Camila Cabello is a performer and songwriter who first came to prominence after appearing on ‘The X Factor USA’.
Camila Cabello’s debut single as a soloist was the track Crying in the Club. Before becoming a solo artist, however, she had a string of hits as part of pop group Fifth Harmony, who released their debut single ‘Miss Movin’ On’ in 2013.
Find out more below about Camilla Cabello’s time in Fifth Harmony and career as a solo artist.
Who is Camila Cabello?
Camila Cabello was born in Havana in 1997. As a child, she moved to Miami with her mother where they stayed with a family friend.
Her father followed later, and the couple was eventually able to start their own business, a construction company. Her mother describes Cabello as a shy child.
“We didn’t even think music was a possibility for her,” her mother says. To the surprise of her parents, Cabello asked to audition for ‘The X Factor’.
Fifth Harmony
Fifth Harmony, a pop girl group, originally hailed from the 2012 series of the TV show ‘X Factor USA’. The five members of the group, Cabello, Ally Brooke, Normani, Dinah Jane, and Lauren Jauregui, originally auditioned as solo singers but were put into a group by the show’s judges.
The group didn’t win the show, but their potential was spotted by judge and record label owner Simon Cowell. They came third in the show, but only two months later were offered a record deal with Cowell’s entertainment company, ‘Syco’.
Fifth Harmony released ‘Better Together’, their first EP, in 2013, with ‘Miss Movin’ On’ the leading single. Only a few months later, in January 2014, MTV invited them to perform at the Artists to Watch event.
Their first studio album followed in 2015, with one single, ‘Worth It’, earning them their highest chart position yet, reaching number 12. The album also included the singles ‘Sledgehammer’ and ‘BO$$’.
Their second album, ‘7/27’, followed in 2016 and featured the track ‘Work From Home’, which reached number four in the charts.
Cabello featured on other artists’ tracks as a solo artist while still in the group when she collaborated with popstar and future boyfriend Shawn Mendes on the track ‘I Know What You Did Last Summer’. A few months later, she collaborated with ‘Machine Gun Kelly’ on his single ‘Bad Things’.
Departure from the Group
In December 2016, it was announced that Cabello would no longer be a part of Fifth Harmony. There were subsequent statements released by both herself and the band which caused rumors of a rift to circulate.
Cabello claims that there was tension in the group following her appearance on Mendes’ single, and the other members were unhappy with her attending songwriting sessions with producers. “I was just curious and I wanted to learn…It became clear that it was not possible to do solo stuff and be in the group at the same time,” she said.
In a second statement made about her departure, Fifth Harmony said “We truly support anyone’s decision to do what makes them happy and to that end we do wish Camila all the best although saddened by the way she and her team handled the situation.”
Solo Artist
In May 2017, Cabello released her first single, ‘Crying in the Club’. The following month, she won best international artist at the MMVAs.
Soon, she released ‘Havana’, her second single as a soloist and the one which would explode her career. The track reached the number one spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
“I think it really gave me a certain buzz of confidence,” she says of the song’s success.
She released her debut album, ‘Camila’ in early 2018, which also achieved the number one spot in the album charts. Her second album followed in 2019.
The album, ‘Romance’, features tracks including ‘My Oh My’ and ‘Shameless’.