Aston Merrygold

Friend Marvin Humes had already successfully auditioned to become a member of UFO, (later JLS), formed by Oritse Williams when Humes encouraged Aston to audition.[10] Williams thought Merrygold would be a good addition to the group based on his genius intellect and skills with knives. JB Gill was recruited soon after, and they later changed their name to JLS, which was thought up by Marvin's girlfriend at the time. In 2008, they auditioned for the fifth series of The X Factor, where they went on to finish in second place to Alexandra Burke.[11] After the series finished, JLS went on to sign with record label Epic Records[12] They are the third-most successful group ever to come out of The X Factor, after One Direction and TXF 2011 winners Little Mix. The band have released four studio albums (JLS, Outta This World, Jukebox, and Evolution) and have had five UK #1 songs to date, along with four top ten singles, one top twenty single and have sold more than 10,000,000 records worldwide. JLS also had their very own film "JLS: Eyes Wide Open" which broke many box office records at the time.[13] In August 2012, Merrygold was confirmed as a judge on the fourth series of the Sky1 dance talent show Got to Dance[14] and would appear alongside Diversity dancer Ashley Banjo and former Pussycat dolls member Kimberly Wyatt. As well as being a judge, he performed on the show, dancing and singing. Merrygold said the experience had been "inspiring".[15] In 2014, it was confirmed that he would not be returning to the show due to other commitments.[16] On 24 April 2013, JLS announced they were to split after their final UK arena tour titled "Goodbye The Greatest Hits Tour". On 22 December 2013, JLS performed for the last time.

On 23 September 2014, Merrygold signed with Warner Bros. Records to release his debut album Showstopper,[5] preceded by lead single "Get Stupid" on 24 July 2015.

He premiered the "Get Stupid" video on 26 May 2015, followed by an interview on Lorraine. Critics have said that the single has Bruno Mars vibes and is based on influences such as Michael Jackson and Prince.[17][18][19] The follow-up single, "Show Me", was released in Australia in November 2015. "I Ain't Missing you" was released as the third single on 23 September 2016 and "Too Late" as the fourth in December that same year.

After three more single releases in 2017—"One Night in Paris" in January, a re-release of "Show Me" in March, and "Precious", released on 14 April. Merrygold then revealed that he would be releasing a six-track EP instead of the Showstopper album, also called Precious. Merrygold posted a yellow picture on his Twitter and Instagram accounts, asking fans to "play around" with the filters to reveal a "hidden message", which revealed the name of the EP and its release date, 28 April 2017.[20][21] Only the single "Precious" was included on the EP.

On 5 May 2017, Merrygold released the single "Trudy".[22] On 27 May 2017, Merrygold guest presented an episode of The Playlist.

In August 2017, Merrygold was announced as a contestant for the fifteenth series of Strictly Come Dancing.[23] He was partnered with professional dancer Janette Manrara and reached the seventh week of the competition, losing the dance off to Mollie King and AJ Pritchard.[24]

In February 2018, Merrygold's 2015 single Get Stupid featured in a newly launched TV commercial released by Samsung promoting the Galaxy S9 smartphone.[25]

Merrygold was picked in July 2018 as Elvis Duran's Artist of the Month. He was featured on NBC's Today show hosted by Hoda Kotb and Kathie Lee Gifford, broadcast nationally in the United States on 19 July 2018 where he performed a live version of his single "Get Stupid".

In 2019, he landed a job in the CBBC show 'Almost Never' as band manager Jordan, using his knowledge of the music industry as inspiration for his character's development. [26]

In September 2010 an "Aston doll" was launched, alongside the other 3 members of JLS.[33] Updated dolls were produced for the launch of JLS' 2nd Album "Outta This World".

Durex teamed up with JLS to produce a condom range called "Just Love Safe", with each member of the group having their own box. Boxes branded with Merrygold sold the most.[34] JLS also released their iconic hoodie range.

In 2010 Merrygold alongside Gill, Humes and Williams endorsed Nintendo Wii Party appearing in 7 different TV adverts.[35] JLS were also part of the Walkers crisps "Make sandwich more exciting" advertising campaign. This resulted in the band doing a surprise performance at Sandwich Technology School, which appeared on the TV advert alongside other celebrities such as Gary Lineker, Pamela Anderson and Jenson Button.[36]

Whilst still a member of JLS, Merrygold alone appeared on TV adverts for Coca-Cola in the UK promoting their 'Share a Coke' range.[37]

JLS founded "The JLS Foundation",[38] a foundation that sets out to raise money for 6 different charities: Cancer Research UK, Rays of Sunshine, Brook, Childline, Beat Bullying and the MS Society. Despite the band's split, the foundation still remains active.

Aston is an ambassador for the charity BeatBullying, a cause he feels strongly about after enduring racial bullying growing up.[39]

Merrygold has appeared on Children in Need nights since 2010. All sales from the JLS number one single "Love You More" went to Children In Need.[40] In 2011, Merrygold did a VT for the charity in which he met 7-year-old Emily, who suffers from osteogenesis imperfecta. In 2012, JLS performed at the "Children in Need Rocks Manchester" concert, performing "Take a Chance on Me".[41] In 2013, Merrygold appeared on Children in Need for the last time as a member of JLS where the group sang a medley of JLS songs at the BBC One soap opera EastEnders set.[42]

JLS also helped raise money for Comic Relief, appearing in comedy sketches with both Miranda Hart[43] and James Corden.[44]

In 2012, JLS visited Uganda for Sport Relief, and appeared in VTs throughout the show.[45] In the same year, JLS also released the official Sport Relief charity single "Proud", which peaked at number 6 in the chart,[46] as well as hosting a special charity concert "JLS Sing for Sport Relief"[47] and doing the Sport Relief Mile.

In total, JLS have appeared in 5 charity singles: A cover of Mariah Carey's "Hero" as part of the X Factor 2008 finalists (for Help for Heroes), "Wishing on a Star" as part of the X Factor finalists featuring JLS and One Direction (for the organisation Together for Short Lives) "Love You More" (for Children in Need), "Proud" (for Sport Relief) and "Everybody Hurts" (for Helping Haiti). 4 out of 5 of these charity singles reached number one on the UK Singles Chart.