Fifth Harmony Announces The Group Is Going On Indefinite Hiatus

Fifth Harmony Down

Fifth Harmony is no longer in harmony. As of today, the girl group is separating for an indefinite hiatus to pursue their own solo endeavors. They aren't calling it a break-up, but we've pulled together some of what the girl group had to say, and Fifth Harmony sounds pretty broken up.

The group released a statement via Twitter, noting the foursome has decided to end its six-year streak to stay "authentic" to themselves and to their devoted listeners. While they four-piece band were appreciative of everyone -- particularly the fans, i.e. the Harmonizers -- who propelled the group into stardom, Fifth Harmony believes they need to take some time apart for each member to pursue their own musical ambitions. According to the girl group,

We've really had one hell of a memorable journey together and can't begin to express our gratitude to y'all for coming along with us on this wild journey. After six years going hard non stop, we also realized that in order to stay authentic to ourselves and to you, we do need to take some time for now to go on hiatus from Fifth Harmony in order to pursue solo endeavors. We are all very excited and grateful to be able to take this time to learn and grow creatively and really find our footing as individuals. In doing this we are allowing ourselves to gain new experiences, strengths and perspectives that we can bring to our Fifth Harmony family.

Fifth Harmony came together six years ago on The X Factor, much like One Direction. The girl group is currently composed of members Dinah Jane, Lauren Jauregui, Normani Kordei, and Ally Brooke. It also previously included Camila Cabello, the fifth member of Fifth Harmony, but she left the team in December 2016 to focus on her solo efforts. The "Havana" singer released her first solo album, Camila, on January 12th, to a warm response.

It didn't appear that Fifth Harmony was happy when Camila Cabello left the ensemble. The girls took a shot at Cabello during the 2017 MTV Video Music Awards when they launched a stunt double off the stage who was located in her place. Though the group later claimed that the stunt wasn't a shot at Cabello leaving. Additionally, Camila Cabello also seemingly earned the scorn (or not?) of Blue Ivy, Beyonce Knowles and Jay-Z's six-year-old daughter, during the Grammys -- something that has troubled the musician since it happened. Although, truth be told, Cabello seemed more concerned about Blue Ivy's response than the ones from her previous bandmates.

While Fifth Harmony was obviously tempted to change their name when Camila Cabello made her famous departure (after all, they would only be four members left...), the group ultimately decided to keep their original name, believing it is their brand and their entire essence, and that changing their name at this point in the game wouldn't be right. Here's what Lauren Jauregui said about their name a few months back when asked about the matter.

[Changing the name] was obviously a thought, because it was a prevalent thing that there's four of us, not five. Regardless, we were all very united in the fact that we didn't want to change the name. Fifth Harmony is the name we grew up with and we worked for, and it's our brand. It's who we are. It's our entire moments.

Fifth Harmony also claims that the fans are now "the fifth member." And who knows? Depending on how long the hiatus lasts, Camila Cabello and the rest of the group might reunite someday. Assuming the girls can get over (potential) bad blood, obviously. That's something to keep the fans hopeful on this sad day. It's also worth noting that the shows the group has planned until the end of the year are still going on according to plan. Take that to heart, Harmonizers. Fifth Harmony isn't going away just yet.

Will Ashton

Will is an entertainment writer based in Pittsburgh, PA. His writing can also be found in The Playlist, Cut Print Film, We Got This Covered, The Young Folks, Slate and other outlets. He also co-hosts the weekly film/TV podcast Cinemaholics with Jon Negroni and he likes to think he's a professional Garfield enthusiast.