Girls Aloud: A career in 25 gifs

Even dreams that glitter have to come to an end: Girls Aloud are no more.

Dear Alouders, we just want to say from the bottom of our hearts Thank you!! This tour has been an amazing experience and the perfect chance to say thank you for being on this journey with us through a decade. It has far exceeded any of our dreams and we hope we are forever your inspiration and reminder that dreams really do glitter!! Your love and support will stay with us forever but we have now come to the end of our incredible time together . Love you lots.

The thing is: I agree. Pop shouldn't outstay it's welcome, and Girls Aloud have had an extremely successful, and particularly lengthy, run at the top.

As the band approach their 30s, it would have been unseemly for them to keep singing about margarita-fuelled one night stands. On their recent tour, lines like "should have hung around the kitchen in my underwear" felt especially awkward. And, let's face it, if they'd started making another album, Cheryl would have insisted on Will.i.am producing half of it. And no-one in their right minds would have wanted that.

So, thank you, Girls Aloud. You were awesome. And we're looking forward to Nicola's next solo album like you wouldn't believe.

And here, as an animated gif memorial, are the band's best bits.



Cheryl "Tweedy" is first to become a Girl Aloud.




Disco Dancing with the lights down low.




The Show: A rousing anthem of female empowerment.




Rise and shine, Nicola.




AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!




"The hair toss" - Girls Aloud's signature dance move.




And once you've hit on a good idea...




... Exploit it for all you're worth.




Biology: The moment the world went: "They're not too bad. For a girl band".




Really? Oh my god.




A failure to grasp the rudiments of a foreign language was parlayed into a hit single.
Also, corsets.




Alert: High heels can be hazardous to your health.




I'm sad to hear that you're still shook up.




Over the course of decade, Kimberley would refine the pout into an artform.




Mmmmm, sandwiches.




The very first tear Cheryl shed on X Factor started the countdown to the band's demise.




From top to bottom, I'm all woman, sunshine.




The Walk.




The Stomp.




The Promise.




Winning a Brit.




Chasing a wasp.




Riding a bottle of champagne.




"It's not pervy, it's a visual metaphor or whatever".




Goodbye Sarah.
Goodbye Nadine.
Goodbye Kimberley.
Goodbye Nicola.
Goodbye Cheryl.
Goodbye Girls Aloud. *sniff*

Some images via Girls Aloud Gifs and Girls Aloud USA. Other's are "author's own".

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