Five powerful women.  Five incredibly strong voices.  Statements like these are what come to mind when someone mentions Fifth Harmony, a talented group that was formed on the second season of X-Factor in 2012 by judge Simon Cowell.  Five individual vocalists, each with their own respective strengths and weaknesses, were joined together to create what would soon be one of the most popular bands in the world.  But now this band seems to have crumbled, as shown by the following statement released on Twitter on Monday, March 19.

The announcement caused much disappointment among fans, who call themselves “Harmonizers.”  

“Fifth Harmony has always been one of my favorite bands, so it really sucks that they’re splitting up,” Purvi Desai ‘18 said.  “I remember watching them on X-Factor and knowing that they were meant to do great things.”

This shocking announcement came more than a year after Camila Cabello, one of the former vocalists, left the band in order to pursue a solo career.  At the time, the other four members Ally, Normani, Dinah Jane, and Lauren claimed that they had been informed of Cabello’s decision to leave the band by her representatives, but Cabello argued that this was a lie and expressed her regret that she and the band had parted on unfriendly terms.  The other four band members promised their fans that they would continue without Cabello as long as the fans agreed to be the fifth member of Fifth Harmony.

“When Camila Cabello left, I immediately knew that Fifth Harmony wasn’t headed in a good direction,” Aldrian Widjaja ‘18 said.  “I expected something like this to happen.”

However, just last month, Cabello claimed that she had been forced to leave the band when her desire to write songs for the band as well as pursue a solo career at the same time was met with scorn.  Now critics are quick to point out that the four members are hypocrites for disparaging Cabello when they had the same hopes. Others offer a more positive outlook, expressing their excitement for each member’s solo music.  Some even go so far as to express their hopes for a Fifth Harmony reunion including Cabello after the indefinite hiatus.

“I’m not really sure how much I’m going to like each member’s solo music, but seeing how far Camila has come as an individual artist is really bringing up my hopes,” Desai said.  “Maybe they might all be friends again, since there’s no pressure to work together anymore.”

Despite their announced hiatus, Fifth Harmony promised that the three shows they had planned for the end of the year are still on.  Many Harmonizers are now rushing to buy tickets so that they can watch their beloved band perform for what could very well be the last time. Even if the split ends up being permanent, Fifth Harmony will always be remembered as an incredibly talented, strong group that made a huge impact not just on the music industry, but also on the lives of many that were inspired by the band’s success.