Camila Cabello breaks away from Fifth Harmony following big year for music group

Singer Camila Cabello has reportedly left the popular singing group Fifth Harmony, an ensemble that recently achieved their highest-charting song yet. 

Members of Fifth Harmony posted on social media that Ms. Cabello was departing the group.

“We are four strong, committed women who will continue with Fifth Harmony as well as our solo endeavors,” a note signed “Ally, Normani, Dinah and Lauren” read. (The other members of the group are Ally Brooke Hernandez, Normani Kordei, Dinah Jane Hansen, and Lauren Jauregui.)

Cabello has already found a degree of success outside the group with the song "Bad Things," on which she worked with rapper Machine Gun Kelly and which is currently ranked at number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100. 

The ensemble Fifth Harmony came about after the members each auditioned separately for the US version of the reality TV competition “The X Factor” in 2012. Judges Demi Lovato and Simon Cowell brought the five together and the ensemble competed as a group on the show and placed third for the season.

Fifth Harmony is the latest example of a reality show bringing together a successful ensemble, as the popular group One Direction was formed after each member auditioned separately on the British version of the TV show “The X Factor” and was then put into a group.

Fifth Harmony has had a very successful year, as their highest-charting song yet, “Work From Home,” was released earlier in 2016. The song peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart this past summer. 

Their 2015 song “Worth It” also performed well, reaching number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100. 

Fuse writer Jason Lipshutz wrote earlier this year that the way the group members conduct themselves could have led to some of their success. “5H’s appeal may also reside in the engaging personalities of the quintet,” Mr. Lipshutz writes. “All five members have over 1 million Twitter followers, constantly support each other in interviews and have carved out distinct but complementary roles within Fifth Harmony.” 

Meanwhile, Entertainment Weekly writer Nolan Feeney wrote when reviewing “7/27,” the group’s most recent work, that the fact that every member seemed previously to have been at the same level could also have helped the group achieve success before now.

“The secret weapon of Fifth Harmony might be the lack of their own queen bee,” Mr. Feeney wrote earlier this year. "No member towers over the others in terms of talent or potential star power.”