Originally formed by Simon Cowell in 2011 on his own show The X Factor, the British girl band, Little Mix, has been making history ever since. Leigh Anne Pinnock, Jade Thriwall, Perrie Edwards, and Jesy Nelson (who left the group in December 2020) were the first girl band to ever win the Brit Awards under the category “Best British Group”, which has been won by successful male bands, like Coldplay, The 1975, Arctic Monkeys, One Direction and more.
The UK is known for producing the greatest bands since The Beatles and it’s honestly shocking that no girl band has won their most prestigious award until this year.
There’s plenty of examples that could be named, such as the Spice Girls, formed in 1994 by Melanie Brown (aka Mel B), Emma Bunton, Victoria Beckham, Geri Haliwell, and Melanie C. The band broke many records with their debut album, “Spice”, which sold more than 30 million copies worldwide, becoming the best-selling album by a female group in history, they also sold over 80 million records worldwide, making them the best-selling female group and one of the best-selling pop groups of all time, and the biggest British pop phenomenon since Beatlemania. You probably have heard their song “Wannabe”.
Besides, the UK music industry had a huge success with the pop British-Irish group “Girls Aloud”, formed by Nadine Coyle, Sarah Harding, Cheryl Cole, Nicola Roberts, and Kimberley Walsh. They became one of the most successful British groups from 2002 to 2008, with 20 singles charting in the Top10 British chart. In fact, in 2007, Guinness World Records nominated them “The most successful group formed on a TV show”.
Little Mix girls graciously address the issue in their acceptance speech: “The fact that a girl band has never won this award really does speak volumes”. Jade said. “So this award isn’t just for us. It’s for the Spice Girls, Sugababes, All Saints, Girls Aloud, all of the incredible female bands, this one’s for you.” Leigh Anne continued: “It’s not easy being a female in the UK pop industry. We’ve seen white male dominance, misogyny, sexism, and lack of diversity. We’re proud of how we’ve stuck together, stood for our group, surrounded ourselves with strong women, and are now using our voices more than ever.”
It has been an incredible year for the girls with the release of their album Confetti and their first year as a trio.
Hopefully, LM’s will be the first of many girl groups to win an award for the best group of the year. Their victory means more than just a special moment for the band, but for all of the female artists out there, struggling with the misogyny that rules not only the music industry but our society. They opened a door that had been wrongfully closed for so long. May it impacts above UK limits and rise to the whole music world.
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The article above was edited by Giulia Lozano Pacini.
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