Aston Merrygold

Aston Merrygold (born 13 February 1988)^[1] is a British singer with boy band JLS who were the runner ups to Alexandra Burke on the fifth series of The X Factor in the United Kingdom in 2008.

Biography

Early life

Aston was born on 13 February 1988 to a Jamaican father and an Anglo-Irish mother. He is one of seven children, he has five brothers and one sister. He was born and raised in Peterborough, where he attended Jack Hunt School.^[2] Whilst still attending secondary school, he played football on behalf of England in the European Youth Games.^{[citation needed]} His initial aspiration was to play football professionally. However, after developing a nerve problem in his left foot, he tried singing and acting instead. Through acting, he met Marvin Humes. As a result, he received a call from Oritse Williams (an acquaintance of Humes) about joining a boy band.^{[citation needed]}

X-Factor

In 2002, he entered Stars In Their Eyes where he appeared as Michael Jackson, singing "Rockin' Robin". He came in second. He came in second yet again with JLS on The X Factor at age 20. Aston performed in school productions and, after leaving school in 2004, was cast in a new ITV programme, Fun Song Factory in which he played Cookie^[3] alongside Children's TV presenter Laura Hamilton.

2008–present: JLS

After meeting Marvin Humes through acting jobs, they were both later recruited to form a boyband, UFO, by an acquaintance of Humes, Oritse Williams. Jonathan Benjamin "JB" Gill was recruited soon after, and they later changed their name to JLS.

In 2008, they auditioned for the fifth series of The X Factor, where they went on to become the runners-up, finishing second to Alexandra Burke. They are considered to be one of the most successful groups ever to come out of The X Factor, alongside One Direction and 2011 winners Little Mix.

The band have released three studio albums (JLS, Outta This World and Jukebox) and have had five number ones to date along with four top ten singles, and one top twenty single. They are currently on their 4th Dimensions Tour, which began in March and will last until September 2012.

Merrygold has previously dated ex-EastEnders star Louisa Lytton up until February 2007.^{[citation needed]}

References