Girl Authority was an American cover pop girl group. The group consisted of nine girls, at the time, ranging in ages 8 to 13; Jacqueline Laviolette, Carly Grayson, Jessica "Jess" Bonner, Crystal Evans, Kate Barker, Zoë Virant, Jessica Tarr, Gina Miele and Alexandra "Alex" Bilbo. The group was established in the summer of 2005 by the group's vocal coach/executive producer Samantha Hammel,

Scott Billington Scott Billington (born October 27, 1951 in Melrose, Massachusetts) is an American record producer, songwriter, record company executive and blues musician. Biography Billington's career began in Boston in the early 1970s, when he managed the ...

(a Grammy award-winning producer) and the CEO of Rounder Records, John Virant, the father of Zoe, one of the members of Girl Authority. Based on the oldest girls graduating high school; in the summer of 2010, the girls contracts with Rounder Records ceased, and the band officially retired. Currently, the majority of the group members are attending or just graduating college. All of these girls are still close friends and get together for reunions. All of the girls participated in local musical theater together for five years before joining the group. Each member of the group had a persona during their time in the group; Laviolette was All-Star Girl, Grayson was Glamour Girl, Bonner was Boho Girl, Evans was Country Girl, Barker was Party Girl, Virant was Preppy Girl, Tarr was Rock N' Roll Girl, Miele was Urban Girl, and Bilbo was Fashion Girl. Girl Authority's self-titled album was released on the Zoë Records label in April 2006. The album reached #9 on Billboard's Top Kid Audio chart and #17 on the

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chart. On the album, the girls recorded past songs such as Madonna's ''

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'' and

Kelly Clarkson Kelly Brianne Clarkson (born April 24, 1982) is an American singer, songwriter, author, and television personality. She rose to fame after winning the first season of ''American Idol'' in 2002, which earned her a record deal with RCA. Her debu ...

's '' Breakaway''. The album ran several TV advertisements on

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its networks division's Kids and Family Group. It ...

. In April 2006, the girls were invited to sing with

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at a show in Boston. The girls have also shared the stage with the Jonas Brothers and

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, and have appeared on

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' ''

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''. Their second album, ''Road Trip'', was released on March 13, 2007. Featured on this album is a version of the early previously unreleased Depeche Mode song called "Let's Get Together" that

Vince Clarke Vincent John Martin (born 3 July 1960), known professionally as Vince Clarke, is an English synth-pop musician and songwriter. Clarke has been the main composer and musician of the band Erasure since its inception in 1985, and was previously ...

re-wrote for the band. 80s pop singer

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wrote a ballad titled "Shine" that the group covered, and

Tanya Donelly Tanya Donelly (born July 14, 1966) is an American Grammy Award-nominated singer-songwriter and guitarist based in New England who co-founded Throwing Muses with her step-sister Kristin Hersh. Donelly went on to co-form the alternative rock band ...

wrote four tracks for the album, including "This Is My Day". In addition, three remaining original songs on the album include "Rhythm of the World" by Ch!pz, "Wild Side" (a song sung by Jessica Tarr), and their theme song "Girl Authority". The group also recorded and released an EP titled ''Halloween Party Songs'', a cover recording of Halloween-themed songs. However, the EP was only sold in iParty stores. Three years after ''Halloween Party Songs'' was released Girl Authority broke up in 2010.

Awards

*Best Audio—

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Side Projects

Girl Authority recorded "

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" in June 2006 and also a theme song for the Club Libby Lu store chain. They also released a Christmas single titled "

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". The single is only sold to listeners on Rhapsody, URGE,

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and iTunes. They also made a guest appearance in the book series Beacon Street Girls in July. The group held a songwriting contest for Beacon Street Girls readers. The group chose the song "I Am Me", a song written by a fourteen-year-old girl named Allison Boudreau from Swansea, Massachusetts. The song was then available as a free download on the Beacon Street Girls website. The group had also considered three other songs before choosing the winning song: Marissa from

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and her song "To Be the One to Find Me", Charlotte from

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a province in western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dak ...

, Canada with her song, "My Friends Bring Out the Best in Me" and Brook from

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with her song, "We're Going Outside Tonight".

Discography

Albums

*'' Girl Authority'' (2006) *'' Road Trip'' (2007)

EPs

*''Halloween Party Songs'' (2007)

Singles

" (2006) *"Let's Get Together" (2007) *"I Am Me" (2008)

References

Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

- Bobby Hankinson {{Authority control American pop music groups American pop girl groups American child singers American child actresses Musical groups established in 2005 Musical groups disestablished in 2010 Musical groups from Massachusetts American children's musical groups Zoë Records artists