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British pop singer Sarah Harding, a founding member of the famous U.K. girl group Girls Aloud, has died of breast cancer. She died at age of 39. Harding’s mother, Marie, shared a post on the singer’s Instagram on Saturday, captioning it saying, “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.” In August 2020, Harding declared in an Instagram post that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer beginning of the year and was “undergoing weekly chemotherapy sessions.”
Harding’s public music career started as a finalist on the 2002 singing event series Popstars: The Rivals, which created a path for her inturn forming the girl group Girls Aloud with fellow competitors Nadine Coyle, Cheryl Tweedy, Nicola Roberts, and Kimberly Walsh. As part of Girls Aloud, Harding had 21 top-ten singles on the U.K. charts, comprising “Jump,” “Love Machine,” and their getaway, “Sound of the Underground.” After the group disassembled in 2009, Harding followed an acting career, arising in movies like the BBC’s Freefall and a five-episode arc on Coronation Street. In 2017, Harding won season 20 of Celebrity Big Brother. Geri Halliwell, who was one of the judges that assisted form Girls Aloud on Popstars, tweeted today, “Rest in peace, Sarah Harding. You’ll be remembered for the light and joy you brought to the world.”