Cheryl

Prior to joining the record-shattering European pop ensemble Girls Aloud, Cheryl—born Cheryl Ann Tweedy and once billed as Cheryl Cole—had already worked as a dancer and model. The Newcastle, England native captured multiple modeling contests during her youth and featured in various commercials, yet her decisive breakthrough arrived in 2002 when she tried out for Popstars: The Rivals and earned a spot in Girls Aloud, a group that soon issued 19 Top Ten U.K. singles over just a few years. When the band declared a twelve-month hiatus in 2009, Cheryl, by then among Britain’s most visible public figures partly because her presence as a judge on the singing contest The X Factor had boosted weekly viewership to fourteen million, seized the opportunity to cut her debut solo album.

The unexpectedly restrained 3 Words surfaced in October 2009 and included contributions from will.i.am, Soulshock & Karlin, and Syience. Fronted by Wayne Wilkins’s production on the chart-topping “Fight for This Love,” which also became the fastest-selling British single of that year, the project earned platinum certification inside two weeks. Her follow-up, Messy Little Raindrops, arrived in November 2010 and likewise achieved platinum status, propelled by successes such as “Promise This.” Wilkins handled multiple cuts once more, while will.i.am, J.R. Rotem, and Free School participated on a smaller scale.

Cheryl’s American trajectory proved erratic: after Simon Cowell first selected her for the U.S. edition of The X Factor, she departed the program amid controversy following only three weeks. She then chose not to resume duties on the original U.K. version and instead concentrated on her music. The resulting third album, A Million Lights, carried the Calvin Harris-produced single “Call My Name” and reached stores in the U.K. during June 2012.

Late in 2012 she announced a return to Girls Aloud for a reunion tour that yielded the charity single “Something New,” yet the members declared a permanent split in 2013. Following an extended hiatus through much of that year, she reemerged in 2014 with news of her marriage to Frenchman Jean-Bernard Fernandez-Versini—four years after her separation from English soccer star Ashley Cole. She reclaimed her seat on the U.K. X Factor panel and unveiled her fourth studio effort, Only Human, whose opening singles “Crazy Stupid Love” and “I Don’t Care” both reached the summit of the British pop chart.