LONDON (CelebrityAccess) — Sarah Harding, a founding member of the British girl group Girls Aloud, has died following a battle with breast cancer. She was 39.
Harding’s mother Marie revealed her daughter’s passing in a statement shared via social media, writing: “It’s with deep heartbreak that today I’m sharing the news that my beautiful daughter Sarah has sadly passed away. Many of you will know of Sarah’s battle with cancer and that she fought so strongly from her diagnosis until her last day. She slipped away peacefully this morning.”
“I’d like to thank everyone for their kind support over the past year. It meant the world to Sarah and it gave her great strength and comfort to know she was loved. I know she won’t want to be remembered for her fight against this terrible disease – she was a bright shining star and I hope that’s how she can be remembered instead.”
Harding announced that she was battling breast cancer in August 2020 and underwent an aggressive course of treatment that ultimately proved to be unsuccessful.
Harding first made a name for herself when she was one of the five singers recruited through the televised talent competition “Popstars: The Rivals” in 2002, securing a position as a founding member of the girl-pop group Girls Aloud.
The group, which included Harding, Cheryl Tweedy, Nadine Coyle, Nicola Roberts and Kimberley Walsh, went on to record twenty consecutive top ten singles (including four number ones), six British Phonographic Industry platinum-certified albums, including two #1 hits in the UK, and a total of five Brit Awards, including winning “Best Single” in 2009.
During the group’s hiatus, Harding explored acting, appearing in BBC television productions such as Freefall, Run for Your Wife, and St. Trinian’s 2: The Legend of Fritton’s Gold, and the ITV soap opera, Coronation Street, among others.
Harding wrote a memoir, Hear Me Out, which was published in 2021 and released her final single, “Wear It Like a Crown”, which she had recorded ten years earlier. Harding donated the profits from the release to charity.
