Biography
With her pale skin, striking red hair, and quiet personality, Nicola Roberts stood out as the less tabloid-friendly member of Girls Aloud, yet her songwriting skills, eclectic taste, and effortlessly cool demeanor rendered her solo path considerably more compelling than those taken by Nadine Coyle and Cheryl Cole. Born in Runcorn, Cheshire in 1985, Roberts started singing at the age of 11, enrolled at her local dance school, and put together her own girl band, the Five Musketeers, ahead of her 2002 audition for the ITV talent show Popstars: The Rivals. Although she failed to advance to the live stages on her initial try, producers brought her in as a replacement after fellow contestant Nicola Ward withdrew, allowing Roberts to finish second and secure a spot in the lineup that would become Girls Aloud. Over the next seven years the five-piece delivered 20 consecutive Top Ten hits, three of them chart-toppers, alongside six Top 20 albums—one of which, Chemistry, gave Roberts the sole writing credit among the members for the track “It’s Magic”—and earned a Brit Award for Best British Single with “The Promise,” after which the members turned toward separate solo projects. Roberts introduced the makeup line Dainty Doll aimed at girls with fair skin, hosted the BBC3 documentary The Truth About Tanning that examined the risks of tanning beds, and spoke out in favor of laws banning unmanned tanning beds for minors. In 2010 she became the third Girls Aloud member to pursue a solo career, signing with Universal and collaborating with Metronomy’s Joseph Mount, Dragonette, and Diplo; her debut single “Beat of My Drum” appeared the following year and preceded the album Cinderella’s Eyes.
Albums
