A Female Harry Styles? Camila Cabello’s X Factor Origins
Just like Harry Styles, Camila Cabello first appeared on Simon Cowell’s X Factor—Harry in the U.K. in 2010, Camila in the U.S. version two years later.
Her audition song was Aretha Franklin’s Respect, though it couldn’t be aired due to copyright issues (Harry sang Isn’t She Lovely).
Also like Mr Styles, she didn’t get very far initially but was called back and placed in a group formed on the show—not a boy band like One Direction, but a girl group called Fifth Harmony.
After the band was assembled on the show, she began recording and touring with Fifth Harmony for the next few years. While things seemed to be going well, Camila began stepping outside the group to collaborate with other artists.
The result was two singles: I Know What You Did Last Summer with Shawn Mendes (2015), and Bad Things with Machine Gun Kelly (2016).
Both were released under the boys’ names, with Camila featured. Later in 2016, she announced she was leaving Fifth Harmony to launch a solo career.
Her first post-Harmony release came through another collaboration—this time with Norwegian DJ Cashmere Cat. The track, Love Incredible, dropped in early 2017.
Global Stardom: From Havana to Señorita
This was followed by a world tour as a supporting act for Bruno Mars and the release of two singles: Crying In The Club and her big break, Havana—both in 2017.
Havana became a global sensation, selling 19 million copies worldwide. It was the biggest song of 2018, the most-streamed track by a female artist on Spotify that year, and reached #1 in 23 countries.
A few more singles followed, including Sangria Wine with Pharrell Williams, though none matched the impact of Havana.
Fast forward to 2019, and her next major hit became even bigger. Teaming up once more with Shawn Mendes, Señorita topped the charts in 40 countries!
With 16 million sales, it was the third-best-selling single of 2019—and even more impressively, it’s currently the 12th most-streamed track of all time on Spotify.
As of early 2024, Señorita has racked up 2.6 billion streams on Spotify and 1.6 billion views on YouTube.
Her best-performing release since then is Bam Bam, a 2022 collaboration with Ed Sheeran.
Camila Cabello Tunes | Related Pages
Havana | Chords + TAB
You can learn how to play Havana by Camila Cabello using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, a chord chart, and the original recording.
| Gm7 Eb | D7 (D7b9) |
Havana, ooh na-na (ayy), half of my heart is in…
Check out the full TAB lesson here: Havana (Camila Cabello) Guitar Lesson with TAB.
Respect | Chords + TAB
You can learn how to play Respect by Aretha Franklin using chords, lyrics, a chord chart, a backing track, and Spytunes video guitar lessons.
| G7 | F7 |
(Oh) What you want, (Oh) Baby, I got it…
Start learning with the full lesson series: Respect – Guitar Lessons with TAB.
Señorita | Chords + TAB
You can learn how to play Señorita by Camila Cabello using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, a chord chart, and the original recording.
| Am7 | Am7 |
I love it when you call me señorita…
Check out the full TAB lesson here: Senorita (Camila Cabello) Guitar Lesson with TAB.
Camila Cabello on the web
