Music

Longtime Girls Aloud fans are bittersweet about the group’s 2009 single “Untouchable.” While the atmospheric, nearly seven-minute epic off the group’s No. 1 U.K. album Out of Control was a clear fan and critical favorite, the official single version was an Auto-Tune-heavy, electro-pop number. It ultimately landed at No. 11 on The Official U.K. Singles Chart to break Girls Aloud’s historic run with 20 consecutive top 10 singles.

As if reclaiming their history right from the opening number, The Girls Aloud Show kicked off with the original album version of “Untouchable” (to the delight of many fans) as Cheryl, Nadine, Kimberley and Nicola descended to the stage from ceiling-high platforms — likely a throwback to one of the group’s most memorable, high-flying live performances for Dancing on Ice in 2019.

Another emotional staple of Girls Aloud’s past tours is “I’ll Stand by You,” the group’s rework of the 1994 single by The Pretenders released 10 years later as a charity single that went to No. 1 on the U.K. Singles chart.

The performance came towards the show’s end but presented one of the most powerful moments on stage, particularly on the tour’s opening nights in Dublin. With the song’s music video footage alongside many focused shots of Sarah Harding, the quartet was undeniably emotional singing this together on stage again without their fifth bandmate. But the women coming together by the song’s end to hold each other arm in arm proved hauntingly proving the group living through their lyrics (again) with past shows becoming more of a celebration for Harding with Nadine frequently encouraging an arena-wide singalong.

While Girls Aloud kept their press appearances to a minimum after officially reforming in late 2023, the times the media did bring them together were full of joy and nostalgia.

Cheryl, Nadine, Kimberly and Nicola lightheartedly reminisced on past outfits, beauty looks, and played superlatives — frequently telling funny stories about the late Sarah — but also got honest about their career struggles including almost disbanding after their 2003 debut album Sound of the Underground and three Top 3 singles in the U.K.

“That was a real turning point because it was a little hit-and-miss with the label at that point,” Nicola told ITV’s Alison Hammond (watch above) before they were offered a spot on the Love Actually soundtrack with a cover of The Pointer Sisters‘ Billboard Hot 100 hit “Jump (For My Love)” from the 1984. “We were actually potentially going to be dropped before ‘Jump’ because the songs had gone from No. 1 to 2 to 3. Then ‘Jump’ was proposed to us and thank G-d it was just a massive success and saved us.”

Plus, Kimberly, Cheryl, and Nadine are all mothers now, and sharing how their kids only now understand their past and see old footage for the first time gives Girls Aloud a way to connect with a whole new generation.

While Nicola Roberts is the youngest — and, typically, shyest — member of Girls Aloud, it’s been a joy for fans to watch her blossom from a timid teenager to a full-blown superstar. While Nicola’s vocals showed growth every GA album era, the power displayed on The Girls Aloud Show was on a new level for the 38-year-old. Her ad-libs were noticeably dynamic on songs like “The Show,” “Can’t Speak French,” and “Something Kinda Ooooh.” At the same time, she also gracefully stepped in to cover sections originally sung by Sarah Harding with a similarly necessary tenacity of her late band member.

While Nicola only released one solo album in 2011’s brilliant Cinderella Eyes and has instead been in the studio to write for other artists (penning tracks for Little Mix, Tinashe, Tiffany Young and even Cheryl), one hopes the confidence displayed on stage encourages her to step into the recording booth once again.

Anyone familiar with Girls Aloud’s story — particularly the rocky years leading up to and after their 10th anniversary — knows how remarkable it is to see the group back together on stage singing. While the 2006 ballad “Whole Lotta History” was always a touching moment in Girls Aloud’s setlist, the song feels even more poignant today.

Singing lyrics like, “I’m talking ’bout a whole lotta history/ I can’t find a way to show what you mean to me” before walking off the stage holding one another as a video of Sarah singing closed out the song was goosebump-inducing. It felt like a visual promise that they will, indeed, remember their history together.

Beyond Cheryl, Nadine, Kimberley and Nicola’s onstage display of companionship for “Whole Lotta History,” a special video closed out the song. Sarah Harding’s wistful solo outro for the track looped as a montage played to remind the audience of her beauty, bold personality, and boisterous laugh.

Fans watched the memorial video in silence til its ending with the phrase, “The darkest nights produce the brightest stars” (included on some of the Girls Aloud tour merchandise in honor of Harding) to elicit a roar of applause for their fallen songbird.

While there have been many winks to Girls Aloud’s enduring LGBTQ+ fanbase through the years, the tour performance of “Can’t Speak French” felt like a full-fledged love letter to the community. The girls and their accompanying dance crew worked handheld fans for nearly the entire performance of the 2008 single, with the leading male dancers rocking gender-bending blouses, skirts, and stockings while bumping and grinding with the quartet.

Several local British and Irish bars held pre- and after-show parties following the concerts (like RuPaul’s Drag Race UK contestant Cheryl Hole performing a non-stop set of GA group and solo performances in Aberdeen, Scotland; Hole and Drag Race Down Under star Hannah Conda performed in Newcastle, England) to brought in fans across the gender spectrum celebrating the group with drinks, drag and Girls Aloud’s best melodies.

As one of the group’s leading vocalists, Nadine Coyle naturally has a lot on her plate every set and the Irish powerhouse was not immune to the occasional slip-up — with her word salads and adorable slip-ups becoming more and more amusing to the band and fans throughout the tour.

Despite whipping through each concert with an undeniable enduring rock-star presence, Nadine still seemed to go to war with the show’s ongoing blasts of celebratory confetti nightly, trying not to breathe them in or choke on them while singing — inspiring fan montages and Coyle even to declare, “I have been personally attacked by confetti” at the intimate Shepherd’s Bush Empire show in July with noticeably less pyrotechnics.

There was also the moment in Belfast where fans caught Nadine looking visibly terrified when an under-the-weather Cheryl indicated she needed coverage for her part in “The Promise,” or in Dublin, she full-on sang “I forgot the words” in “Jump.”

Despite two decades in the group, Nadine proves that we’re all still prone to jumbling our words — and her members and fans love her all the more for it.

Girls Aloud could have easily relied on simple nostalgia to sell out their arena-sized reunion. However, the same musical vision that made the girl group both commercial and critical successes guided the tour’s musical direction with different ways to satisfy their fans’ cult-like obsession with deep cuts. The 20-song setlist dropped a few of GA’s hit singles to bring out some of the best tour performances for b-side tracks.

Highlights of the night included “Graffiti My Soul” from 2004’s What Will the Neighbours Say? (that Britney Spears recorded as a demo for a potential album), where Cheryl and Kimberly frequently teased the audience with a near lip-lock; a dance-heavy take on “Girl Overboard” off 2007’s Tangled Up with additional dance breaks and remixed moments; as well as “On the Metro,” a Nicola-penned cut off their Ten compilation album from 2012 that Roberts noted was one of their favorite songs to perform.

With new album cuts added to their finale show at Brighton Pride in August, this reunion proved that Girls Aloud wasn’t just about their consecutive string of hits and the entire projects encompassing them.

The Girls Aloud reunion wasn’t over after their tour but continued on as the group performed a special concert at the intimate Shepherd’s Bush Empire in London and headlined the 2024 U.K. Pride event in Brighton and Hove in August, where they delivered a revamped show complete with different music and looks.

From the first glance of Cheryl and Kimberly’s bright wigs — in pink and purple, respectively — plus new costumes and an onstage staircase, it was evident GA was bringing something new to close out their reunion shows. Alongside a humorous new introduction video and several lyrical change-ups to honor the Pride vibe, the girls also delivered several surprises: unexpected song additions (like the beloved B-side “Watch Me Go” off 2005’s Chemistry), a special guest in Olly Alexander (who has long been friendly with the group and joined them to sing 2009 single “The Loving Kind” that wasn’t on the original Show setlist), and two covers (“King” by Alexander’s Years & Years and Madonna‘s “Material Girl”).

By the headlining set’s ending, the audience was chanting, “10 more years! 10 more years!” which made Nadine laugh and ultimately culminated in an emotional moment between the group, who looked teary-eyed (as did their backup dancers) as they said their goodbyes to the crowd. As final as the ending felt to those in the audience, many music fans undoubtedly had a sense of satisfaction in being able to experience the Girls live once again. With the genuine happiness and friendship shown throughout the reunion, the possibility of Girls Aloud’s story continuing feels possible once again. But no matter what, at least this chapter is ending on a joyous note.