Lauren Jauregui


Lauren Michelle Jauregui Morgado is an American singer and songwriter. She is a former member of the girl group Fifth Harmony. Jauregui began experimenting with different sounds and exploring solo songwriting, and collaborated on songs with Marian Hill, Steve Aoki and Halsey. She began working on music for her debut solo album in May 2018, and released her debut solo song "Expectations" in October 2018 under Columbia Records. In January 2019, she released the song "More Than That". Jauregui contributed to of the film Birds of Prey, and released her Tainy-produced latin urban song "Lento" on March 20, 2020. On April 17, 2020, Jauregui released the song "50ft". Jauregui's debut album is set to be released in 2020.

Early life

Jauregui was born in Miami, Florida, to Michael Jauregui and Clara Morgado, who are both from Cuba. Her father is a plant manager, and her mother is a teacher, who moved to the United States when Fidel Castro came to power. Jauregui has mostly Cuban ancestry and some Spanish. She has two younger siblings. Jauregui attended a co-ed Catholic school from Pre-K through sixth grade. She then attended Carrollton School of the Sacred Heart, an all-girls Catholic college preparatory school in Miami. She was in the international baccalaureate program of the school, and participated in the talent show and softball team. Throughout her school years, Jauregui expressed herself through the arts, as she enjoyed "constantly creating", singing, writing, dancing, choreographing, playing piano and painting.

Career

2012–2018: ''The X Factor'' and Fifth Harmony

In 2012, at the age of 15, Jauregui auditioned for the second season of The X Factor U.S.. After four rounds of preliminary auditions, she was called back at the age of 16 for the televised audition in front of the judges. Jauregui performed "If I Ain't Got You" by Alicia Keys for her audition. Judge Antonio Reid described Jauregui's voice as "husky, round, mature" and her audition as "perfect". She advanced to the next round after getting approval from all four of the judges. During the second round of bootcamp, she was put up against country group Sister C with the song "These Arms of Mine". After being eliminated as a solo artist in the competition, Jauregui was brought back and put into a group alongside Ally Brooke, Normani, Dinah Jane, and Camila Cabello, which would later become Fifth Harmony. The group made it to the finale and finished third in the competition.
In January 2013, Fifth Harmony was signed to Simon Cowell's label Syco Music and L.A. Reid's Epic Records. Jauregui dropped out of school to work with Fifth Harmony, and later received her high school diploma through homeschooling. The group released their debut EP Better Together in October 2013. Their debut album Reflection was released in January 2015. Jauregui did not participate in promotion for the release of Reflection as her grandmother died the day of the album's release and her bandmates recommended she head to Florida. The album's third single "Worth It" peaked at number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100, their highest peak yet on the chart. The group also contributed the song "I'm in Love with a Monster" to the soundtrack of the animated film Hotel Transylvania 2. In December 2015, Fifth Harmony was honored as "Group of the Year" at the Billboard Women in Music ceremony.
Fifth Harmony's second album 7/27 was released in May 2016. "Work from Home", the album's lead single, peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot 100, and reached the top 10 in several international charts. "Work From Home" became the first song from a girl group to reach the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 in eight years. The group's :wikt:eponym|eponymous third album, Fifth Harmony, their first as a foursome after Cabello's departure in December 2016, was released in August 2017. The album marked the first time the group was able to co-write and have agency over the creative direction of an album. In March 2018, the group announced their decision to take an indefinite hiatus to grow as individual artists and pursue solo ambitions.

2016–present: Solo work and upcoming debut album

After the release of the group's second album, Jauregui continued with Fifth Harmony and began exploring solo endeavors, while the other members also worked on solo projects outside the group. In December 2016, she collaborated with Marian Hill on their song "Back to Me", Jauregui's first release outside of Fifth Harmony. Jauregui said that being able to "form a genuine connection" with the duo and write for the song was an "honor", while it gives people "a snippet of my vibe for the first time in collaboration with them". Samantha Gongol of Marian Hill said that the duo and Jauregui had been wanting to work together since they met at one of Marian Hill's shows over a year earlier, and they managed to complete the song with her in a brief period she had outside her tight schedule with Fifth Harmony. Jeremy Lloyd of Marian Hill said that Jauregui told them she had already written her verse about five minutes before she was going to record it, and she "nailed the rhyme scheme and did so probably quicker and more deftly than we could have done". Lloyd also complimented the harmonies Jauregui wrote, saying that she has "an amazing harmonic ear". At the end of 2016, Jauregui was voted as the sexiest woman in AfterEllen's top 100 list of the year.
In May 2017, Jauregui was voted by the public as "Celebrity of the Year" at the British LGBT Awards in recognition of promoting equality for LGBTQ. Jauregui featured on Halsey's same-sex song "Strangers", which Billboard noted as a "long-overdue bisexual milestone in mainstream music." Halsey specifically chose Jauregui, who is openly bisexual, for the track, saying: "I just love that Lauren and I are just two women who have a mainstream pop presence doing a love song for the LGBTQ community." Jauregui featured on Ty Dolla Sign's song "In Your Phone" from his album Beach House 3. The album track peaked at number 23 on the U.S R&B/Hip-Hop Digital Song Sales chart. Jauregui also recorded "All Night" with Steve Aoki, released in November 2017 and included on his album Neon Future III. "All Night" was Jauregui's first release as a primary songwriter and lead singer. She also produced the vocals on the track. Aoki said of collaborating with Jauregui: "She's got so many ideas... She's very meticulous. The attention to detail Lauren has is something I don't find in many people.... She's got those ears, she's got the sensibility and the vision". Jauregui said that her collaborative projects outside the group are a "chance to explore myself and discover who I am as an individual artist", and an exploration working with different artists, "seeing what it is that we create together". In January 2018, it was reported that she was making the switch from Epic Records to Columbia Records for her future solo work.
In May 2018, Jauregui stated that she began working on music for her debut solo album. She previously expressed in March 2018 that she has been exploring and getting "in touch" with herself creatively, and does not want to give herself "boundaries", adding that she is influenced by various genres, including electronica, pop, rock ‘n roll, alternative rock and Latin music. In June 2018, Jauregui was the opening act for Halsey's Latin American leg of her Hopeless Fountain Kingdom World Tour. In the tour with Halsey, Jauregui performed three songs she had written, "Toy", "Inside" and "Expectations". In September 2018, Jauregui said she has been composing instrumentation vocally and playing it on the piano. She has no set date for her album release as she is "really trying to let it be as organic as possible" and it will be released when she feels like it is ready. Jauregui said she writes all of her songs. She released her debut solo single "Expectations" with its accompanying music video, on October 24, 2018 under Columbia Records. Of her creative process, Jauregui said:
In November 2018, Jauregui performed two new songs, "More Than That" and "Freedom", at MTV's Plus 1 The Vote Election Party. Jauregui released "More Than That" on January 11, 2019. It was reported in April 2019 that Jauregui signed to Records imprint alongside Columbia. In July 2019, Jauregui performed at the Montreux Jazz Festival by Quincy Jones' invitation for his closing night of the festival in honor of his music. In August, Jauregui confirmed her debut album will be released in 2020. In September, she performed at the invite-only Women of Jammcard JammJam event, partnered with the nonprofit She Is the Music. In early December 2019, Jauregui featured alongside Drew Love on Clear Eyes' debut solo song, "Let Me Know".
Jauregui co-wrote and performed the song "Invisible Chains" for Birds of Prey: The Album, the soundtrack of the film Birds of Prey released on February 7, 2020. She collaborated with Puerto Rican producer Tainy on his latin urban song "Nada" featuring Spanish artist C. Tangana, released on February 21, 2020. Jauregui released the Tainy-produced song "Lento" and its music video on March 20, 2020. On April 17, 2020, Jauregui released the song "50ft". Jauregui was scheduled to perform at Something in the Water music festival in Virginia Beach in April 2020, and at the inaugural Virgin Fest in Los Angeles in June, however both festivals were postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In March 2020, Jauregui participated in Billboards Live At-Home Concert to raise funds for coronavirus disease relief. She joined Global Citizen and the World Health Organization's Together At Home campaign series, for which she performed and spoke to raise awareness and funds for the coronavirus disease pandemic. Colombian group ChocQuibTown collaborated with Jauregui on two songs from their upcoming album releasing in August 2020.

Musical influences

Jauregui grew up listening to 90s R&B, alternative rock, singer-songwriters, "vocalists", pop, Latin music, and soul. Jauregui has said that her music is largely influenced by soul, R&B, rock, alternative, pop, and Latin music. She said she is "mostly inspired by songwriters" and "truth and authenticity". Some of the artists who have influenced her include Lana Del Rey, John Mayer, Lauryn Hill, Paramore, Alicia Keys, Janelle Monáe, Christina Aguilera, Amy Winehouse, and Frank Ocean.

Activism and personal life

Jauregui uses her platform to raise awareness on a number of issues, including human rights, education, criminal justice, election voting, immigration, gun violence and reform, harassment, and other social issues. She is politically outspoken, involved in protests, and has partnered with several organizations and attended events that work with such causes. She has written several open letters since the 2016 United States presidential election, criticizing Donald Trump and his policies, including the "Muslim ban", calling it "disrespectful to Humanity". In November 2016, Billboard published an open letter she penned to Trump voters, where she wrote about repercussions of Trump's campaign and election, and stated: "I am a bisexual Cuban-American woman and I am so proud of it". She has also spoken about LGBTQ issues.
Jauregui has struggled with consuming anxiety and depression. She was in a relationship with singer Ty Dolla Sign from 2017 to 2019. In an April 2020 interview with online magazine Them., Jauregui said she identified as bisexual until realizing she related to pansexuality as it "encompasses everybody in the world. We fall in love with souls over anything else".

Discography

Filmography

Awards and nominations

Tours

Supporting