“The first member of the band is…”
Davina McCall opened her mouth, took a deep breath and glanced down at the card. She raised her microphone and knew that her next words would change the life of a young girl forever.
“CHERYL!”

And so began Cheryl Tweedy’s journey on the road to superstardom. As one fifth of girl band Girls Aloud, the then nineteen year-old from Newcastle went on to have 20 consecutive UK top 10 singles (including four number ones, four number twos and 15 top 5 singles). The group have also reached number one on the UK album chart twice and have been nominated for five BRIT Awards, winning the accolade of Best Single in 2009 with “The Promise”.

Having stormed the Top 40 with her band mates at her side, in 2008, Cheryl provided guest vocals on a track for the Black Eyed Peas’ Will.I.am after meeting him when filming ‘The Passions of Girls Aloud’. The song entitled ‘Heartbreaker’ went on to become a hit and Cheryl’s individual star continued to rise. She took on a judging role on prime-time TV talent show, The X-Factor, and emerged triumphant at the end of the series as one of her acts, Alexandra Burke, managed to beat off competition and claim the winner’s title.

On the back of her X-Factor success, Cheryl decided to take up an offer Will.I.am had made when they were last in the studio together, and took some time off to begin recording a solo album. At this point in time, she also appeared on the cover of UK Vogue’s February issue, starred in TV and print campaigns for L’oreal’s hair-care products and was named Glamour Magazine’s ‘TV Personality of the Year’. As the start of the second X-Factor series with Cheryl on board reached the live show stages, preparations finally began for her debut solo release.

The day before its release, Cheryl performed her the lead single from her album, ‘Fight For This Love’, on The X-Factor. Wearing a striking Julien MacDonald military outfit, Cheryl danced and sang her way through her first solo TV performance since Popstars: The Rivals, and helped send the song rocketing to the top of the UK charts the following week. ‘Fight For This Love’ went on to become the fourth best selling single of 2009 and later gave Cheryl her first solo BRIT award nomination for ‘Best British Single’.

One week after the release of ‘Fight For This Love’, Cheryl’s debut album ’3 Words’ went on sale and remained at the top of the UK album chart for the next two weeks (from 1st to 15th November). Cheryl graced the cover of UK Elle’s November issue in yet another high fashion shoot, and the album’s title track, which was co-written by Cheryl, was then released on 20th December. It reached a peak position of number four in the UK singles chart.

The third single to be taken from the album, ‘Parachute’, actually first entered the charts at number sixty-five on 26th December 2009, following a performance on a one-off ITV program dedicated to Cheryl which featured tracks from her album (entitled ‘Cheryl Cole’s Night In’). It was physically and officially released for download on 15th March 2010, and is currently sat at number five in the UK singles chart.

At present, Cheryl is touring Europe’s radio and television stations promoting ’3 Words’ as her individual pop presence continues to grow. She has recently been named the ‘Most Inspirational Woman of The Decade’ as part of a poll sponsored by a cosmetic treatment review website and also looks set to retain her title as The Style Network’s ‘Best Dressed Woman’ (having been named ‘Style Icon of the Decade’ at the end of 2009).

Words- Alison