Sarah Harding of Girls Aloud has died aged 39, after the singer revealed in August of last year that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer. The news was confirmed by Harding’s mother on social media late last night (September 5).
“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,” Harding’s mother wrote.
“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 first came into the public eye in 2002 when she appeared on the reality series Popstars: The Rivals, winning a place in the newly-formed Girls Aloud. Over the next seven years, the group released five studio albums and a slew of top ten singles and multiple numbers ones – including debut single ‘Sound of the Underground’ and ‘The Promise’.
Girls Aloud disbanded in 2009, reuniting briefly in 2012 for a greatest hits compilation and farewell tour before breaking up for good. Outside of Girls Aloud, Harding released a solo EP, Threads, in 2015, and a single titled ‘Wear It Like a Crown’ earlier this year.
Harding’s Girls Aloud bandmates Nadine Coyle and Nicola Roberts have both shared moving tributes to Harding. “I am absolutely devastated,” wrote Coyle on Instagram. “I can’t think of words that could possibly express how I feel about this girl and what she means to me.”
“I’m absolutely devastated and I can’t accept that this day has come,” Roberts wrote. “My heart is aching and all day everything we went through together has raced round my mind… A part of me or us isn’t here anymore and it’s unthinkable and painful and utterly cruel.”
Among the artists to pay tribute to Harding were Jedward and Rina Sawayama, who wrote that she hopes Harding’s friends and families “know what a huge impact her [and] Girls Aloud have had on a generation of artists.”
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RIP Sarah Harding. my thoughts go out to her friends and family❤️39 is way too young… hope they know what a huge impact her + Girls Aloud have had on a generation of artists including myself
— RINA SLAYWAYAMA (@rinasawayama) September 5, 2021
R.I.P. Pop Music Icon Sarah Harding! Strength and Love to her friends and family ❤️ pic.twitter.com/pZtj8g5ETY
— JEDWARD (@planetjedward) September 5, 2021
