: The Rivals, and their debut single, Sound of the Underground, became the first of four UK chart No 1s.

The Popstars format created a boyband, One True Voice, and a girlband who were pitted against each other for that year’s Christmas No 1. Girls Aloud became the UK’s biggest-selling girl group of the century, and four of their five studio albums also made the Top 10.

High-profile fans included Bono, Ken Livingstone, the former mayor of London, and the former prime minister David Cameron.

Their No 1 hit, The Promise, won the 2009 Brit award for best single. Harding told the audience at the ceremony: “It’s about time!”

Girls Aloud went on a hiatus later that year to concentrate on solo projects and released a greatest hits album, called Ten, in 2012. After the end of their reunion tour in Liverpool, they announced in 2013 that they had split up.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.