G4

Formed by four vocalists who shared studies at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, G4 adopted its name from that common background and first reached a nationwide British audience as runners-up on the 2004 season of the ITV reality competition The X Factor. Their self-titled debut album arrived in 2005 to coincide with Mother’s Day across England and went on to approach one million units sold. Jonathan Ansell, Matthew Stiff, Mike Christie, and Ben Thapa issued a commercially successful live DVD capturing their Royal Albert Hall performance along with a group autobiography, then continued recording; their third studio effort, Act Three, reached retailers in November 2006. Internal frictions prompted an April 2007 announcement that the quartet would disband after completing that year’s tour dates. A November 2014 reunion concert originally planned as a solitary event led to a full national tour the following year. Capitalizing on renewed momentum, the members returned to the studio and issued the holiday collection G4 Christmas before the close of 2015. They confirmed their ongoing partnership by launching the Back for Good tour in 2016 and, in February 2017, released a further album titled G4 Love Songs.