Background and career
Cheryl Ann Tweedy (born 30 June 1983) is an English singer and television personality. She rose to fame as a member of Girls Aloud, a pop girl group created through ITV's reality competition show Popstars: The Rivals in 2002. Named the United Kingdom's best-selling girl group of the 21st century in 2012, Girls Aloud amassed a string of 20 consecutive UK top ten singles (including four number ones), two UK number-one albums, five consecutive platinum-selling studio albums, and five Brit Award nominations, winning Best British Single for "The Promise" in 2009. The group disbanded in 2013 and later reunited for a tour in 2024. Cheryl began a solo career in April 2009 while still a member of Girls Aloud. Between 2009 and 2014, she released four studio albums: 3 Words (2009), Messy Little Raindrops (2010), A Million Lights (2012), and Only Human (2014). These albums collectively produced ten singles, five of which—"Fight for This Love", "Promise This", "Call My Name", "Crazy Stupid Love", and "I Don't Care"—reached the top position on the UK singles chart, making Cheryl the first British female solo artist to achieve five UK number-one singles. In 2008, Cheryl became a judge on the British edition of the talent show The X Factor. She mentored two eventual winners (Alexandra Burke in series five and Joe McElderry in series six) before resigning in 2011 after series seven to join the panel of the American edition, which she left during the auditions stage. She returned to judge the eleventh and twelfth series of the UK show in 2014 and 2015. Cheryl subsequently served as a judge on the BBC dance competition The Greatest Dancer (2019–2020) and made her stage debut in the West End play 2:22 A Ghost Story in 2023. She is set to return to television in 2027 as a coach for the fifteenth series of the singing reality competition The Voice UK. Cheryl is a recognised and photographed style icon, frequently referred to as a "fashionista" by the press. She has appeared on the covers of British Vogue, Elle, and Harper's Bazaar, and served as the face of the cosmetics company L'Oréal from 2009 to 2018.
Cheryl Ann Tweedy was born in Newcastle upon Tyne on 30 June 1983 and grew up on council estates in the suburbs of Walker and Heaton. She is the fourth of Joan Callaghan's five children, and the first of two children with Garry Tweedy, born after the dissolution of Callaghan's previous marriage. Her parents were together for more than a decade but never married; they separated when Cheryl was 11 years old. Cheryl's paternal lineage originates from Tyneside and includes several coal miners and mariners. Her maternal grandmother, Olga Ridley, was one of twin girls born to widower Joseph Ridley and his housekeeper Edith Annie Burton. Joseph Ridley had children from a previous marriage and served in World War I as a Pioneer with the Durham Light Infantry in France. At the age of seven, Cheryl appeared in a television advertisement for British Gas. Interested in dancing from an early age, she began sequence dancing at four and attended a short holiday course at the Royal Ballet School's Summer School when she was nine. She occasionally performed dance recitals on UK television shows, such as Gimme 5 in 1993.
Cheryl auditioned for the reality television show Popstars: The Rivals in 2002. The programme aimed to create a boy band and a girl group to compete for the Christmas number-one spot on the UK Singles Chart. She sang "Have You Ever" during her audition and was chosen as one of twenty finalists by judges Pete Waterman, Louis Walsh, and Geri Halliwell. The finalists performed live on Saturday evenings, with each week seeing the contestant with the fewest public votes eliminated. Cheryl was in danger of elimination twice, surviving against Emma Beard and Aimee Kearsley in consecutive weeks. On 30 November 2002, she became the first contestant to qualify for the girl group. She was joined by Nadine Coyle, Sarah Harding, Nicola Roberts, and Kimberley Walsh to form Girls Aloud. The group's debut single, "Sound of the Underground", peaked at number one on the UK Singles Chart, securing the 2002 Christmas number-one spot ahead of boy band One True Voice's "Sacred Trust / After You're Gone". Girls Aloud hold the record for the shortest time between formation and achieving a number-one single. Girls Aloud released their debut album, Sound of the Underground, in May 2003. It entered the charts at number two and was certified platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) later that year. Their singles "I'll Stand by You", "Walk This Way", and "The Promise" all charted at number one. Their greatest hits album The Sound of Girls Aloud and 2008's Out of Control both debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart, with the former selling over one million copies. The group achieved seven certified albums, received five Brit Awards nominations, and won Best British Single for "The Promise" in 2009. The group's musical style was primarily pop, though they frequently experimented with electropop and dance-pop. Their extensive collaboration with Brian Higgins and his songwriting and production team Xenomania earned the group critical acclaim due to their innovative approach to mainstream pop. By May 2010, the group had amassed a fortune of £30 million. Guinness World Records listed them as the "Most Successful Reality TV Group" in both its 2007 and 2011 editions. They also held the record for "Most Consecutive Top Ten Entries in the UK by a Female Group" in the 2008 edition. The group was named the United Kingdom's biggest-selling girl group of the 21st century, with over 4.3 million singles and 4 million albums sold in the UK alone. Girls Aloud took a hiatus in 2009 to pursue solo projects, initially intending to reunite for a new studio album in 2010, though this did not immediately materialise.
In 2008, Cheryl replaced Sharon Osbourne as a judge for the fifth series of The X Factor UK alongside creator Simon Cowell, Dannii Minogue, and Louis Walsh. Mentoring the girls category (female solo contestants aged 16 to 24), she became the winning mentor when Alexandra Burke won the competition on 13 December. She returned for the sixth series in 2009, mentoring the boys category (male solo contestants aged 16 to 24), and won again when Joe McElderry secured the title. Cowell referred to her as "one of the best I've ever worked with." Returning for the seventh series in 2010, she mentored the girls category again. Her act Rebecca Ferguson finished as runner-up to Minogue's contestant Matt Cardle. In 2011, Cheryl joined Cowell, L.A. Reid, and Paula Abdul on the judging panel for the first season of The X Factor USA. After a three-week stint, she departed the series. Cowell stated she left because he had offered her a return to the UK panel, feeling she would be more comfortable there. Cheryl did not return to the UK show, however, as Tulisa had already taken her place, and Cheryl was unwilling to judge without Cowell present. Nicole Scherzinger replaced her on the American version for the remainder of season one. In December 2012, Cheryl sued the American producers of The X Factor for $2.3 million (£1.4m), having already received $1.8 million (£1.1m) for the 2011 series. She sought $2 million (£1.25m) for the second season plus additional damages. In November 2013, she reached an undisclosed settlement with producers Blue Orbit. Cheryl made her first solo appearance as a guest vocalist on American rapper will.i.am's "Heartbreaker" in 2008. She was initially cast as a dancer in the video after taking street dancing classes during the filming of the ITV2 series The Passions of Girls Aloud, but will.i.am later asked her to provide additional vocals. In April 2009, she started working on solo material, releasing her debut album, 3 Words, in the UK on 26 October. The album spent two weeks at number one, and the BPI certified it platinum on 6 November; it eventually went triple platinum. The lead single, "Fight for This Love", was written by Andre Merritt, Steve Kipner, and Wayne Wilkins, and produced by Kipner and Wilkins. Following a live performance on The X Factor, the single entered the UK and Irish charts at number one. It went to number one in Denmark, Norway, and Hungary in 2010, was certified platinum in the UK, and became the fourth best-selling single of 2009 in the UK. Her second single, "3 Words" featuring will.i.am, reached number four in the UK and number seven in Ireland. It also charted at number five in Australia, earning a platinum certification. The third single, "Parachute", reached the top five in the UK and Ireland and was certified gold in the UK.
Cheryl began recording sessions for her second album in February 2010, later revealing on Alan Carr: Chatty Man that some tracks dated back to the 3 Words sessions. Produced largely by Wayne Wilkins, the album, Messy Little Raindrops, was released on 29 October 2010. Featuring guest vocals from August Rigo, Dizzee Rascal, Travie McCoy, and will.i.am, it debuted at number one in the UK and number two in Ireland. It received mixed critical reviews, highlighted by a positive four-star review from Jon O'Brien of AllMusic. On 19 August 2011, BPI certified it platinum for shipments exceeding 300,000 units. The lead single, "Promise This", an up-tempo dance-pop song written by Wilkins, Priscilla Hamilton, and Christopher Jackson, was released on 24 October 2010. It became her second UK number-one and was certified gold. "The Flood" was released as the second single, peaking at number 18 on the UK Singles Chart. Cheryl hosted a one-off television special for ITV1, Cheryl Cole's Night In, which aired on 19 December 2009. Hosted by Holly Willoughby, it featured music and interviews with Cheryl and guests including Alexandra Burke, Rihanna, Will Young, Snow Patrol, and will.i.am. The programme attracted 5 million viewers on its debut. From May to July 2010, Cheryl opened for the Black Eyed Peas on the UK and selected European dates of the E.N.D. World Tour. She also appeared in an episode of the fourth series of Piers Morgan's Life Stories, discussing her marriage and divorce with Ashley Cole and her life-threatening battle with malaria. The broadcast on 23 October 2010 drew 7.2 million viewers, the highest in the show's history.
Cheryl's third studio album, A Million Lights, was released on 18 June 2012. It debuted at number two on the UK Albums Chart with 34,934 copies sold in its first week, becoming her first album to miss the top spot and fall short of 100,000 first-week sales. By comparison, 3 Words had sold 125,000 copies, and Messy Little Raindrops sold 105,000 copies in their first weeks. A Million Lights was certified gold in the UK for shipments of 100,000 copies. The lead single, "Call My Name", became Cheryl's third UK number-one with 152,001 digital copies sold. The song became the fastest-selling number-one single of 2012 until December, when X Factor winner James Arthur sold 490,560 copies of his cover of Shontelle's "Impossible". "Call My Name" ultimately sold 417,000 copies in the UK. The second single, "Under the Sun", peaked at number 13, becoming her seventh consecutive solo top-twenty single. Cheryl supported A Million Lights with her first solo tour, the A Million Lights Tour, running from 3 to 17 October 2012 with 11 dates across Ireland, Scotland, and England. The £350 VIP packages, which included an autograph and backstage photograph, drew criticism from fans due to their high cost. On 4 June 2012, Cheryl performed a duet with Gary Barlow at the Diamond Jubilee Concert, organised by Barlow to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II. She also returned to The X Factor UK in 2012 as a guest advisor at the judges' houses stage. In November 2012, she starred in her own documentary, Cheryl: Access All Areas, which drew 811,000 viewers on ITV2. Girls Aloud reunited in November 2012 to mark their 10th anniversary, releasing the charity single "Something New" for Children in Need 2012. The single peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart. Their second greatest hits compilation, Ten, followed on 26 November, featuring the single "Beautiful 'Cause You Love Me". The ITV1 documentary Girls Aloud: Ten Years at the Top attracted 2.3 million viewers in December. Following the conclusion of their Ten: The Hits Tour in March 2013, Girls Aloud announced their permanent split.
