Little Mix are a British girl group, formed on the eighth series of The X Factor UK by Kelly Rowland.

[1] In
2011, the group rose to prominence after becoming the first group to win the series, and are regarded as
the show's most successful winning act.[2] Originally a four-piece group, the line up consisted of Leigh-
Anne Pinnock, Jade Thirlwall, Perrie Edwards, and Jesy Nelson, before her departure in 2020. Known for
their vocals and signature harmonies, they are cited for helping the girl band renaissance in the UK and
for re-defining girl groups.[3] In 2022, Little Mix went on an indefinite hiatus, allowing its members to
pursue solo projects.[4]

Together Little Mix have achieved five UK number-one singles, "Cannonball" (2011), "Wings" (2012),
"Black Magic" (2015), "Shout Out to My Ex" (2016), and "Sweet Melody" (2021). The group have
released six studio albums DNA (2012), Salute (2013), Get Weird (2015), Glory Days (2016), LM5 (2018)
and Confetti (2020), five which have been certified platinum by the BPI. Little Mix holds the record for
having the highest chart entry for a debut album by British girl group in the US. They are also the first girl
group to have five consecutive top-five albums in the UK, and in 2018, set a new record for the longest
charting album by a girl group inside the top 40 of the UK Albums Chart.

The group was launched into mainstream recognition following the release of "Black Magic" (2015). It
spent three weeks at number one on in the UK, the most for a girl group single since 2007. In 2017, it
was ranked by Billboard as one of the "Greatest Girl Group Songs of All Time".[5] In 2017, Little Mix won
British Single of the Year for "Shout Out To My Ex", and later became the second best selling girl group
single in the UK.[6] By the end of 2018, Forbes named them as one of the most influential acts in Europe.
In the same year, the group parted ways with Syco Music over musical and creative controls and signed
with RCA UK.[7] As of 2021, Little Mix has amassed over 12 billion global streams, including over 7 billion
streams on YouTube, and over 1.9 billion streams in the UK.[8][9] In 2021, they became the first girl
group spend a 100 weeks inside the Official Singles Chart's top ten.

Having sold more than 60 million records worldwide, Little Mix are one of the best-selling girl groups of
all time, and one of Britain's biggest selling acts.[10] They have been named as one of the greatest girl
groups of all time and the biggest girl group of the 2010s. In 2021, Glamour named them as Glamour's
Women of the Year and Game-changers in music. In the same year, Little Mix became the first girl group
to win the Brit Award for British Group. They have been named by Debrett's as one of the most
influential people in the UK with a net worth of £60 million.[11] Their other accolades include a Madame
Tussauds figure, three Brit Awards, seven MTV Europe Music Awards (the most wins for Best UK &
Ireland Act), four Glamour Awards, a iHeartRadio Music Award, two Japanese Gold Disc Awards and
three Guinness World Records.

History

2011–2012: Formation and The X Factor

In 2011, Edwards, Thirlwall, Pinnock and Nelson individually auditioned successfully as soloists for the
eighth series of the UK version of The X Factor in front of judges Louis Walsh, Gary Barlow, Tulisa and
Kelly Rowland,[12] but failed the first challenge of the "bootcamp" section.[13] They were allowed
another chance to compete when they were placed in two separate ensembles by the judges during the
"group bootcamp" stage, with Edwards and Nelson in four-member group Faux Pas and Thirlwall and
Pinnock in three-member group Orion.[13][14] Both groups failed to make it through to the next stage. A
later decision by the judges recalled two members from each group to form the four-piece group
Rhythmix, sending them through to the "judges' houses" section.[15] Footage released in November
2022 revealed that Rowland alone was the judge who formed the group.[16]

They reached the live shows section and were mentored by Tulisa.[17] During the first live show on 8
October 2011, Rhythmix performed "Super Bass" by American recording artist Nicki Minaj. Their
rendition was praised by the judges with Barlow calling them the "best girl band that's ever been on The
X Factor."[18] On 26 October 2011, it was announced that they would change their name following a
dispute with Rhythmix, a Brighton-based children's music charity of the same name, after the
programme tried to trademark "Rhythmix".[19][20] A spokesman for The X Factor said, "At the request
of the charity Rhythmix, the members of the girl group Rhythmix have decided to change their name, a
decision which has the support of Syco and TalkbackTHAMES."[21] It was reported that the group
decided to make the change, with no legal requirement to do so, to avoid any difficulties for the charity.
[21] On 28 October 2011, it was announced that the group's new name would be "Little Mix".[22]

On 20 November 2011, Little Mix became the first girl group in the show's eight-year history to progress
past the seventh live show. The previous longest-surviving girl groups were The Conway Sisters (series 2)
and Hope (series 4), who had both lasted until week 7. Through the remaining course of the competition
the group generally received positive feedback. During the semi-final stage of the show, Little Mix
performed The Supremes's "You Keep Me Hangin' On" as well as Beyoncé's hit "If I Were a Boy". Their
performance of "You Keep Me Hangin' On" received mostly negative feedback from the judges with
Walsh stating that they "lost their mojo" and Rowland telling the girl group she had seen them do
"better vocal performances." Their second performance of the night, "If I Were a Boy", was generally
acclaimed by the judges with Walsh telling them they have "amazing potential" and calling them the
"next big girlband." Rowland also told them they could be "incredibly dynamic" and "change the world"
when they find the strength within each other. It was later revealed that Little Mix topped the semi-final
public vote by 34.4% and advanced to the show's final at Wembley Arena along with Marcus Collins and
Amelia Lily, making them the first girlband ever to reach the final.

On 11 December, Little Mix were announced as the winners, the first time a group had won the UK show
and the second (of five) in the worldwide franchise (after Random on the first series of the Australian
version).[23][24] Their winner's single was a cover of Damien Rice's song "Cannonball", which was
released via digital download on 11 December 2011 and on CD on 14 December 2011.[25][26] The Xtra
Factor: The Winner's Story was shown on ITV2 on 17 December 2011.[27] Their debut single topped the
UK Singles Chart on 18 December 2011.[28] They made the Christmas number one spot on the Irish
Singles Chart, beating novelty songs by The Saw Doctors and Ryan Sheridan.[29]