When they played their final gig at London’s 02 Arena on December 22nd, 2013, multi-platinum selling pop sensations JLS sang their hit single One Shot, which included the lyric: “You only get One Shot. You might never get this moment again.” But seven years after parting ways to pursue a stream of successful – and varied – solo projects, JLS – Oritsé Williams, Marvin Humes, Aston Merrygold and JB Gill – actually are having a second moment. Unquestionably one of the biggest boybands the UK has produced are back – touring the UK this winter – and they mean business.
When they played their final gig at London’s 02 Arena on December 22nd, 2013, multi-platinum selling pop sensations JLS sang their hit single One Shot, which included the lyric: “You only get One Shot. You might never get this moment again.” But seven years after parting ways to pursue a stream of successful – and varied – solo projects, JLS – Oritsé Williams, Marvin Humes, Aston Merrygold and JB Gill – actually are having a second moment. Unquestionably one of the biggest boybands the UK has produced are back – touring the UK this winter – and they mean business.
A decade after their first live shows, JLS are buzzing about being reunited and going on a 15-date UK and Ireland tour, kicking off on November 12. Marvin has been trying for years to make it happen. “I spoke to them about it all the time, even taking Oritsé out for sushi and trying to woo him,” he recalls. “We always knew we were going to come back. One day, we agreed, it’s time. You’re going to get all the songs and moves you know and love, and the backflips – from Aston.”
n 2008 JLS came second on The X Factor, and remain the biggest self-founded group to ever emerge from the talent show. Formed by Oritsé, JLS – originally called UFO – have chalked up an impressive five No 1 singles, including the enduring dance floor filler Beat Again and the arms-aloft heart-tugging ballad Everybody In Love. They’ve sold over six million records and shifted more than 1.4million live tickets. Thanks to a combination of rich, harmonious vocals and the slickest dance moves a British boyband has ever delivered, the JLS live experience was so in demand they played London’s 02 Arena a whopping 16 times during their four album career.
JLS became the first X Factor act to win a prestigious BRIT Award when in 2010 they took home both British Breakthrough Act and British Single for Beat Again, the fastest-selling single of 2009. They later added five MOBO Awards, four Digital Music Awards and three Urban Music Awards to their collection of silverware. Their four albums – JLS, Outta This World, Jukebox and Evolution – all went multi-platinum. Then at the height of their success, they split.
“There’s unfinished business,” states Marvin.The camaraderie and genuine friendship between JLS is what makes them solid, particularly for a boyband. They finish each other’s sentences and consistently burst into peals of laughter. They are all equal. No one is jostling to be the frontman. “When I think about JLS I think ‘family’, says Oritsé, “I missed the feeling of being in a band. It feels like coming home. These boys are my brothers.”
