G.R.L.

G.R.L. was an American-British girl group assembled by Robin Antin, the manager and choreographer behind The Pussycat Dolls. Formed in 2012–2013, the group originally featured five members — Lauren Bennett, Natasha Slayton, Simone Battle, Emmalyn Estrada and Paula van Oppen — several of whom had prior experience in pop and dance-pop projects, including Antin's earlier group Paradiso Girls.

G.R.L. built its profile through high-visibility placements rather than album sales: the single «Vacation» appeared on the soundtrack to The Smurfs 2 alongside Britney Spears, and a featured verse on Pitbull's «Wild Wild Love» widened their audience ahead of a self-titled EP in 2014. That EP produced their best-known song, «Ugly Heart», a glossy pop-dance track typical of the girl-group sound then popular in the US and UK charts.

The group's momentum was cut short by the death of member Simone Battle in September 2014. G.R.L. continued for a time as a quartet, releasing «Lighthouse» in her memory, before announcing a split in 2015. A later announcement floated a return as a trio with Bennett, Slayton and Jazzy Mejia, though the group is chiefly remembered today for «Ugly Heart» and its brief but bright run in mainstream pop.