Inside Girls Aloud’s emotional tribute to Sarah Harding: KATIE HIND reveals group were ‘in tears’ after heartwarming display in Dublin which was hailed as the ‘perfect’ homage to late bandmate

They were heartbroken by the death of their bandmate Sarah Harding almost three years ago.

But when Girls Aloud performed together for the first time since dying from breast cancer at the age of 39, they made sure Sarah still played a leading role.

Thanks to technology, images of Sarah were beamed to a screen behind them – and together they all sang their cover of I’ll Stand By You, which became their second number one in 2004.

Sarah’s vocals were used and Nadine Coyle, Cheryl Tweedy, Nicola Roberts and Kimberley Walsh sang along with her.

Sources say there were ‘tears’ from the band after the concert. In the photo the concert in Dublin

Sarah died in September 2021, just over a year after revealing she had been diagnosed with breast cancer. Pictured: Sarah Harding in The X Factor, 2008

When they started, Nadine said, ‘Tonight we’re going to do a duet with Sarah. It will be us, Sarah, you. Let’s do this together.’

That brought tears to many in the sold-out crowd at the 3Arena in Dublin on Friday evening.

It was the first night of Girls Aloud’s 30-night reunion tour of Britain and Ireland, which they plan to dedicate to Sarah.

They were so keen to find the right tone that they visited her mother Marie Hardman at her home near Manchester to receive her blessing.

The band wanted to ensure that Mrs Hardman ‘had a say’ in what they would do and that she was happy with the way they presented her daughter.

Sources say there were ‘tears’ from the band after the concert.

Sarah, who was known as the ‘party animal’ of Girls Aloud, earning her the nickname ‘Hardcore’, was never far from her bandmates during the concert.

At the start of the performance, footage of Sarah on a pink curtain was shown as the band sang their 2008 hit Untouchable.

Later they sang Whole Lotta History, which was dedicated to Sarah as one of her favorites from their back catalogue.

Nicola told the audience: ‘When we recorded this next song 19 years ago, we had no idea it would become so poignant in our journey 19 years later.’

Black and white footage of Sarah singing was then shown, followed by an emotional montage dedicated to her that read: ‘The darkest nights bring forth the brightest stars.’

Sarah’s vocals were used and Nadine Coyle, Cheryl Tweedy, Nicola Roberts and Kimberley Walsh sang along with her

Girls Aloud won with their single Sound Of The Underground and they scored three more number one hits and twenty top ten hits

A band insider told The Mail on Sunday: ‘So much effort and attention went into making sure Sarah’s role was played perfectly – and it was.’

Sarah died in September 2021, just over a year after revealing she had been diagnosed with breast cancer, which had spread to other parts of her body.

Her bandmates were distraught but it brought them back together after they split in 2013 when Nadine suffered a career crisis following the flop of a solo album, while Cheryl’s status soared after becoming an X Factor judge.

Nadine said she didn’t want to split up but was ‘blindsided’ by the other four girls.

The group rose to fame in 2002 when they took part in the ITV reality show Popstars: The Rivals.

They competed for a spot in a girl band and then had to compete against a boy band from the show called One True Voice in the hope that their song would become Christmas number one.

Girls Aloud won with their single Sound Of The Underground and they scored three more number one hits and twenty top ten hits.

Sarah also won Celebrity Big Brother in 2017.