JLS fans are just finding out band's name doesn't stand for what they thought
JLS rose to fame after appearing on The X Factor 16 years ago, but many fans still don't know what the boy band's name stands for. The group, made up of Aston Merrygold, Oritsé Williams, Marvin Humes, and JB Gill, was initially signed with Tracklacers under the name UFO, which stood for Unique Famous Outrageous.
However, they were forced to change their name due to another band already using it, and instead chose JLS, which stands for Jack the Lad Swing, a combination of the phrase "Jack the lad" and the urban music genre new jack swing. Some fans have been left surprised by the revelation, with one commenting on X (formerly Twitter): "My whole world collapsed when I found out that JLS didn't in fact stand for "just love songs" like I thought it did in 2010."
Another fan asked on Fanpop: "What does Jack the Lad Swing mean? " and was told: "Jack the lad is a really old saying meaning like a man who is a bit cheeky, has loads of girls that like him. Cool and hangs around with his friends and has like a joke. And swing just makes it a bit more music-like."
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JLS went on to achieve huge success, releasing hit songs like Everybody in Love, One Shot, and Beat Again, as well as more recent tracks like Eternal Love and Day One.
Another fan chimed in with some JLS trivia, saying: "In the book it says: Jack the Lad is like a name for cheeky boys. And new swing is the kinda music they were into. So Marvin's ex-girlfriend came up with Jack The Lad Swing (JLS). They were originally called: UFO (Unique Famous Outrageous) but Simon Cowell told them to change it in Bootcamp.", reports the Mirror.
A third added their two cents: "Jack the lad was a saying years ago, and they added Swing on the end to make it cooler :) but I'm not too sure what it means."
Active from 2006 to 2013 and then again from 2020, the band has been touring this year and just dropped their 15th anniversary album, J15. Check out the tracklist for JLS's J15 – Anniversary Edition: 1.
JLS's J15 – Anniversary Edition tracklisting:
1. Beat Again
2. Everybody in Love
3. Keep You
4. Crazy for You
5. Heal This Heartbreak
6. Close to You
7. Only Tonight
8. One Shot
9. Private
10. Don't Go
11. Only Making Love
12. Kickstart
13. Tightrope
14. Everybody in Love (Unplugged)
15. Crazy for You (Unplugged)
16. Beat Again 15 (Paul Woolford Remix)
17. One Shot 15 (Jess Bays Remix)
