GRL

GRL
GRL from left: Natasha Slayton, Paula Van Oppen, Simone Battle, Emmalyn Estrada and Lauren Bennett
General information
Genre (s)	pop
founding	2013, 2016
resolution	2015
Website	www.grlmusic.com
Current occupation
singing	Lauren Bennett
singing	Jazzy Mejia (from 2016)
singing	Natasha Slayton
former members
singing	Simone Battle († 2014)
singing	Emmalyn Estrada
singing	Paula van Oppen

Chart positions Explanation of the data

Singles

Wild Wild Love (with Pitbull )   UK 6th 05/17/2014 (7 weeks)   US 30th 03/15/2014 (18 weeks) Ugly Heart   UK 11  platinum 09/13/2014 (25 weeks) Lighthouse   UK 55 03/21/2015 (1 week)

GRL is an American-British-Canadian girl group. It originally consisted of members Emmalyn Estrada, Simone Battle, Paula Van Oppen, Lauren Bennett and Natasha Slayton. After Simone Battle's death in September 2014, the group existed as a quartet until they broke up in June 2015. A year later they got back together as a trio.

Career

2011–2012: Foundation as the new Pussycat Dolls and changes in line-up

In March 2011, Robin Antin began looking for a replacement for the members of the Pussycat Dolls who left in 2010 . The new band members were introduced to the public on February 5, 2012 in a commercial for GoDaddy , which first aired as part of the Super Bowl . At the time, the new pussycat dolls consisted of Lauren Bennett from the Paradiso Girls , Paula van Oppen (from So You Think You Can Dance and the PCD Burlesque Show), former Laker Girl cheerleader Vanessa Curry, Chrystina Sayers from Girlicious and the Dallas Cowboys -heerleader Erica Jenkins.

On April 13, 2012, Chrystina Sayers announced that she was leaving the band. In July 2012 a new line-up was introduced, consisting of Bennett and Van Oppen and the new members Natalia Mejia (from Girlicious), Amanda Branche and Natasha Slayton. In addition, the departure of Erica Jenkins became known. In August 2012, press photos were published in which The X Factor candidate Simone Battle Amanda replaced industry. In November 2012, Emmalyn Estrada replaced the resigned Natalia Mejia. Mejia left the group because of her pregnancy.

2013–2015: Renaming to GRL and separation

In order not to endanger a possible comeback of the Pussycat Dolls with the original members, the line-up was renamed GRL in February 2013 .

On June 16, 2013, GRL released their first single Vacation , which was used for the soundtrack for The Smurfs 2 . They also began work on their debut album in collaboration with Dr. Luke , Max Martin , Darkchild and Lukas Hilbert .

On February 18, 2014, the second single show Me What You Got was released . GRL also made a guest contribution to Pitbull's single Wild Wild Love .

On March 14, 2014, GRL performed at the iTunes Festival at SXSW with the songs Girls Are Always Right , Show Me What You Got , Vacation , Rewind and Ugly Heart as well as Wild Wild Love (together with Pitbull).

On June 3, 2014, the single Ugly Heart was released , which reached number 2 in Australia and number 4 in New Zealand. The EP GRL followed on July 29, 2014 , which includes Ugly Heart , Show Me What You Got and the new songs Rewind , Don't Talk About Love and Girls Are Always Right .

On September 5, 2014, Simone Battle was found dead in her apartment. According to the forensic medical examination, Battle committed suicide .

In January 2015, GRL released the single Lighthouse , which they dedicated to Simone Battle. In April 2015, GRL appeared in Australia in support of Meghan Trainor's That Bass Tour. At the beginning of June 2015, the girl group announced its dissolution.

2016: GRL comeback

Almost a year after their split, the band announced their reunion in June 2016. The trio now consists of the new member Jazzy Mejia and the original members Lauren Bennett and Natasha Slayton. On September 27, the band released the single Kiss Myself .

Timeline: band members

member		2013		2014		2015		2016		2017		2018		2019
	Simone Battle † (2013-2014)
	Emmalyn Estrada (2013-2015)
	Paula van Oppen (2013-2015)
	Lauren Bennett (2013-present)
	Natasha Slayton (2013-present)
	Jazzy Meija (2016-present)

Discography

EP

• 2014: GRL

Singles

• 2013: Vacation
• 2014: Show Me What You Got
• 2014: Ugly Heart
• 2015: Lighthouse
• 2016: Kiss Myself
• 2016: Are We Good

Guest Posts

• 2014: Wild Wild Love - Pitbull featuring GRL

Awards for music sales

Golden record  Denmark 2014: for streaming Wild Wild Love  New Zealand 2015: for the single Lighthouse

Platinum record  Australia 2014: for the single Wild Wild Love  Canada 2014: for the single Wild Wild Love  New Zealand 2014: for the single Ugly Heart 4 × platinum record  Australia 2014: for the single Ugly Heart

Note: Awards in countries from the chart tables or chart boxes can be found in these.

Country / Region	gold	platinum	Sales	swell
Awards for music sales (country / region, awards, sales, sources)
Australia (ARIA)	-	5 × platinum5	350,000	aria.com.au
Denmark (IFPI)	gold1	-	-	ifpi.dk
Canada (MC)	-	platinum1	80,000	musiccanada.com
New Zealand (RMNZ)	gold1	platinum1	22,500	nztop40.co.nz
United Kingdom (BPI)	-	platinum1	600,000	bpi.co.uk
All in all	2 × gold2	8 × platinum8th

swell

1. ↑ Chart sources: UK 1 UK 2 US
2. ↑ Pussycat Dolls: Commercial with a new line-up!
3. ^ Chrystina Sayers Formerly of Pop Group "Girlicious" Embarks on Solo Career With Genius Music
4. ↑ Pitbull and GRL present lyric video for new single "Wild Wild Love"
5. ↑ US singer Simone Battle died at the age of 25. In: Die Welt vom 7 September 2014 (accessed on 7 September 2014).
6. ↑ Simone Battle: cause of death clarified. In: Gala on September 8, 2014 (accessed September 10, 2014).
7. ↑ GRL Breaks Up
8. ↑ They're BACK! GRL set to reform almost two years after the tragic loss of Simone Battle
9. ↑ Girl Group GRL Reforms Nearly Two Years After Simone Battle's Tragic Suicide