Little Mix

In 2011, Edwards, Thirlwall, Pinnock, and Nelson individually auditioned successfully as soloists for the eighth series of the UK version of The X Factor in front of judges Louis Walsh, Gary Barlow, Tulisa Contostavlos and Kelly Rowland,[11] but failed the first challenge of the "bootcamp" section.[12] They were allowed another chance to compete when they were placed in two separate ensembles by the judges during the "group bootcamp" stage, with Edwards and Nelson in four-member group Faux Pas and Thirlwall and Pinnock in three-member group Orion.[12][13] Both groups failed to make it through to the next stage. A later decision by the judges recalled two members from each group to form the four-piece group Rhythmix, sending them through to the "judges' houses" section.[14]

Little Mix in 2012.

They reached the live shows section and were mentored by Tulisa.[15] During the first live show on 8 October 2011, Rhythmix performed "Super Bass" by American recording artist Nicki Minaj. Their rendition was praised by the judges with Barlow calling them the "best girl band that's ever been on The X Factor."[16] On 26 October 2011, it was announced that they would change their name following a dispute with Rhythmix, a Brighton-based children's music charity of the same name, after the programme tried to trademark "Rhythmix".[17][18] A spokesman for The X Factor said, "At the request of the charity Rhythmix, the members of the girl group Rhythmix have decided to change their name, a decision which has the support of Syco and TalkbackTHAMES."[19] It was reported that the group decided to make the change, with no legal requirement to do so, to avoid any difficulties for the charity.[19] On 28 October 2011, it was announced that the group's new name would be "Little Mix".[20]

On 20 November 2011, Little Mix became the first girl group in the show's eight-year history to progress past the seventh live show. The previous longest-surviving girl groups were The Conway Sisters (series 2) and Hope (series 4), who had both lasted until week 7. Through the remaining course of the competition the group generally received positive feedback. During the semi-final stage of the show, Little Mix performed The Supremes's "You Keep Me Hangin' On" as well as Beyoncé's hit "If I Were a Boy". Their performance of "You Keep Me Hangin' On" received mostly negative feedback from the judges with Walsh stating that they "lost their mojo" and Rowland telling the girl group she had seen them do "better vocal performances." Their second performance of the night, "If I Were a Boy", was generally acclaimed by the judges with Walsh telling them they have "amazing potential" and calling them the "next big girl band." Rowland also told them they could be "incredibly dynamic" and "change the world" when they find the strength within each other. The group advanced through to the final live shows along with Marcus Collins and Amelia Lily following the public vote.

On 11 December, Little Mix were announced as the winners, the first time a group had won the British version of the show and the second (of five) in the worldwide franchise (after Random on the first series of the Australian version,[21] Alex & Sierra on the third series of the United States version, Rak-Su on the fourteenth series of the British version and 4 Magic on the fifth series of the Bulgarian version). Their winner's single was a cover of Damien Rice's song "Cannonball", which was released via digital download on 11 December 2011, and on CD on 14 December 2011.[22][23] The Xtra Factor: The Winner's Story was shown on ITV2 on 17 December 2011.[24] Their debut single topped the UK Singles Chart on 18 December 2011.[25] They made the Christmas number one spot on the Irish Singles Chart, beating novelty songs by The Saw Doctors and Ryan Sheridan.[26]

Little Mix performing on the DNA Tour (2013).

On 25 January 2012, Little Mix made an appearance at the National Television Awards and performed the En Vogue song "Don't Let Go (Love)". They also accompanied fellow judges Gary Barlow and Tulisa Contostavlos on stage to receive the Best Talent Show award that had been won by The X Factor.[28] In May 2012, Little Mix reportedly signed a deal with Vivid and Bravado to release signature products including dolls, puzzles, accessories and games.[29] Prior to their debut single release, the band covered an a cappella version of Beyoncé's "End of Time" and uploaded it on YouTube; the cover was publicly praised, especially for the group's impressive harmonies.[30] Later in August, they also uploaded another cover, this time an acoustic cover of "We Are Young" by Fun ft. Janelle Monáe which again received positive feedback, generally, for the group's harmonies. On 1 June, a snippet of their debut single "Wings" previewed on chat show Alan Carr: Chatty Man before its later release date in August.[31]

Little Mix performed their debut single "Wings" for the first time at the T4 on the Beach concert on 1 July. The single debuted at number one on the UK Singles Chart.[32] On 31 August 2012, the group's autobiography, titled Ready to Fly, was released by Harper Collins.[33][34] In October 2012, the group went on a promotional visit to Australia due to their expanding fan base there, destinations included Melbourne and Sydney. The trip lasted a week and the group visited radio stations to promote the single and debut album. They performed their single "Wings" on Australian The X Factor and on Australian breakfast-television show Sunrise. "Wings" subsequently reached number 2 on the Australian iTunes chart and number 3 on the ARIA charts.[35] Their debut album, DNA, was released in November 2012. Nicola Roberts co-penned a track called "Going Nowhere" on the DNA album. The album reached number 3 in both Ireland and the UK. A second single, "DNA", was released in October,[36] and in January 2013 they signed a record deal with Columbia Records in North America.[37] "Wings" was released as their debut single in America on 5 February 2013. In the US, the single reached number 79 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart while the album reached number 4 on the Billboard 200.[38] On 3 February 2013, they released "Change Your Life" as the album's third single, which charted at number 12 on the UK Singles Chart.[39] On 4 March 2013, it was announced that "How Ya Doin'?" would be released as the fourth and final single from their debut album.[40]

On 21 March, they announced that their next single, "How Ya Doin'?", would feature Grammy Award-winning musician Missy Elliott.[41] On 4 April 2013, the group revealed that Schwarzkopf hair dye Live Colour XXL would be promoted through their music video for "How Ya Doin'?" in a new sponsorship deal.[42] "How Ya Doin'?" debuted at number 57 on the UK Singles Chart on 20 April 2013, before ascending to number 23 the week after.[43] In its third week, the song peaked at number 16,[44] marking Little Mix's fifth consecutive UK top 20 hit.[45] It charted for a further seven weeks.[45] "How Ya Doin'?" sold 120,000 copies in the UK. The single debuted at number 55 on the Irish Singles Chart on 11 April 2013.[46] It then climbed the chart to peak at number 26. Consequently, "How Ya Doin'?" became Little Mix's first single to miss the top 20 in Ireland, but spent a total of seven weeks on the chart.[47] The single peaked at number 16 on the Scottish Singles Chart on 11 May 2013,[48] marking the group's fifth consecutive top 20 hit in Scotland.[49]

In March 2013, Little Mix began their first promotional campaign in the US. In an interview with Digital Spy in March 2013, they stated that they wanted their second album to have a more R&B sound.[50] Nelson added: "I personally want to put a lot more dancey stuff in there. As in, one of the songs that comes on in a club that makes you want to dance. Not that David Guetta sound, but more R&B – a bit like Eve and Gwen Stefani's "Let Me Blow Ya Mind". They also revealed that they would be starting to write material for the new album in the coming months.[50] On 4 October, they uploaded a video to their official YouTube page, announcing that their second album would be called Salute and would be available for pre-order on 7 October.[51] The album was released on 11 November 2013 in the United Kingdom and was released in the United States on 4 February 2014.[52] Throughout the recording process, Little Mix worked with several producers, including TMS, Future Cut, Fred Ball, Duvall and Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. The album was largely co-written by Little Mix, who stated that they were more involved in the development of this album than with their debut.

Little Mix in February 2014.

On 23 September 2013, "Move" was premiered on BBC Radio 1. For the single, Little Mix worked with Nathan Duvall, an up-and-coming R&B producer and Maegan Cottone, the girl's vocal coach. "Move" was released on 7 October in Australia and New Zealand. It was later released in the UK and Ireland on 3 November. It was sent to Mainstream Radio in the US on 18 February 2014 and reached number 38 on that chart. The song peaked at number three in the UK, number five in Ireland, number 19 in Japan and number 12 in New Zealand. The single also charted in Australia, Belgium, the Netherlands and Slovakia. Since then, "Move" has been certified Gold in Australia for sales of 35,000[53] and Gold in the UK for sales of 400,000.[54] "Little Me" was selected as the second single from the album. The song was co-written by TMS and Iain James, and produced by TMS. On 21 November 2013, Little Mix revealed via a YouTube video message that they decided to release it as the second single because it held a lot meaning to them and was written with their fans in mind.[55] The song reached number 14 in the UK, number fifteen in Iceland and number 16 in the Netherlands. It also charted in Australia, Ireland and Lebanon. The band released a cover version of Cameo's song "Word Up!" as the official single for Sport Relief 2014.[56][57] The song reached number six in the UK and number thirteen in Ireland while also charting in Australia, Austria, Denmark and France.

Little Mix announced on 5 April 2014 that the title track "Salute" will be released as the album's third single. It impacted UK radio on 28 April 2014.[58] The official music video premiered on 2 May and received over one million views within 24 hours.[59] It was released on 1 June. In December 2013, the group announced the UK and Ireland dates for their second headlining concert tour, The Salute Tour, North American dates were added in April 2014. The tour began on 16 May 2014 in Birmingham, England at the LG Arena and ended on 27 July 2014 in Scarborough, North Yorkshire at the Scarborough Open Air Theatre. Little Mix were expected to begin the North American leg of the tour in September 2014, but it was cancelled due to them wanting to work on their next album.[60]

Little Mix performing on the Get Weird Tour (2016).

At the 2015 Brit Awards, the group confirmed that their album was completed, describing it as having a "whole new sound" and projecting the release for sometime in 2015.[61] Having written over 100 songs for their forthcoming album,[62] In May 2015 Little Mix released the lead single "Black Magic" from their third studio album. The song debuted at number one in the UK and remained at the top of the chart for three weeks, becoming the first single by a girl group to do so since Sugababes's "About You Now" in October 2007.[63][64] The single also reached number 3 in Ireland, number 4 in Belgium (Flanders), number 5 in Israel, number 8 in Australia and number 67 in the US, becoming their highest peaking single on Billboard Hot 100. The group performed the song for the first time in June 2015 for Capital's Summertime Ball at the Wembley Stadium along with some of their previous hits. "Black Magic" was also performed the song at the Teen Choice Awards in August 2015, after they received the award as Breakout Artist. Since then, "Black Magic" has been certified Gold in the US for sales of 500,000,[65] Platinum in Canada for sales of 80,000 and double Platinum both in Australia and the UK for sales of 140,000[66] and 1,200,000[67] respectively. Little Mix also co-wrote Britney Spears' single "Pretty Girls", which was also released in May 2015.

On 15 July 2015, Little Mix announced on Twitter that their third studio album would be titled Get Weird, and would be available for pre-order in the UK from the following day, with a global release date set for 6 November 2015.[68] On 25 September the group released "Love Me Like You" as the second single from the album, it was released as a single only in the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. The group performed the song for the first time at X Factor Australia in October 2015, then at the Royal Albert Hall in December 2015 and at the Capital Jingle Bell Ball. The group's third studio album Get Weird debuted at number 2 in the UK becoming their highest charting album there.[69] In the US, the album peaked at number 13 on Billboard 200, making Little Mix the only girl group from the UK to have their first three albums debut in the top fifteen of the Billboard 200.[70] The album has been certified double platinum in the UK and has sold over 600,000 units there as of August 2016, making it their best selling album yet.[71] The group performed a medley of "Black Magic" and "Sax" with the former UK X Factor contestant Fleur East on the season finale of X Factor. On 5 December the group announced on Twitter that "Secret Love Song" featuring the American R&B singer Jason Derulo would be released as the album's third single. The single reached number six on the UK Singles Chart. On 24 February 2016 the group performed "Black Magic" at the 2016 Brit Awards, where they were nominated for Best British Single and British Artist Video.

On 13 March 2016 Little Mix embarked on The Get Weird Tour to promote the album, the arena tour consist of 60 dates across Europe, Australia and Asia. The Get Weird tour holds the record for being the highest selling UK arena tour of 2016 with over 300,000 tickets sold in the UK alone.[72][73] On 11 April 2016, the group announced that "Hair" would serve as the fourth single from Get Weird, and would feature newly recorded guest vocals from reggae pop recording artist Sean Paul. The single was released on 15 April 2016 and reached number 11 on the UK chart while peaking at number 10 in Australia making it their fourth top 10 single there.[74]

Little Mix performing on The Glory Days Tour in Glasgow.

On 21 June 2016 it was revealed that the group had begun work on their fourth studio album; they later confirmed that they would be releasing new music "before Christmas".[75] In an interview at V Festival in Chelmsford, the group announced that the lead single from their fourth studio album would be released in October 2016.[76] On 13 October 2016, Little Mix announced the song's title as "Shout Out to My Ex" and that their fourth studio album would be called Glory Days. "Shout Out to My Ex" was released on 16 October 2016, following the first live performance of the song on The X Factor.[77] The song debuted at number one on the UK Singles Chart becoming their fourth chart topping single there.[78] It sold 67,000 downloads in its opening week, becoming the biggest opening week download sales for a song in 2016 in the UK.[78]

Glory Days was released on 18 November 2016, and debuted at number one on the UK album chart, becoming the group's first UK number one album.[79][80] The album sold 96,000 copies in combined sales in the first week which is the highest first week sales for a UK girl group number one album since the Spice Girls in 1997 and the fastest-selling number one album by any girl group in 15 years, since Destiny's Child's Survivor in 2001.[80] Glory Days has spent five weeks at number one on the UK album chart as of 13 January 2017, making it the longest reigning girl group number one since Spice Girls' debut 20 years ago, surpassing Destiny's Child's Survivor.[2] The album has reached number-one in Ireland, and debuted at number-two in Australia,[81] and in the top 10 in the Netherlands, New Zealand and Spain.[82][83][84]

Little Mix announced on 5 December 2016 that "Touch" would be released as the second single from Glory Days. It was released on 18 December 2016, and reached number four in the UK [85] At the 2017 Brit Awards the group was nominated for three awards, winning Best British Single for "Shout Out to My Ex", which they also performed on the awards show. "No More Sad Songs" was released on 3 March 2017, as the third single from "Glory Days".

From February to April 2017 Little Mix toured North America as one of the opening acts for Ariana Grande on her Dangerous Woman Tour.[86] The group then embarked on their own headlining The Glory Days Tour which began on 24 May 2017 in Europe, with the first UK date being on 9 October in Scotland.[87][88] "Power" was released on 26 May 2017, as the fourth single from "Glory Days". In August 2017, Little Mix and Latin American boy band CNCO collaborated on a remixed version of the latter group's song "Reggaetón Lento (Bailemos)".[89] The song was included on the reissue of Glory Days, which was released on 24 November 2017, and featured a revised track listing of four remixed songs and three new songs, as well as a bonus documentary.[90] As of November 2017, Glory Days has sold over 1.6 million copies worldwide.[91] The group announced on 27 November 2017 that they would be undertaking the Summer Hits Tour 2018, with tickets going on sale on 30 November.[92]

Still of the band performing "Woman Like Me" with Minaj on 2018 MTV Europe Music Awards, via YouTube.

In February 2018, Pinnock announced that the group were working on their fifth album, set for release in 2018, and that there would be a tour to accompany the album.[93] On 14 June 2018, it was revealed that a song by Little Mix and American DJ trio Cheat Codes, "Only You", would be part of the compilation album The Pool Party, to be released on 6 July 2018 by Ministry of Sound. The song was released on 22 June 2018.[94][95] On 30 September 2018, the group announced "Woman Like Me", the lead single from their fifth studio album LM5, featuring Trinidadian-born American rapper Nicki Minaj, on their social media accounts. It was released on 12 October 2018.[96] The song debuted at number five on the UK Singles Chart, later peaking at number two. The group and Minaj performed the song at the MTV European Music Awards on 4 November 2018, where they won an award for best UK & Ireland Act.[97]

In November 2018, it was announced that the group would split from Cowell's record label, Syco Music, due to the label no longer working with the group's management company. LM5 was serviced by RCA UK and Columbia Records released on 16 November 2018, with future records to be released by RCA UK and Columbia.[98] At the 2019 Brit Awards, the group was nominated for two awards, winning Best British Video for "Woman Like Me". During the ceremony, they performed a remix of the song with South London rapper Ms Banks.[99] During a live stream, Jesy Nelson mentioned that the band was in the writing stage for their sixth studio album.[100][101] They announced their upcoming single "Bounce Back" on 26 May 2019.[102] The song was released on 14 June 2019. On 18 November 2019, Little Mix announced that they would release their first Christmas single, titled "One I've Been Missing". The song was released on 22 November 2019.[103]

In February 2020, the group began filming a reality television music competition show, titled Little Mix The Search, which began airing on BBC One on 26 September 2020.[104] In March 2020, Pollstar released a list of the 50 highest-grossing female tours of the previous two decades (2000–2019). Little Mix were placed as the second girl group on the list, only behind the Spice Girls, with $94,856,997 gross and 1,757,654 tickets sold.[105] On 27 March 2020, the group released "Break Up Song", the lead single from their then-untitled upcoming sixth studio album.[106] This was the first release entirely under their new record label RCA.[107] The single was accompanied by a lyric video, released on the same day.[108] The music video for the song was released on 8 May 2020. The video was semi-animated, as they had to cancel their planned video shoot for the song due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[109] Promotion for the single was also done remotely due to the pandemic. On 24 July, the group released the second single from the album, titled "Holiday".[110][111] The song was announced in a video posted to social media on 16 July 2020.[112] A lyric video for the song was also released on the group's YouTube channel.[113] The music video for "Holiday" was released on 28 August 2020.[114] On 9 October, the promotional single "Not a Pop Song" was released.[115] On 15 October, Little Mix announced their second promotional single "Happiness", released the next day.[116] Their third single from the album, "Sweet Melody" was released on 23 October, as well as an accompanying music video.[117] The track reached number one in the UK in January 2021, three months after its initial release.[118]

Their sixth album, Confetti, was released on 6 November 2020. The album art, title and release date were all announced on 16 September 2020.[119] Confetti was described by Pinnock as the group's "biggest" album yet.[120] On 8 November 2020, the group are set to host the 2020 MTV Europe Music Awards; they also performed at the ceremony.[121] From 21 to 22 November, a tour film of the LM5 Tour premiered in cinemas worldwide.[122][123] The trailer for the film was released on YouTube on 15 October 2020.[123] In Mexico, Little Mix: The Tour Film debuted in the tenth place of the Mexican box office with $375.9 thousand pesos grossed.[124]

Following an illness that prevented Nelson from appearing during the final of Little Mix The Search and co-hosting the 2020 MTV Europe Music Awards alongside Edwards, Pinnock and Thirlwall, it was announced by the group's publicist on 17 November 2020 that Nelson would take an extended hiatus from the group for medical reasons.[125] On 23 November, Little Mix and Nathan Dawe announced their collaboration for "No Time For Tears" on their social media.[126] It was released as a single on 25 November 2020 by RCA and Warner Music.[127]

On 14 December 2020, Nelson announced her departure from the group due to mental health struggles.[128][129][130][131][132] Following Nelson's departure, the group announced they would continue as a trio.[133]

After Little Mix's 2020 Summer Tour was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, on 30 July 2020 the group announced on their social media that they would be performing a virtual concert, titled Little Mix Uncancelled (stylised as Little Mix UNCancelled).[144] On 21 August 2020, the group performed the concert at Knebworth House, where they had also filmed their "Woman Like Me" music video in 2018.[145] Little Mix Uncancelled was nominated at the 2020 MTV Europe Music Awards for Best Virtual Live, a special category created as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.[146]

On 17 October 2019, it was announced that the group were set to launch a talent series on BBC One titled Little Mix The Search, in which they would create and mentor new bands, with the winners joining them on their Summer 2020 Tour.[147] The series was set to premiere in April 2020,[148] but was postponed due to the 2019–2020 coronavirus pandemic. It began airing on 26 September 2020, with the winner set to support the band on their Confetti Tour in 2021.[149]

In May 2012, Little Mix launched a Union Flag-themed pack of M&M's and performed at the M&M's World store in London.[150] That year they also released their first book, called Ready to Fly. The title is a reference to their debut single "Wings". The book was published through HarperCollins and documents the group's journey since auditioning for The X Factor.[151] The girl group signed a joint deal with toymaker Vivid and music merchandiser Bravado to release a range of products including dolls, puzzles, accessories and games in November.[152]

During 2012, Little Mix also unveiled a children's clothing range with clothing retailer Primark. The line was aimed at 7–13 year olds and was composed of accessories, T-shirts, leggings and nightwear.[153] In 2013, the group promoted Schwarzkopf hair dye Live Colour XXL through their music video for "How Ya Doin'?".[42] That year, the group also launched a range of nails and nail wraps in partnership with Elegant Touch and New Look.[154] In early 2014, Little Mix launched their new range of nails with Elegant Touch as a result of the previous success.[155] In September 2013, Little Mix launched their first makeup line with Collection.[156] During May 2014, the group teamed up with Vibe Audio to bring out Little Mix zip cable headphones.[157]

In June 2015, Little Mix launched their debut fragrance "Gold Magic".[158] In December 2015, it was announced that Little Mix would be the new global ambassadors for the women's fitness brand USA Pro.[159] In July 2016, Little Mix launched their second fragrance "Wishmaker".[160] In 2017, their third fragrance, "Wishmaker Party Edition" was released. In 2018, Little Mix had limited edition products with Simple and Colab. Their fourth fragrance, Style, was also released. In September 2018, Little Mix released their second makeup line, LMX Beauty in Boots UK.[161] On 7 November 2019, Little Mix released a clothing collection with PrettyLittleThing.[162]

Little Mix took part in the recording of the 2011 X Factor charity single along with the finalists of The X Factor 2011 and previous X Factor contestants JLS and One Direction.[163] They covered the 1978 hit single "Wishing on a Star" by Rose Royce. All proceeds from the single went to the children's charity Together for Short Lives, which provides ongoing care and support for seriously and terminally ill children, young people and their families from the moment of diagnosis. The song debuted at number one on the UK Singles Chart with first-week sales of 98,932 copies. In 2012, the band performed their single "Change Your Life" on the Children In Need 2012 broadcast appeal show, helping raise over £26,757,446 for the cause which helps disadvantaged children in the UK.[164] Little Mix also appeared at the two-part charity concert Children in Need Rocks 2013 to raise money for the campaign, performing a medley of their singles "Change Your Life", "DNA" and "Wings". The concert was broadcast on BBC One during the Children In Need week.[165]

In March 2014, Little Mix teamed up with BeatBullying, the largest anti-bullying organisation in Europe. The quartet is backing the anti-bullying media campaign "The Big March" and the #DeleteCyberbullying project. The campaign is urging the European Commission to introduce new laws to protect children from bullying and cyberbullying, for 77 million euros (£57m) to be set aside for services that protect them and for an annual awareness day to promote the movement. Pinnock said: "Myself and the girls have all experienced being bullied at some point in our life. When we see on Twitter that some of our fans are going through it now we find it so upsetting and that's the reason we feel so passionate about this campaign and the work that BeatBullying does."[166] In March 2014, Little Mix released a cover of Cameo's single "Word Up!" as the official single for Sport Relief 2014.[167] The group also visited Liberia to witness the work paid for by the Sport Relief donations.[168] In 2019, Thirlwall and Pinnock climbed Mount Kilimanjaro for Comic Relief.[169]