Louis Walsh has called on Girls Aloud star Cheryl to revive her solo career after the group’s reunion tour comes to an end.
The singer released a run of four studio albums between 2009 and 2014, featuring five UK No. 1 singles: Fight For This Love, Promise This, Call My Name, Crazy Stupid Love and I Don’t Care.
She released her last track, the standalone Let You, back in 2019, but speaking after leaving the ‘Celebrity Big Brother’ house, Louis – who initially managed Girls Aloud after their formation on ‘Popstars: The Rivals’ until 2004 – has urged Cheryl to return to the studio.
Speaking on the Hits Radio Breakfast Show about his time with the Sound Of The Underground group, he reflected: “I knew they were good but I was really busy with Westlife and I didn’t give them enough attention if you want to know the truth. They had great songs and I think it’s great that they are going out as a foursome now.”
He added: “And Cheryl should do a solo record. She got a hard time but she wasn’t bad, she had some good songs and she should do it again.”
Girls Aloud will return to the road as a four-piece for a run of 30 shows throughout May and June, celebrating the band’s 21st anniversary and honouring Sarah Harding, who passed away in 2021 after being diagnosed with advanced breast cancer.
Of the shows, Cheryl says: “We all started talking about the possibility of doing something to celebrate Girls Aloud’s 20-year anniversary a few years ago. The anniversary seemed like an obvious thing that we would celebrate. But when Sarah fell ill all priorities changed.
“She passed away a year before the anniversary and it just didn’t feel right, it felt too soon. But now, I think there is an energy that does makes it feel right. It’s the right time to celebrate Sarah, it’s the right time to celebrate the band and the right time to celebrate the fact we can still do this 21 years later.
“That’s a big honour in lots of ways.”
The group will also headline Brighton Pride on August 3, as part of a line-up also starring Billy Porter and Sophie Ellis-Bextor.
