RLY are an English pop music

girl group A girl group is a music act featuring several female singers who generally harmonize together. The term "girl group" is also used in a narrower sense in the United States to denote the wave of American female pop music singing groups, many of who ...

formed on '' The X Factor: The Band'' as Real Like You. They went onto win the series, subsequently signing to

Syco Music Syco Music is a defunct division of Syco Entertainment founded by British entrepreneur and record executive Simon Cowell. Originally founded as S Records, the label launched while Cowell was still employed by BMG, the label oversaw music relea ...

. The band is composed of Halle Williams, Virginia Hampson, Kellimarie Willis and Jess Folley. In 2022, they got signed to

Warner Records Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...

and renamed themselves RLY.

History

In November 2019, each member of RLY auditioned for the

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

talent competition series '' The X Factor: The Band''. Each member progressed to the bootcamp stage, where Jess Folley (who in 2017 had won ''

The Voice Kids ''The Voice Kids'' is a version of ''The Voice'' TV series franchise in which children participate. Versions The first such variation was ''The Voice Kids'' from the Netherlands, which was followed by other international variants: : Franchise wit ...

''), Luena Martínez (who appeared in series 13), Seorsia Jack, Halle Williams and Kellimarie Willis (who in 2017 appeared on ''

Got What It Takes? ''Got What It Takes?'' is a British talent show that began airing on CBBC on 6 January 2016. Originally presented by Lauren Platt for the first three series, ''Got What It Takes?'' has been hosted by Anna Maynard since 2018. In 2021, Melvin Od ...

'') were selected to be in the group. However, judge

Nicole Scherzinger Nicole Scherzinger (; born Nicole Prascovia Elikolani Valiente, June 29, 1978) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, actress, and television personality. She is best known as the lead singer of the Pussycat Dolls, one of the best-selling g ...

later called Virginia Hampson back, giving her a place in the group. On 15 December 2019, RLY were announced as the winners, winning a record deal with

Syco Syco Entertainment is a British media entertainment company, headquartered in London, founded and owned by British entrepreneur and record executive Simon Cowell. The company focuses on TV production. The company was formed in 2005 through So ...

. As part of the competition they performed an original song, "Be Like Them". Unlike winners of ''

The X Factor ''The X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for ''Pop Idol'' (2001–2003 ...

'' and '' The X Factor: Celebrity'', RLY are the first winners of a British version of the show not to release a winners single following their win. After their win on ''The X Factor: The Band'', Folley expressed that the group intend on releasing an album that is "new and original", and writing for the album started in January 2020. On 29 August 2020, Jack announced her departure from the group, stating that she wanted to pursue a solo career. On 9 August 2022, Martínez's departure from RLY was announced and the group became signed to

Members

Current members

Halle Williams Halle Williams (born 1 November 2000) was born in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

. Williams is a trained dancer, having studied dance and musical theatre at

Urdang Academy Urdang, previously known as The Urdang Academy, is a performing arts academy based in Islington, London. Founded as a ballet school by Leonie Urdang in 1970 and had been under the direction of CEO Solange Urdang from 2001 until August 2022, the a ...

. Virginia Hampson Virginia Hampson (born 11 October 2002) was born in

Chelmsford Chelmsford () is a city in the City of Chelmsford district in the county of Essex, England. It is the county town of Essex and one of three cities in the county, along with Southend-on-Sea and Colchester. It is located north-east of London a ...

. Hampson has no formal vocal training. Upon her initial audition for ''The X Factor: The Band'', she was told to audition again, at a later point in the day. At the second audition round, she was cut from the band;

called her three days later and added her to the band. Kellimarie Willis Kellimarie Willis (born 27 October 2002) was born in

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its ...

. In 2017, Willis competed in the

second series The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds eac ...

of ''

'' winning a sing-off and advanced to the semi final, at the age of 13. Willis is studying songwriting in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

. Jess Folley Jess Folley (born 11 May 2003) was born in

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

. In 2017, Folley won the

first series First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...

of ''

''.

Past members

Seorsia Jack Seorsia Jack (born 22 June 2001) was born in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

, Ireland, to Zimbabwean parents. She started her career as a solo female artist in 2019. She announced her departure from the band on 29 August 2020 on

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

, after deciding to pursue a solo career. Luena Martínez Luena Martínez (born 11 January 1999) was born in

East Finchley East Finchley is an area in North London, immediately north of Hampstead Heath. Like neighbouring Muswell Hill it straddles the London Boroughs of Barnet and Haringey, with most of East Finchley falling into the London Borough of Barnet. It has ...

. In 2016, Martínez auditioned for the thirteenth series of ''

'', where she made it to the six chair challenge, but failed to proceed further. She attended SoundSkool in

Enfield Enfield may refer to: Places Australia * Enfield, New South Wales * Enfield, South Australia ** Electoral district of Enfield, a state electoral district in South Australia, corresponding to the suburb ** Enfield High School (South Australia) ...

. Her departure from the band was announced on 9 August 2022.

References

{{Authority control 2019 establishments in England 21st-century British women singers British pop girl groups British vocal groups Musical groups established in 2019 Musical groups from Birmingham, West Midlands Syco Music artists The X Factor (British TV series) winners Warner Records artists