Relentless!

Little Mix

In the planning stage for this weeks’ article I wanted to find one word to describe sensational singing group Little Mix. My word needed to be one that not only defined the group, but also their impact upon the world’s music industry and fan base. The word would also help us understand the work ethic they have exhibited in their short career span. It came to me rather quickly, and so I titled this post with that word: Relentless! The adjective rightly describes the career story of Little Mix, a group of young women who competed on the eighth series of The X Factor reality show in 2011, won the contest and powered their way to the top of the charts worldwide.

As I listened to them speak about their tour and other appearances on ABC’s Good Morning America, it seemed they were everywhere. There are all sorts of stories of how singing groups come together. Many grew up in the same neighborhood or went to school together. Little Mix however, really has to thank the judges of the show The X Factor for seeing something that made them believe the women would be better suited as a group than individual artists. Perrie Edwards, Jesy Nelson, Leigh-Anne Pinnock and Jade Thirlwall successfully auditioned as soloist for the show, but all were eliminated early in the competition. They were put into separate ensembles by the judges during the group’s bootcamp stage, however, both groups failed to make it through to the judges’ houses. A later decision recalled two members from each group to form the four-piece group Rhythmix, sending them through to the judges’ houses. They eventually reached the live shows and on October 26, 2011, Rhythmix announced that they would change their name following a dispute with a Brighton-based children’s music charity of the same name, after the programme tried to trademark “Rhythmix”. On October 28, 2011, it was announced that the group’s new name would be “Little Mix”. On December 11th Little Mix were announced as the winners, the first-ever group to win.

Following their win began a whirlwind of appearances and work on their debut album. In May 2012 the group signed a deal Vivid and Bravado to release signature products including dolls, puzzles, accessories and games. On August 31, 2012, the group’s autobiography entitled “Ready to Fly“, was released by Harper Collins. Amazingly the four young women who just a year prior were brought together by The X Factor judges to become a group, now were armed with dolls, games and an autobiography. The article in DailyMail aptly ran with the headline: “Ready To Fly! Little Mix reveals name and cover of their autobiography as they continue quest for world domination“. With just about three years of existence, I wonder how much insight an autobiography of Little Mix events would contain even today. It just goes to show how fast Little Mix rose to international stardom. At the time of the release of the autobiography Little Mix had not even released their debut album. DNA was released in November 2012 with several hit singles which solidified the group as international superstars.

Like most of you reading this post I was well aware of Little Mix and there meteoric rise to the top of the music industry. I did not know if they were very talented or just a well promoted group of young women. When the group released their second album titled Salute February 4, 2014 in the US, I made an effort to really listen to their music. In an interview with Digital Spy published on March 14, 2013, Little Mix stated that their second album would have a more R&B sound. Upon hearing that announcement I was definitely interested in listening to the album. The album was very good, but I wanted to hear more from them. I sought out interviews, acoustic and a cappella performances.

Everything I heard showed that the young entertainers were on top because they possess talent. The group also works extremely hard as they tour and perform without letup. They seem to jump between the US and UK and Europe like there is no Atlantic Ocean. One person commented that they appeared a little tired at one of their many performances. The commenter went on to state Little Mix just came off several US appearances to sing the very next day in London.

As Little Mix made their Good Morning America appearance, they were introduced as the hottest girl group on the planet. We have seen so many hot girl groups in the past (the Supremes, Emotions, TLC, Destiny’s Child and more), and I’m sure there will be more after Little Mix. Right now I just hope they can stay together to let the world hear more music, and explore their vocal capabilities. It won’t be long before record execs start seriously approaching the girls for solo recording opportunities, if they haven’t already. I’m sure we can look forward to more recordings and many appearances from this relentless group, Little Mix.