JLS

The English boy band JLS were a big success in their native Britain, notching ten Top 10 singles and four Top 5 albums during their initial seven-year run. • Singer Oritsé Williams put the group together in 2006, recruiting Aston Merrygold, Marvin Humes, and JB Gill. The band was first called UFO (Unique Famous Outrageous). They released two singles on Epic Records. • The quartet auditioned for The X Factor in 2008 and changed their name to JLS (short for “Jack the Lad Swing,” which is what they called their style of music). JLS finished second on the reality competition. • After The X Factor, the group released “Beat Again,” their first single as JLS, in 2009. The song became their first of five No. 1 hits on the UK pop chart. • JLS’s self-titled 2009 debut album went to No. 1 in the UK. Their second and third albums each peaked at No. 2, while their fourth, 2012’s Evolution, reached No. 3. • The group split up at the end of 2013 as the members dispersed to work on other projects. JLS booked a comeback tour for 2020 that was postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. • They released the album 2.0 in 2021.