In the mid-’90s, girl groups ruled — from Destiny’s Child to TLC to the Spice Girls. And nearly 20 years later, the ladies are set to reign over music again.
While we’ve seen this resurgence in boy bands, with the success of One Direction and The Wanted, it hasn’t been until recent that girl groups have returned to the pop landscape. MTV News gets the girl groups and their mentors to spill on the new movement.
“Everything comes around in a circle, you know. Before we did One Direction, I remember thinking, you know, these bands are going to be big again,” said Simon Cowell, who formed 1D in 2010 during “The X Factor” U.K. “Obviously, following that is going to be girl bands and then will be something else.”
After taking first place in the U.K.’s “X Factor” back in 2011, Little Mix‘s rise to fame has been rapid. Not only did their first single “Cannonball” hit #1 across the pond, but their album DNA landed them at #4 in the U.S., breaking a sales-record set by the Spice Girls in 1997.
“It was amazing. I don’t think any of us ever expected to ever get in the top five. And to beat the Spice Girls was even more incredible ’cause they are like our idols,” Little Mix’s Jesy Nelson said. “We looked up to them when we were younger. They’ve led the way for British girl groups to crack America, and it feels lovely that we’ve done it as well.”
Following in their footsteps are the ladies of Fifth Harmony. Although the fivesome only placed third in the U.S. version of “The X Factor” last season, 5H seems to be showing more promise than any other alum. Their single “Miss Movin’ On” peaked at #1 on iTunes and debuted at #85 on the Billboard Hot 100, making them the first act to chart from the U.S. show.
“We just had our one-year anniversary,” Normani Hamilton said. “It’s crazy to see how much we’ve done in such a short period of time.”
But 2013 is not just about the up-and-comers. Girl group veterans Danity Kane announced their reunion at the 2013 VMAs. And although a lot of drama surrounded the “Making the Band” stars’ breakup, the “Damaged” singers told MTV News they are ready to remake the band.
“You know we’ve just grown. We’re more mature women,” Aubrey O’Day replied when asked what brought DK back together. “This time we wanted to come back on our own free will and mostly the music, you know, we love making music. We’re in the studio right now, actually with Stereotypes, who did ‘Damaged.’ And we have a new song that we love called ‘Rage.’ So we’re really excited about that.”
TLC also has new music on the way. The now duo lent their vocals for the hook of J.Cole’s “Crooked Smile.” Plus, they have an upcoming album featuring both new material and rereleases of some of their most beloved tracks.
“We wouldn’t call it a ‘Greatest Hits’; a lot of people are saying that for some reason,” Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins said. “We rerecorded all of our old hits and we’ll have some additional new — hopefully — hits and smashes too.”
And while their Super Bowl reunion might be the only time we’ll see Destiny’s Child back in action, former groupmate Kelly Rowland fully supports the girl-group revival.
“You want to see girl groups,” Rowland said. “I want to see girl groups come up and you want to see them, they’re supposed to be better than the last generation and I want to see that happen.”
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