Sarah Harding: Girls Aloud star dies aged 39

Girls Aloud singer Sarah Harding died on Sunday morning at the age of 39, following a battle with breast cancer.

In August 2020 Harding revealed her diagnosis of the disease, which spread to other parts of her body. She said earlier this year that doctors advised she would not see next Christmas.

Announcing the news on Instagram, her mother Marie described her “beautiful” daughter as “a bright, shining star”.

Meanwhile, her bandmates Nicola Roberts and Nadine Coyle led tributes on social media.

Roberts shared a photo of herself together with Harding, writing: “I can’t accept that this day has come. 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”. “Electric girl, you made us. You gave it everything and still with a smile,” she added.

Coyle posted on Instagram how “absolutely devastated” she is. Adding, “I can’t think of words that could possibly express how I feel about this girl and what she means to me.”

“Deep heartbreak”

Harding’s mother posted a black and white image of her daughter, alongside the words: “It’s with deep heartbreak that today I’m sharing the news that my beautiful daughter Sarah has sadly passed away”. She spoke of her daughter’s battle with cancer and how “she fought so strongly from her diagnosis until her last day”, when she “slipped away peacefully” in the morning”.

She went on 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”. However, her daughter would not want remembering for “her fight against this terrible disease. Marie hopes that instead she is remembered for the “bright, shining star” she was”

In an extract from her memoir, published in the Times in March, Harding wrote: “In December my doctor told me that the upcoming Christmas would probably be my last.” But she did not want a full prognosis, just “pain free” and “comfort”.

Also in her autobiography, titled Hear Me Out, Harding wrote about how she put off seeking medical advice when she first discovered lumps underneath her arm in December 2019. When she eventually visited a doctor, they advised her to schedule in an MRI scan. But then “coronavirus hit and everything either went into slow motion or stopped altogether”. She knew this serious health issue needed sorting, but it was difficult with everything going on.

As the pain continued to get worse, Harding realised her “denial about the whole thing”. She realised how she started using the lockdown and pandemic like an “excuse not to face up to the fact that something was very wrong”.

TV talent show success

Harding, born in Ascot on 17 November 1981, shot to fame in 2002 after competing on TV talent show Popstars: The Rivals. The format of the programme aimed to find both a new girl and boy group to pit against each other in the charts.

Despite being the bookies underdog, she progressed all the way to the final, gaining herself the final place in the group, Girls Aloud. Fellow contestants Cheryl Cole (nee Tweedy), Nadine Coyle, Kimberley Walsh and Nicola Roberts joined her in the band.

TV and music stars are among those to paying tribute to the late star. This included former Spice Girl Geri Horner, who appeared as a judge on Popstars: The Rivals. Horner tweeted: “Rest in peace, Sarah Harding. You’ll be remembered for the light and joy you brought to the world”.

Fellow judge Louis Walsh, who played a part in creating the group, said he would remember her with “great fondness”. “She was always fun and the life and soul of the party,” he says.

Davina McCall, who presented the TV talent show, labelled the news as “so, so sad”. She describes Harding as “a star from the get go, hugely fun and outgoing yet also somehow fragile”.

Ex boyfriend, reality star Calum Best, spoke of their “crazy fun times and adventures” together, saying how she is “so very missed”.

Other stars remember her for her “bubbly”, “big beautiful personality”.

Party girl image

Sarah Harding was seen as the most rock and roll member of the band, smashing up a phone box in a music video, and her outrageous ad-libs. Seven years into their industry changing career the band won their first Brit Award. At the ceremony, Harding grabbed the trophy, lifted it in the air and shouted, “It’s about time!”.

Although the media always portrayed her as the band’s party girl, she also had a quiet side too. She quit London, deciding to live on a farm in the countryside, and dedicated lines in songs to her beloved pet bulldogs.

In 2013, after the band separated, Harding pursued a career on the screen, while dabbling with new music. She appeared in independent films, soap operas and reality TV shows.

Selling 4.3 million singles and four million albums, Girls Aloud are Britain’s biggest selling girl band of the 21st Century. Between 2002 to 2012 they racked up 21 UK top 10 singles, with four number ones.

Thank you for reading Sarah Harding: Girls Aloud star dies aged 49

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