The world fell in love with Camila Cabello as a member of Fifth Harmony, the powerhouse
girl group that was put together by Simon Cowell on The X Factor. Cabello was the clear
standout and, in late 2016, she cut ties with the band to start her solo career. This is
her stunning transformation.
As Cabello explained in a lengthy, career-charting interview with Rolling Stone in May 2018,
her journey to being a pop superstar began with a well-meaning lie. When she was six
years old, her mother told her they were headed to Disney World. But they were actually emigrating
from their native Cuba with just a backpack of possessions and $500. They headed from
Havana to Mexico, crossing into Texas where they hopped on a 36-hour bus ride to Miami.
They stayed with friends until solid work could be found. As Cabello explained,
"Her goal was always to end up in the United States. When she got pregnant with me, she
wanted me to be in a place where there was no ceiling to whatever I wanted to do."
"So you might see me up here on the stage tonight, but behind me backstage looking at
me right now, hi mama, I have the most incredible example of what it means to be a woman."
Her father followed soon after, swimming the Rio Grande to join them. Mom was an architect
back in Cuba, but she worked at a Marshalls in Florida and used a posh fake address in
order to send her daughter to a good public school. Her father earned money by washing
cars, finally securing his green card in 2016.
As a young girl, Cabello was known for being shy, but she still managed to make it to the
stage as a teenager.
"I love music so much, but it definitely takes a lot for me to break out of my shell."
When she was 14, she decided to forego the traditional quinceañera celebration for
her upcoming 15th birthday. Instead, her family spent the money driving to North Carolina
so she could audition for The X Factor. It might seem like a crazy decision for a shy
teenager to make, but, as she explained in a 2018 interview with Marie Claire,
"There's way less risk performing or exposing yourself to strangers than there is in your
own town or school."
Likewise, as Cabello was feeling trapped inside the painfully shy persona she inhabited at
school in Florida, she took the show as on opportunity to reinvent herself. In interviews,
she was "super goofy and confident," even though her hands were shaky and she felt like
she was dying inside. But despite all that nervous energy, she was determined that she
had to "just go for it."
The hugely talented Cabello was initially rejected by The X Factor, but Simon Cowell
subsequently put Cabello in a group with four other talented rejects. Thus, Fifth Harmony
was born. The band enjoyed massive success, but Cabello soon found herself itching to
break out on her own. The burgeoning songwriter felt trapped by the lack of individuality
she was allowed to show as part of the group.
She also felt pressure to look a certain way, particularly when it came to wearing revealing
outfits alongside the other girls. She attempted to rebel in her own way by wearing turtlenecks
and pants. Eventually, following a couple of high profile solo guest spots, the atmosphere
got frosty and in December 2016, Fifth Harmony released a statement announcing Cabello was
leaving the band effective immediately.
When it came time to finally show the world who she was, Cabello didn't hesitate, releasing
her first solo single "Crying In The Club" in May 2017. Although it was an exciting time
for the young starlet, it was also terrifying. She revealed on BBC's Radio 1 Breakfast Show
that she hadn't slept at all in the two weeks prior to release.
The track enjoyed only moderate chart success, topping out at #47 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Still, it announced Cabello as a solo star, even if, as her manager Roger Gold told The
New York Times, the song "doesn't feel or sound like Camila." He further acknowledged,
"We were most successful when Camila trusted in her own instincts."
​Finding her sound
Released in January 2018, Cabello's debut solo album was originally going to be called
The Hurting, The Healing, The Loving before being changed to the less clunky Camila. In
a 2017 interview with Miss Vogue, the singer described the album as "me in sound form."
She further explained that it was the purest representation of her as an artist based on
a multitude of different influences, which included Caribbean, hip-hop, and singer-songwriter
sounds.
In a discussion with Wonderland magazine that same year, Cabello enthused about how much
control she had taken of everything while creating her sound, saying,
"I've had a chance to really write and make the songs, and I've been involved in every
aspect of it, from the production to the mixing to, everything. [It's] definitely a lot more
challenging but it's more fun, for sure."
2018 was Cabello's big coming out moment as her massive #1 single "Havana" was released,
spending a sensational 49 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100. She told The Guardian that her label
actually wanted a completely different track to launch her self-titled debut. But she put
her foot down, subsequently topping the album and singles charts at the same time, the first
solo artist to do so since Beyoncé in 2003.
Trusting her gut proved to be a smart move in more ways than one. In addition to the
chart success, "Havana" ended up being Grammy-nominated for Best Pop Solo Performance. It also earned
Cabello three American Music Awards and even the MTV Video Music Award for Video of the
Year.
"This is too much for my little body. This is too many emotions."
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