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Little Mix
Little Mix performing
Background information
Origin	United Kingdom
Genres	Pop, R&B, hip hop
Years active	2011–present
Labels	Syco Music
Members	Perrie Edwards Jesy Nelson Leigh-Anne Pinnock Jade Thirlwall
Website	little-mix.com

Little Mix are a British four-piece girl group formed in 2011, comprising members Perrie Edwards, Jesy Nelson, Leigh-Anne Pinnock and Jade Thirlwall.

They were formed exclusively for the eighth series of The X Factor, where they became the first group entry to win in the programme's eight-year history, beating Marcus Collins in the final. While they were on The X Factor they were mentored by N-Dubz member Tulisa Contostavlos.

Career

2011–present: Formation, The X Factor and debut album

Perrie Edwards, Jesy Nelson, Leigh-Anne Pinnock and Jade Thirlwall successfully auditioned as soloists for the eighth series of The X Factor in 2011, but failed to make it past bootcamp's first challenge. However, the judges decided to give them another chance to be part of the Groups category. They were then put into separate ensembles by the judges during the group's bootcamp stage, with Edwards and Nelson in four-member group Faux Pas and Thirlwall and Pinnock in three-member group Orion. However, both groups failed to make it through to the judges' houses. A later decision saw two members from each group being called back to form the four-piece group Rhythmix, this sending them through to the judges' houses.

They eventually reached the live shows and were mentored by Tulisa Contostavlos. On 26 October 2011, Rhythmix announced that they would change their name following a dispute with a Brighton-based children's music charity of the same name, after the programme tried to trademark "Rhythmix". 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." It was reported that the band decided to make the change, despite no legal reason to do so, to avoid any difficulties for the charity. On 28 October 2011, it was announced that the group's new name would be "Little Mix". 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 live show 7. On 11 December, Little Mix were announced as the winners, making them the first ever group to win the show. Their winner's single is 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. The Xtra Factor: The Winner's Story was shown on ITV2 on 17 December 2011. Their debut single topped the UK Singles Chart on 18 December 2011. They made the Christmas number one spot on the Irish Singles Chart, beating novelty songs by The Saw Doctors and Ryan Sheridan.

It has been announced that Gary Barlow and Biff Stannard will write songs for their first studio album. On 25 January 2012, the group made an appearance at the National Television Awards and performed the En Vogue song "Don't Let Go (Love)". They also accompanied fellow judges Gary Barlow and Tulisa Contostavlos on stage to receive the Best Talent Show award won by the eighth series. During an interview backstage, they confirmed they had been writing for their upcoming album and plan to release their next single soon.

Performances on The X Factor

Little Mix (known as Rhythmix until live show 4) performed the following songs on The X Factor:

Originally the members auditioned as soloists but were eliminated during bootcamp, however they were among some that were called back and asked if they were interested in forming groups. All agreed and were workshopped to see which singers would work well together as a group.

Members

Perrie Edwards

Perrie Edwards is from South Shields, Tyne and Wear. Her first audition was "You Oughta Know" by Alanis Morissette.

Jesy Nelson

Jesy Nelson is from Romford, London. Nelson first worked as a barmaid before joining the group. Her first audition was "Bust Your Windows" by Jazmine Sullivan.

Leigh-Anne Pinnock

Leigh-Anne Pinnock is from High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. Before joining Little Mix, she worked as a waitress in Pizza Hut. Her first audition was "Only Girl (In the World)" by Rihanna.

Jade Thirlwall

Jade Thirlwall is from South Shields, Tyne and Wear. At first, she was a student and participated in various singing contests in the area. She is close friends with The X Factor series 6 winner, Joe McElderry, who is also from South Shields. The pair used to duet together. She has previously auditioned on series 5 in 2008 and on series 7 in 2010, but only made it into the end of the bootcamp stage.

Awards and nominations

Discography

Studio Albums

Singles

• 2011 establishments in England
• British girl groups
• British vocal groups
• English pop music groups
• Musical groups established in 2011
• Musical groups from London
• Sony BMG artists
• Vocal quartets
• The X Factor (UK) contestants
• X Factor series winners