March 19th was a sad day for Harmonizers everywhere, as Fifth Harmony announced the kind of news that no one ever wants to hear their favorite band say: “We’re taking a hiatus.” The group posted this statement on Monday to announce their hiatus as they all wish to perform their own solo endeavors.
Fifth Harmony began their journey on season 2 of “The X Factor” in 2012 where they placed third. Since then, the group has been extremely successful in their release of 2 EP’s and 3 albums. This hiatus however, isn’t the first time it’s been a sad day for Harmonizers. In December 2016, Camila Cabello announced she was leaving the band to pursue her own solo endeavors. There seemed to be some conflict and tension between Camilla and the rest of the group, as her statement and Fifth Harmony’s statement did not quite match up.
Camila’s leave was no surprise to me, as I always found her to be the front runner of the band. She pursued solo endeavors whilst still in the band, such as “I Know What You Did Last Summer” with Shawn Mendes and “Bad Things” with Machine Gun Kelly. Since her leave she’s done more features such as “Know No Better” with Major Lazer, Travis Scott and Quavo, had her own hit singles such as “Crying in the Club” and “OMG”, and even released her very first album, “Camila” on January 11th, 2018.
Like Camilla, a few other Fifth Harmony members have also done solo endeavors whilst still in the band. Lauren Jauregui has collaborated with Marian Hill on “Back To Me” and Halsey on “Strangers” and Normani Kordei collaborated with Khalid on “Love Lies” for the film Love, Simon. Ally Brooke has worked with Lost Kings and A$AP Ferg on “Look At Us Now” and with Topic for “Perfect.” Dinah Jane did a Christmas Medley duet with Leona Lewis. The foursome put out their third self-titled album “Fifth Harmony” without Camila in August 2017
Their break-up reminds me a lot of the “hiatus” One Direction took. Zayn Malik left the band in March 2015 to pursue his own solo career and the band put out one last album “Made in the A.M.” without him in November 2015. The remaining members of One Direction then decided to take a hiatus for themselves and Niall, Harry, Louis, and Liam have now all put out their own singles or albums.
In my opinion, I wish bands would just be honest with their fans. Saying that you’re taking a hiatus implies that you’re coming back. The boys of One Direction have all had major successes as solo artists and I can’t see the band ever making a return (although it would be a dream come true if they did). Same goes for Fifth Harmony here. They’re all extremely talented women and I’m sure they’ll have great success as solo artists. Who knows, maybe that one member leaving the band and becoming successful is how these “hiatus’” happen or maybe it’s just a coincidence. I don’t know if Fifth Harmony will ever come back, but for now they’re Miss Movin On to solo endeavors.