Fifth Harmony, often shortened to 5H, is an American girl group based in Miami, composed of Ally Brooke, Normani, Dinah Jane, Lauren Jauregui, and Camila Cabello until her departure from the group in December 2016. The group signed a joint record deal with Simon Cowell's label Syco Records and L.A. Reid's label Epic Records after forming and were the last contestant eliminated in the second season of the American singing competition series The X Factor in 2012.
The group released their debut single "Miss Movin' On", preceding their extended play Better Together. In 2015, The group released their debut studio album Reflection, which was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). It spawned the singles "Boss", "Sledgehammer" and "Worth It"; the latter of which was certified triple platinum by RIAA, and reached the top ten in thirteen countries. In 2016, the group released "Work from Home", the lead single from their second album 7/27, which peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot 100, making it the first top five single by a girl group in a decade on that chart. They released their self-titled third album in 2017. The group went on indefinite hiatus in March 2018, allowing its members to pursue solo projects.
Fifth Harmony has sold nearly 15 million RIAA certified units, and are one of the best-selling girl groups of all time with a reported 33 million copies sold. They are known for their vocal range and songs with themes of female empowerment, self positivity, confidence, and unity. As of 2016, they have earned 1.6 billion on-demand streams, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Billboard named them the biggest girl group of the 2010s. In 2017, Time referred to them as arguably "the biggest girl group in the world".
Fifth Harmony have earned the most top ten albums on the U.S. Billboard 200 for any girl group in the 21st century. Their accolades include an American Music Award, three MTV Europe Music Awards, three Guinness World Records, four MTV Video Music Awards, four iHeartRadio Music Awards, the first ever Billboard Women in Music Group of the Year award, a record five Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards (the most for a girl group), and ten Teen Choice Awards.
Career
2012: The X Factor
In 2012, Ally Brooke, Camila Cabello, Normani Kordei, Dinah Jane and Lauren Jauregui auditioned as solo contestants on the second season of the American televised singing competition The X Factor. The latter four failed to progress in the "Teens" category, with Brooke failing to enter the "Young Adults" category. However, they were later brought back and put together to form a five-piece girl group at The Fillmore, in Miami, Florida on July 27, thus qualifying for the "Groups" category. Judges Demi Lovato, L.A. Reid, Britney Spears and Simon Cowell helped form the group. For their qualifying song at the "judges' houses", and their first song as a group, the girls sang an acoustic version of "Impossible" by Shontelle. Afterwards, Marc Anthony called the performance "unbelievable" with Cowell sharing similar sentiments saying that they were "clearly one great group". Initially, the group's name was "Lylas" (an acronym for Love You Like a Sister), but another group called "The Lylas" (which consists of four of Bruno Mars' sisters) claimed that the show stole their name. Thereafter, Lylas changed their name to 1432 (a colloquial term for I Love You Too), which was announced on the first live show on October 31, during which 1432 performed "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" by Taylor Swift. Cowell and Reid were critical of the new name, and Cowell suggested that the group be renamed again. During the first live results show on November 1, 1432 performed "Skyscraper" by Demi Lovato in a sing-off with three-piece girl group Sister C. Cowell decided to send 1432 through to the Top 12 and announced that they would be renamed via the viewers online. The name chosen by the public was announced: "Fifth Harmony".