Union J

Union J
Union J (L-R: JJ Hamblett, George Shelley, Josh Cuthbert & Jaymi Hensley) performing at The X Factor Judges' Houses in 2012. Union J (L-R: JJ Hamblett, George Shelley, Josh Cuthbert & Jaymi Hensley) performing at The X Factor Judges' Houses in 2012.
Background information
Origin	London, England, UK
Genres	Pop, R&B
Years active	2012 - Present
Labels	RCA Records, Sony Music
Members	Josh Cuthbert JJ Hamblett Jaymi Hensley George Shelley
Website	unionjofficial.com

Union J are an English boy band based and formed in London, United Kingdom. The band consists of members; Josh Cuthbert, JJ Hamblett, Jaymi Hensley & George Shelley, who were formed through the ninth series of British television music competition, The X Factor in 2012, and were later signed by RCA Records, a record label distributed by Sony Music.

History

2012: Formation & The X Factor

Union J first began as a trio consisting of the three members; Hensley, Hamblett and Cuthbert, with the name of the band formerly "Triple J". Hensley and Cuthbert had initially met at the Sylvia Young Theatre School, whilst Hamblett was added to the group by former manager, Julian White. The group performed Rihanna's, "We Found Love", whilst Shelley sang an acoustic version of Britney Spears', "Toxic". Both of the acts progressed to the next stage, receiving votes from all of the judges present (Triple J - Contostavlos, Walsh, Barlow & Ora) (Shelley - Contostavlos, Walsh & Barlow).

Bootcamp saw Shelley perform Labrinth's, "Earthquake" against female contestants, Charlie Cammish and Meg O'Neill, however, he failed to be selected for Judges' Houses. Triple J competed with District3 (formerly GMD3), and initially failed to secure the final place of the Groups category. However, "Rough Copy" - a group which had initially been given a place in the Live Shows - had to withdraw from the competition, resulting in Triple J's manager, Blair Dreelan being contacted by producers of the show, offering Triple J a chance to compete at Judges' Houses - if Shelley were considered to be added to the group. The band's first performance as Union J saw them perform a cover of Carly Rae Jepsen's international hit, "Call Me Maybe". The group made it through to the Live Shows, along with District3 and MK1.

In the first week of the Live Shows, Union J performed Don't Stop Me Now by Queen, which placed the group fourth in voting statistics, behind Maloney, Douglas and Henderson. Union J found themselves in the bottom two again, against Jade Ellis in Week 4, where they performed P!nk's, "Fuckin' Perfect". They were were saved by Barlow, Scherzinger and Walsh, where it was later revealed that they also received more votes than Ellis. They fell into the bottom two once again in Week 6, against District3, where they performed Adele's, "Set Fire To The Rain". They were saved by the judges, with Barlow and Scherzinger voting for Union J and Walsh refusing to vote. (Again, the band received more votes than their competetor). Hensley officially announced his sexuality to the press and public following the group's performace of "Call Me Maybe" in Week 7. He later revealed his intentions for doing this were because he was certain that the band would be voted out, and he wanted to leave the competition "honest and himself". They were not in the bottom two, however, and Hensley stated that he had been "overwhelmed by support". Union J were in the bottom two for a third time in Week 8, but were saved by Walsh, Barlow and Contostavlos over Rylan Clark. They covered Snow Patrol's, "Run". On 2 December, the group were eliminated in the Semi-Final stages of the competition, finishing in fourth position.

Week	Performance	Artist
1	Don't Stop Me Now	Queen
2	Bleeding Love/Broken Strings (Mash-Up)	Leona Lewis/James Morrison, Nelly Furtado
3	When Love Takes Over	David Guetta, Kelly Rowland
4	Sweet Dreams	Beyoncé
5	Love Story	Taylor Swift
6	Fix You	Coldplay
7	Call Me Maybe	Carly Rae Jepsen
8	The Winner Takes It All/I'll Be There	ABBA/The Jackson 5
9	Beneath Your Beautiful/I'm Already There	Labrinth, Emeli Sandé/Lonestar

2013 - Present: Post The X Factor & Debut Album

In December 2012, at a performance in Cardiff, Union J announced that they had signed a record deal with Sony Music. Their debut single was recorded in London in January 2013, and is scheduled for release in June 2013. On 28 January 2013, it was confirmed that the record label that the band had signed with was RCA Records. On 24 February 2013, Hensley participated in BBC Radio 1's "Coming Out Documentary", where he talked about both his personal experiences with coming out at the age of fourteen, and his public decision to come out whilst on The X Factor.

On 2 April 2013, it was announced that Union J had signed a book deal with Penguin and Michael Joseph, in which their memoirs and rise to fame will be published. Editorial Director, Daniel Bunyard commented, "I'm over the moon to be working with Union J on their first book. They have huge talent, a great chemistry together and a genuine passion towards what they're doing. This will be a massive title for later this year, packed full of exclusive, beautifully-shot photography.", whilst the group added, "We are very excited to be working with Penguin on our first book and are looking forward to the chance to tell our stories, of how we came together and where we came from, as well as the journey we've taken since X Factor." On 8 April, via the Twitter-based site, Livestream, the band revealed that their debut single titled, "Carry You" would be released on 2 June 2013. The track's artwork was subsequently released on 14 April 2013. On 16 April, Heat Magazine published exclusive backstage photos of the group in their first music video.

Members

• Josh Cuthbert

Born Joshua Cuthbert

28 July, 1992 - Winkfield

• JJ Hamblett

Born Jamie Paul Hamblett

25 May, 1988 - Newmarket

• Jaymi Hensley

Born James William Hensley

24 February, 1990 - Luton

• George Shelley

Born: George Paul Shelley

27 July, 1993 - Clevedon

Discography

Studio albums

Title	Details
TBA	Released: TBR Label: RCA Records Formats: CD, Digital download

Singles

Year	Title	Chart Positions
		UK	IRE	SCO
2013	Carry You	TBR	TBR	TBR