The Cheetah Girls

One of the biggest acts to emerge from the Disney Channel, The Cheetah Girls rose to prominence with an eponymous 2003 film before venturing out as Disney’s first multi-ethnic girl group. • Based on Deborah Gregory’s young adult novel series of the same name, The Cheetah Girls premiered on the Disney Channel in 2003. The film stars singer-actress Raven-Symoné, 3LW’s Adrienne Bailon and Kiely Williams, and dancer Sabrina Bryan. • Initially, there weren’t plans to create a girl group from the film. But producer Debra Martin Chase convinced Disney to release the soundtrack as a proper album, which was executive produced by Chase and Whitney Houston. • Following the double-platinum success of the soundtrack, Raven-Symoné left the group to focus on solo endeavors. • In 2005, The Cheetah Girls released Cheetah-licious Christmas, their first album as a trio. • The following year, Raven-Symoné returned for The Cheetah Girls 2. Set in Barcelona, the film drew more than 8 million viewers, making history as the highest-rated Disney Channel Original Movie premiere at the time. • The group’s second and final studio album, 2007’s TCG, peaked just outside the Top 40 on the Billboard 200 albums chart. • In 2008, the trio released its final film, the Bollywood-inspired The Cheetah Girls: One World. They officially disbanded following 2008’s One World Tour.