Little Mix is a British Girl Group. In 2011, they became the first group to ever win The X Factor during its eighth season.
Formed similarly to One Direction, Little Mix was comprised of four singers who originally auditioned for the show as solo artists, but were eventually put together as a group prior to the live shows. Originally known as Rhythmix, the group was forced to change their name when a charity organization of the same name threatened to sue.
They have achieved several firsts: First girl group in X Factor top 5, first group to win X Factor, first UK no 1 by any girl group since Girls Aloud (Saturdays got their first no 1 later), first X Factor winner to release an original single in summer, first UK girl group since All Saints to earn a double platinum single in Australia (and first since the Sugababes in 2005 to be in the top 3!) and first UK girl group EVER to go straight into the top 5 in the US with its debut album. They have the most VEVO-certified music videos ever for a British female artist as well as the most for any girl group, with 11 videos that have over 100 million views as of August 2017.
In 2013, they released the album Salute which followed its predecessor in being a transatlantic top tenner (it was even seen atop the US iTunes chart for a few hours, although it charted 6th — it would have been 4th if compilations were removed from the US albums chart as with the UK — and narrowly missed the top 5). This made Little Mix the first X Factor WINNER to have TWO US top 10 albums, the second act from the show after 1D, and the second UK girl group after Spice Girls (many greats such as Bananarama, All Saints, Atomic Kitten, Sugababes, Girls Aloud and The Saturdays have only managed a top 20 album in the US at best if at all).
In 2015, after being forced to can US gigs and an entire album that they didn't think was good enough, LM came back in spectacular fashion with "Black Magic" spending 3 weeks at number 1 in the UK, and performing at the Teen Choice Awards and with Taylor Swift in spite of the shock split of Perrie with Zayn, formerly from 1D, at the same time. The girls released their most successful album yet in Get Weird, LM's most successful album in UK, Australia, and many European countries (in USA, it was narrowly denied a top 10 place, but still did well enough to make LM the most successful British girl group in USA EVER in terms of chart placings — as well as THE first girl group ever to have their first 3 albums start in the top 15!). In UK, it even outsold 1D's final album before their hiatus! It also led to LM's first world tour, which had gigs in UK extended, selling over 300,000 tickets, and the first worldwide gigs, including a couple in Europe upgraded because of the demand.
Glory Days became the band's first UK no. 1 album, and was the fastest selling album in the country since David Bowie's death. It was also in the top 10 in over SIXTY worldwide iTunes charts. Whilst it didn't do as well in USA as the preceding 3 albums, Little Mix became the second girl group after TLC to have all their first 4 albums in the US top 30. They did, however, join the US leg of Ariana Grande's tour, before headlining an arena tour in the same areas where the preceding album's tour took place. In Europe, bigger venues were used than the previous tour, and there were extra gigs for UK and Australia, as well as a "summer tour" in British stadiums.
They released a 5th album, taking advantage of the practice hashtags when an act works on an unnamed album to call it LM5. Opened with a dream collaboration with Nicki Minaj, and with some powerful and frank songs, it was acclaimed, but the band were removed from Syco days before its release and it didn't fare as well in charts, and had only one follow up. However, Leigh-Anne and Jade climbed Kilimanjaro for charity, they released "Bounce Back" penned by ex-5H member Normani, and had their largest tour of UK, mainland Europe, and Australia yet, but just 4 days before it began, Jesy released a powerful confessional documentary, supported by her bandmates, about the previously undocumented effects the abuse she received for her body shape during X Factor and its immediate aftermath had on her mental and physical health and confidence.
Following this, they released a Christmas song, written solely by Leigh Anne, though that made little impact. However, they had a top 10 single for the 10th consecutive year when they released Break Up Song in spite of having to put their new BBC talent show The Search on hold due to the Coronavirus debacle, and having to make a part-animated video for their new song as a result.
In November 2020, it was announced that Jesy would be taking a hiatus for medical reasons. A month later, on December 14, Jesy officially announced that she was leaving the group to deal with recent mental health struggles, with the remaining members continuing as a trio. Nelson's departure was followed by the release of their first Greatest Hits Album, Between Us, announced on the tenth anniversary of their formation as a group.
In December 2021, the group announced they would be taking an indefinite hiatus following the conclusion of their 2022 Confetti tour.
Members:
Current members in bold:- Perrie Edwards (born July 10, 1993) from South Shields, Tyne and Wear.
- Leigh-Anne Pinnock (born October 4, 1991) from High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire.
- Jade Thirwall (born December 26, 1992) from South Shields, Tyne and Wear.
- Jesy Nelson (born June 14, 1991) from Romford, London.
Discography
- DNA (2012)
- Salute (2013)
- Get Weird (2015)
- Glory Days (2016)
- LM5 (2018)
- Confetti (2020)
- Between Us (2021)
Little Mix provides examples of:
- An Aesop: "Little Me" talks about self-esteem and how the audience is beautiful, wonderful, 'anything you wanna be'' as a way to teach a lesson about the stupidity of body-shaming.
- Alternate Music Video: An alternate video for "Move" is made entirely of the dance routine that the primary video ends with.
- Attractive Bent-Gender: Perrie, Leigh-Anne and Jade make for quite attractive dudes when dressed up as their male alter egos/rivals Pez, Lenny and J-Dog in the remix video for "Confetti".
- A Wild Rapper Appears!:
- Most notably, Missy Elliott in "How Ya Doin'?", Sean Paul in "Hair", Machine Gun Kelly in the remix of "No More Sad Songs", Stormzy in the remix of "Power" and Ty Dolla $ign in the remix of "Think About Us", although he is actually a singer, not a rapper
- 7 years to the day after covering Super Bass on the first round of X Factor, Little Mix achieved a career-long dream by having Nicki Minaj contribute to their album LM5 in "Woman like Me", with Sharaya J playing this role on "Strip" from the same album.
- Saweetie appears to rap alongside Little Mix for the remix of their single "Confetti".
- Blonde, Brunette, Redhead: During their time on the show, Perrie, Jade and Leigh-Anne were the original configuration of this. Post-show, Leigh-Anne went back to her natural black while Jesy dyed her hair red, but the latter has since reverted back to her natural brunette.
- Break Up Song:
- "Pretend It's OK", "Turn Your Face", "Going Nowhere", "Case Closed", "Love Me or Leave Me".
- "Hair" was obviously written before the surprise and acrimonious Zerrie split, but its release later that month, and its lyrics, lead to a lot of interpretation about it.
- "Shout Out to My Ex" is a song to their ex-boyfriends.
- They now have a song with this exact name.
- Call-Back: The girls playing with their clothes in "Hair" is a call back to them doing the same thing in the "How Ya Doin'?" video
- The Cameo: An older Gordon Brittas (reprised by Chris Barrie) can be seen in "Word Up", initially being disturbed by the antics of the girls before joining in with their dancing.
- Cover Version:
- Their winners' single was a cover of Damien Rice 's "Cannonball", reworked as a R&B-styled ballad.
- On BBC Radio 1, they did a fantastic cover of Mumford and Sons song I Will wait https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTytQWfcO4M
. In this version, they used their voices absolutely brilliantly. The cover even uses a conductor. - Acapella covers of Beyonce's End Of Time, and Fun.'s we are young. During the Cannonball audit, Jade sings a cappella, but synth beats are introduced after her solo finishes.
- For Sports Relief 2014 they did a very catchy cover of Cameo's "Word Up".
- Cross-Cast Role: In the remix for "Confetti", Little Mix dressed as their male doppelgangers, Pez, Lenny, and J-Dog, and Little Mix as women engage in a dance battle.
- Curse Cut Short: "And if they give you sh…" from "Wings". The Glee cast cover, however, did assume the girls swore, and replaced the "Shhh…" sound with hell. American Idol assumed the same as well, and replaced "sh" with "lip".
- Childhood Friends: Jade has known 2009 winner Joe McElderry since they were kids.
- Distaff Counterpart: In the loosest sense to One Direction, in that they're a pop group created by The X Factor and because Perrie and Zayn were once engaged. Otherwise, their musical styles are vastly different and Little Mix's success is only a fraction of One Direction's.
- Double Standard: The "DNA" video tells some incomprehensible story about a guy they have kidnapped. He appears tied up in Perrie's car, and the video ends with all four of them walking towards him about to do god-knows-what to him. It's pretty clear this is meant to be sexy. Now if a boy band had a music video showing a girl they kidnapped and tied up…
- Female Empowerment Song: "Salute" is an empowerment song in the vein of a military anthem:Ladies all across the world, listen up we're looking for recruits
If you with me, let me see your hands
Stand up and salute
Get your killer heels, sneakers, pumps, or lace up your boots
Representing all the women (salute, salute) - Football Fight Song: "Change Your Life"… ironically enough.
- Four-Girl Ensemble: Jade is the sweet-naive one, Jesy is the Deadpan Snarker, Leigh-Anne is the glamorous one, and Perrie is the Wild Card (in every sense of the word — her teammates once called her the baby of the group, because she is the youngest.).
- Fun with Acronyms: "A.D.I.D.A.S" isn't about shoes; it stands for the repeated line "all day long I dream about shh."
- Gasshole: According to the other girls, Perrie.
- Hard-Drinking Party Girl: Leigh-Anne and Jade are known for being this.
- Homage:
- The "DNA" video is one for Sin City.
- "Black Magic" is one to The Craft.
- "No More Sad Songs" video is a clear homage to "Coyote Ugly"
- Hotter and Sexier: They've become this ever since "Glory Days".
- Intercourse with You: "DNA", "Love Drunk", "Stereo Soldier", "A.D.I.D.A.S.", "Beep Beep", and "Motivate".
- Love Is a Drug: "Lovedrunk".
- Modesty Towel: Jesy Nelson wears nothing but a towel for her part of "The One I've Been Missing" music video.
- Ms. Fanservice: Starting with the "Glory Days" era.
- Named After Somebody Famous: Perrie was named after Steve Perry, of Journey.
- Older and Wiser: Prior to finally making it to the live shows with Little Mix, Jade had previously auditioned for the 2008 and 2010 seasons of the show, but only made it as far as the boot camp stage both times.
- Oop North: Jade and Perrie are both Geordies from the same town.
- Opposite-Sex Clone: Pez, J-Dog and Lenny for Perrie, Jade and Leigh-Anne in the remix video for "Confetti".
- Retraux: "Weird People" takes influences from 1980's pop.
- Screw Yourself: The girls crushing on their male alter egos/rivals in the remix video for "Confetti".
- Self-Empowerment Anthem: "Change Your Life" and "Wings" in DNA, "Little Me" and the title track of Salute.
- This is a theme of LM5, including "Strip" and "Joan of Arc".
- Shaking the Rump: The girls sometimes incorporate twerking into their choreography during performances.
- Ship Tease: In the remix video for "Confetti", Jade is crushing on Lenny and Perrie and Leigh-Anne cheer her on for it while J-Dog is crushing on Perrie and Pez discusses his crush on Jade to his mates in the men's room.
- Shout-Out:
- "A.D.I.D.A.S" shout outs to Drake and his song "Coming Home". On "Strip", featured rapper Sharaya J shouts out Drake's song "In My Feelings"
- The music video for "Hair" references the famous floor slide scene◊ from Risky Business.
- The music video for "Black Magic" has various references to 1996 cult horror film The Craft, in particular the scene where Perrie turns her hair purple by running her hands through it, which is near-identical to a similar scene in The Craft.
- Perry Edwards acidentally bumps into two drag queens in the middle of the video for "Confetti". Fans of RuPaul's Drag Race UK will recognize Bimini Bon Boulash, Tayce, and A’Whora’s cameos in the video.
- Singing Voice Dissonance: Perrie's singing voice is much deeper than her speaking voice, particularly when she sang Mumford in November 2012. She than suffered tonsillitis and missed the group's last 3 gigs of 2012, returning with a slightly altered voice in January 2013.
- Sweet Tooth: Jade loves her sweets.
- Take That!: "Shout Out to My Ex" has a not-so-subtle one towards Perrie's ex-fiancé, Zayn Malik.note
- Tomboyish Name: Perrie has one.
- Transatlantic Equivalent: To Fifth Harmony of The X Factor USA, given how they started as solo artists and were later put in a group. Other things people compare include that fact that Camilla, like with Jade, though Bowties were cool early on in her career, DJ and Jesy's hot bodies and distinct voices, and the styles, influences, and themes the separate Syco Music labelled bands sing about. Half the bands' fanbases catcall each other, but the bands themselves have been mostly openly supportive of each other (touring together and a couple of very public twitter pics of all 9 (at the time) girls across both bands posing together!), and also of other competition. LM and 5H members (current and former) also like each other's insta pics. Little Mix did later admit that both groups being on the same label was awkward, but that they were different enough from each other for this to not be a problem and hence had strong ties.
- True Companions: In "Always Be Together".
- Uncomfortable Elevator Moment: Uncomfortable urinating moment in the men's room moment in the remix video for "Confetti". The boys urinate in a hilariously awkward scene while the girls talk about their crushes on the “boys.”
- Video Full of Film Clips: The official video for "Cannonball" is just a bunch of clips taken from their journey on The X Factor — as usual for the first singles of The X Factor winners. Change Your Life has one full of tour clips.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: The music video for "Black Magic" starts out with the girls as a group of nerds trying to get a hot guy's attention at school as he chooses an Alpha Bitch type over them. Throughout the video, they discover a book of witchcraft and use it in their favor by turning the Alpha Bitch into a gasshole... After which that plot thread is completely forgotten about.
- Whole-Plot Reference:
- The "Black Magic" music video is basically a Lighter and Softer shout-out to The Craft.
- The video for "DNA" is the same thing, but for Sin City.
- Who's Laughing Now?:
- Jesy used to receive online bullying because she wasn't as skinny as the other girls- now they are jealous of her curves!
- Perrie, who has a scar down the entire length of her stomach, showed it little when she was abused for her relationship with Zayn, but has since done regular swimsuit pics and showing off her scar in most gigs. Many fans have often been inspire to display scars after seeing pictures of Perrie displaying hers.
- You Don't Look Like You: Their dolls don't look anything like them, with Jade's hair suddenly ''purple'' and Jesy's pink. Leighanne even has a afro, for some reason.
