JLS

Biography

JLS are a four member’s R&B group that came to fame as a result of their progress on the UK television show ‘The X Factor’. They finished the competition in second place narrowly loosing out to solo artist Alexander Burke in 2008.

The name JLS stands for “Jack The Lad Swing”. The group was originally called UFO but when they entered The X Factor the judges told them that there was already a group call UFO so they needed a new name. They eventually came up with the name JLS. The group members are Marvin Humes, Jonathan “JB” Gill, Oritse Williams and Aston Merrygold.

JLS is the brain-child of Oritse. To find a way to help his mum who suffers from MS, he thought  if he could put a band together with talented individuals that would complement each other and able to work closely, he would have the makings of a supergroup.

To find the members of the band, Oritse advertised both online and around his North London University campus. He also conducted online searches using sites like MySpace to track down the people he wanted. Eventually he found them: first Marvin who is a former member of the Band VS that was put together by Simon Webbe from the pop band Blue. Next came Aston and finally JB who was recommended by a friend at university.

The boys bonded together very quickly and began the hard work to get them into shape to become a top vocal group. They soon reached a level where they were confident enough to perform live gigs to get themselves seen and heard. This and more they achieved well before entering The X Factor.

Initially, JLS had doubts about going down The X Factor route. They wanted to create their own path to success and felt that The X Factor was not right for them. However, after seeing Leona Lewis win the show and went on to global stardom, the boys - persuaded by friends and family - changed their minds. They eventually auditioned for the fifth series of The X Factor and have not looked back since. It is onwards and upwards for JLS, they have longevity written all over them. At the talent zone, we look forwards to following their career.