2000s
In the United Kingdom, girl groups remained popular during the 2000s. Atomic Kitten had a string of hits, including their breakthrough number one "Whole Again" in 2000. Sugababes and Girls Aloud became popular during the early 2000s. Girls Aloud's "Sound of the Underground" and Sugababes' "Round Round" have been called "two huge groundbreaking hits", credited with reshaping British pop music for the 2000s. Sugababes have amassed six UK number one singles and fourteen additional top ten singles, as well as four platinum albums, making them the most successful female act of the 21st century according to British Hit Singles & Albums. Girls Aloud achieved a string of twenty consecutive top ten singles (including four number ones) and two number one albums in the United Kingdom. All five of their studio albums have been certified platinum, with their greatest hits album The Sound of Girls Aloud selling over one million copies. Both groups have been nominated for multiple BRIT Awards, with Sugababes winning Best Dance Act in 2003 and Girls Aloud winning Best Single for "The Promise" in 2009.
The Saturdays were the next girl band that rose to fame in 2008. Since their launch, they have sold over four million records, achieved a string of 11 top 10 singles. Achieving silver certification and also have seen 3 of their albums reach the top 10 - with their debut album Chasing Lights achieving platinum certification, having sold over 400,000 copies. In 2012 they started to try to crack America being the first British girl group since the Spice Girls to try that feat. Stooshe are a three-piece British R&B girl group that originate from London, United Kingdom. They were nominated for the BBC's Sound of 2012 poll. and have since had 2 UK top 5 singles. Little mix got formed in 2011 then won the x factor 2011,They were formed exclusively for the eighth series of The X Factor, where they became the first group entry to win in the programme's eight-year history. After winning they released their first single, a version of "Cannonball". They are set to release their debut album, DNA, on 19 November 2012.
Since the late 1990s, as J-Pop has become more popular outside of Japan, Japanese girl groups such as Speed, Morning Musume, and AKB48 have appeared. With over 60 members, AKB48 is currently recognized by Guinness World Records as the pop group with the most members. Morning Musume currently holds the position as the best-selling female artists in Japan according to Oricon statistics, while Speed sold a total of 20 million copies alone in Japan in their three-year history. Perfume are another successful girl group - their musical style is focused on electronic dance-pop.
Hallyu (Korean wave) and K-pop have become increasingly significant in the entertainment industry, with its influence breaking the confinements of Asia and spreading to America and Europe. Girl groups are one of the leaders of the "Hallyu" wave and a few groups have made themselves known in spite of the fierce competition. Namely, Girls' Generation, KARA, 2NE1, and Wonder Girls are widely recognized as the top girl groups of South Korea. Other popular South Korean groups are Brown Eyed Girls, After School, Miss A, 4minute, T-ara, Secret, Sistar, and f(x).
Meanwhile, girl groups have proved to be less popular in American music during the 21st Century, where solo acts and mixed groups such as The Black Eyed Peas tend to be more successful.
Read more about this topic: Girl Group, History