Do you remember how these five girls rocked it? In the 90s, only the lazy did not know the legendary"peppercorns" . Then every teenager on the planet was a fan of their songs, and posters depicting the group’s soloists decorated the room of any self-respecting schoolgirl. These girls were definitely role models. Admit that you also did ponytails like Baby Spice, dreamed of shoes with a huge platform like Scary Spice, and looked with envy at older girls who wore tops like Ginger Spice.
The most popular and commercially successful girl group, which began its existence in 1994 and disbanded in 2000, has released only three studio albums, selling more than 75 million copies worldwide. Despite the fact that the group has been gone for a long time, fans continue to love their work and dream of a reunion of the girls!
In the meantime, PEOPLETALK decided to find out how the fates of the members of the Spice Girls turned out after the breakup of the group and what they are doing today.
Victoria Beckham, née Adams, was born into a fairly wealthy British family. In 1994, having seen an advertisement in the newspaper about recruitment for a group and beating several hundred competitors at the audition, the girl became one of the “spice” players. After the group broke up, she tried to start a solo career, but failed. It was then that Victoria decided to try her hand at the fashion industry, and here her business went much more successfully. Today she is better known as a successful designer, style icon and wife of the famous football player David Beckham (39). She is also a mother of four children and the author of two books - an autobiography and a fashion guide. Her clothing collections receive worldwide recognition and are worn by celebrities such as Michelle Williams (34), Julianne Moore (54), (33), (42) and (39).
Baby Spice – Emma Bunton (39)
Emma, the youngest member of the group, joined the Spice Girls on the recommendation of her vocal coach. After the collapse of the group, the girl took up a solo career and even released three albums. But Emma did not achieve much popularity, so she easily left the stage for another important role - she became a mother. Now Emma Bunton is raising two sons with singer Jade Jones (36), participates in British television shows as a judge and presenter, and since 2009 has worked as a DJ on the waves of the British radio station Heart.
Ginger-Spice – Geri Halliwell (42)
The brightest and, perhaps, the most discussed member of the group. Before starting her music career, Geri worked as a nightclub dancer in Mallorca, a fashion model and a game show host on Turkish television. After she gained popularity, many British magazines published erotic photographs of the girl in which she was completely naked. What was more scandalous - her affairs, sexy outfits, nude photos or early departure from the Spice Girls - is difficult to assess. But all this certainly bore fruit and made Halliwell incredibly popular. After the group disbanded, she went on to have the most successful solo career of all the members. In 2006, Geri gave birth to a daughter from Hollywood screenwriter Sasha Gervasi (49). Now the singer has contracts not only for a new record, but also for a series of children's books.
Sporty-Spice – Mel C (41)
Melanie Jane Chisholm, better known as Mel C, was nicknamed Sporty Spice for her style of dressing. The girl was the most invisible member of the Spice Girls; there was always much less information about her in the press than about her colleagues. After leaving the group, Mel made a very successful solo career: she has six albums and 11 singles, which topped the UK composite chart (this is the third result in history - only Paul McCartney (72) and John Lennon (1940-1980) are ahead). By the way, she was the only professional vocalist in the Spice Girls. In 2009, Mel made her debut in the theater quite successfully. The singer is single, raising her daughter Scarlett Starr (6), regularly practices yoga and is working on her next album.
Scary-Spice – Melanie Brown (39)
Best known as Mel B and Scary Spice. Since childhood, Melanie dreamed of a musical career and even graduated from music school with a degree in drums. She, too, responded to an ad in the newspaper and soon became Scary Spice, a pseudonym Mel received because of her mannered accent and voluminous African hairstyle, as well as her extravagant manner of dressing. In parallel with her participation in the group, the singer pursued a solo career. So after the official breakup of the team, she had a backup option, but it never brought her success, and critics even nicknamed her “hopeless Spice.” Now Mel lives in California, raises three daughters (one of them with actor Eddie Murphy (54)), wrote an autobiography and, to spite everyone, continues to make music.
And at the end of our review, I suggest you remember how it was: let's watch a few Spice Girls videos and indulge in nostalgia!
Wannabe, 1996
2 Become 1, 1996
Who Do You Think You Are, 1996
Say You'll Be There, 1996
Spice Up Your Life, 1997
Stop, 1997
Too Much, 1997
Viva Forever, 1998
Goodbye, 1999
Holler, 2000
The Spice Girls are a British pop group that achieved popularity in Europe and a number of other countries in the second half of the 1990s. Their albums have sold more than 50 million copies worldwide.
How did it all start? And it all started quite quietly, by 1993 the pop music scene was captured by boy bands, East 17 and Take That were perhaps the most famous of them. And two managers, father and son - Bob and Chris Herbert, decided to create a group consisting only of girls. Many music analysts then thought that this would be a complete failure, because female fans did not need girl groups at that time, and guys also listened more to boy bands. So, in March 1993, a small advertisement appeared in a London newspaper: “A competition is being announced for girls with good vocal abilities to participate in a new group.” About 700 applicants responded to that advertisement. There were several auditions, the final of which was almost missed by future participant Melanie C due to a severe cold.
But the auditions ended, and four girls were selected for the future group. Here are the names of those lucky girls: Melanie Chisholm, Victoria Adams, Melanie Brown and Michelle Stevenson. The group was planned to consist of five people, and then the vacancy of the fifth girl was offered to Geri Halliwell, who had not passed the casting before, but was sent to audition, which she successfully passed. So, the group was formed and became known as Touch. Meanwhile, the band's managers (the same two who made up The Herberts' production company) continued to seek a record deal for the band, as well as giving the band songs written by outside writers and giving the band dance teachers to learn how to dance. But the group members quickly began to show independence, they wanted to write songs themselves and come up with dances for them, and naturally conflicts arose between managers and girls.
The group existed in this composition for about 7 months, when, due to personal problems, Michelle was forced to leave the group. To replace her, they pulled out another girl who was auditioning for the group at the very beginning. Her name was Abigail Kis, and almost nothing is known about her, only that after a month spent getting to know the group, she refused to participate for the sake of her boyfriend. And then the group’s singing teacher remembered one of his former students, to whom he once gave singing lessons and was then delighted with the girl’s voice and hearing. He tracked her down and offered her a place in the group, and she accepted. The girl's name was Emma Lee Bunton, and she was the youngest in the group, then she was only 17 years old.
It's 1994. One day, while working out in the gym, Geri and Melanie C suddenly came up with the word Spice, and they liked it so much that they immediately suggested to the others: “Shouldn’t we rename our group Spice?!” Everyone liked the name, but it only turned out that a group with that name already existed in England. Without further ado, and adding Girls, the group has since become known as the Spice Girls, and this is the name that brought them such success in the future, and the name by which they are still known and which is always implied when their slogan is pronounced, which has become their calling card -Girl Power.
Meanwhile, conflicts with managers who imposed songs and style on the girls in everything became more frequent, and in the end they got tired of it and fired them, becoming completely independent. Then they lived in a tiny London apartment, and continued to intensively train in dancing, singing, and also wrote songs themselves. The group was then taken on as producer by Simon Fuller, who was already quite famous. A year and a half later, in August 1995, this man received a contract for the girls with Virgin Records to release the group’s discs around the world. Meanwhile, the girls continued to write songs and work in the studio on recordings, and also improved their dancing skills. And now, their time has come. In June 1996, a Wannabe video appeared on British MTV, which aroused unprecedented interest in the girls who appeared in the video, then completely unknown to anyone. In July, the single Wannabe is released, which the very next week soars to the top of the UK hit parade, where it remains for the next 7 weeks - a completely unprecedented period for this hit parade!
The following years were filled with nothing but the stunning success of the Spice Girls. Climbing to the top of the British and American charts with each of his singles, not to mention the rest of the countries, completely “stealing” the 1997 Brit Awards, and then presenting his own film “SpiceWorld” at the Cannes Film Festival, simultaneously with the release of his second album, Touring Europe for 6 months, performing at Prince Charles's birthday party, meeting Nelson Mandela during concerts in South Africa, and collecting countless awards - these are just some of the things the Spice Girls have achieved.
1998 was the year of incredible popularity of the Spice Girls in America, where both of their albums managed to simultaneously appear in the Top 10 of the Billboard chart! And at the Brit Awards "98 in February, the girls received a special prize for the biggest sales in the world, and then performed a stunning live remix of the song Stop. It was time to go on a world tour, and The SpiceWorld world tour began with a concert in Dublin on February 24, where the amazing show received rave reviews from all over the local and non-local press. The girls traveled throughout Europe, America and Canada during the tour, visiting nearly 100 cities as part of their tour. When tickets to New York's Madison Square Garden for the July 1st concert arrived at sale, all 14 and a half thousand tickets sold out in a record 12 minutes, and tickets for one of their Los Angeles shows sold out in 7 minutes.
However, before the American leg of the tour, one event occurred that undoubtedly became a sensation for many months. One of the clues came during their last European concert at the end of May, before heading to America, when only four members took the stage. The girls explained Jeri's absence due to her poor health. But alas. The Fab Five became a foursome on Sunday, May 31, 1998, when Ginger Spice, Geri Halliwell, officially left the group "due to differences of opinion," according to a press release. Incredibly, Geri's departure only showed how much the Spice Girls had become youth idols when, in the same week, tragic columns in English newspapers of attempted suicides, both unsuccessful and unfortunately successful, were replenished by many young girls who were so affected by the split in the group . Thousands of their peers and contemporaries were in tears. However, the four Spice did not think of disappearing, and on June 9 they came to a charity concert to help Pavarotti’s children, where they sang with him, and then that same week their big tour of North America began. They declared, "We're as strong as ever," and indeed, there was no sign of the band breaking up. The tour ended with a stunning show at Wembley Stadium in London on September 20, 1998, in front of over 50,000 fans.
In November-December 1998, the girls recorded another hit, Good-bye, which was released on Christmas. The single took its rightful place at number one in the UK charts, thus bringing the total number of Christmas chart toppers to three. Only the Beatles can boast the same result.
Three years of hard work that the Spice Girls did, and of course the girls had to take a time out. According to them, over all these years they had at most 10 free days a year. And the first half of 1999 was thus chosen by the girls in order to relax. Back in September 1998, Melanie Bee married band dancer Jimmy Gulzar, and in February they had a daughter, Phoenix Key. Just a few weeks later, another couple, Victoria Adams and David Beckham, gave birth to a son, Brooklyn Joseph. The couple got married on July 4th in Ireland. Victoria Adams became known as Victoria Beckham.
But the Spice Girls have always been known as workaholics, so after resting for six months and getting a good night's sleep, in August 1999 they returned to the studio to record their much-anticipated 3rd album by fans. And shortly before this, after a very successful try at a solo career as a duet with Bryan Adams on the song "When You"re Gone", one of the group members, Melanie C, flew to Los Angeles to record her own solo album Northern Star, which was released in November 1999.
Mel B's solo efforts, with the singles "I Want You Back" and then "Word Up", also led her into a solo career, which resulted in an album released in October 2000, entitled "Hot". The rest of the group members also managed to try themselves in solo work on songs, and in other new areas of show business. Victoria played the role of a model, and Emma began to appear more and more on television as the host of music shows. She had her own show, simply called Emma, on VH-1 for several months, and then in August 2000 she was given the opportunity to host the hit UK music show CD:UK, where she received rave reviews for her work as a TV presenter.
The girls made a career not defending themselves from critics, but simply not paying attention to them. Breaking many worldwide popularity records, they played for the Royal Family, won countless awards and entertained millions, made a successful film and redefined pop music. Their achievements were recognized at the Brit Awards 2000 with a non-competitive award for "Outstanding Contribution to British Pop Music". It is clear that the limit of these girls' capabilities is somewhere far in the sky.
After releasing two successful albums (with 53 million records sold, an unsurpassed record for a girl group before the rise of Destiny's Child), Halliwell left the group to pursue a solo career. The four remaining members of the group released a relatively unsuccessful album in 2000, followed by who also took up their own projects, although the breakup of the group was not officially announced.
Not long ago, the Spice Girls officially announced their reunion and announced a world concert tour on their official website.
The tour will begin with a performance on December 7, 2007 in Los Angeles. In two months, the Spice Girls also plan to visit Las Vegas, New York, London, Cologne, Madrid, Beijing, Hong Kong, Sydney, Cape Town and Buenos Aires.
Rumors about the revival of the group have been circulating in the media for a long time, but received official confirmation only now.
“It’s all nostalgia. But if new fans want to join the old fans, that will be great. I would like to believe that our songs are universal and exist outside of time. I hope young people will like them too,” said Jerry Halliwell, one of the band members.
Albums:
1996 Spice
1997 Spiceworld
2000 Forever
2007 Greatest Hits
The famous British pop group Spice Girls was founded in 1994, that is, 22 years ago, but despite this, its members still look as attractive as ever. If you don’t believe me, then take a look at the photos that await you below.
Jerry Halliwell
Ginger Spice, the most outspoken and sexy of the group, has had her most successful solo career since leaving the Spice Girls. Now she has given up music and writes books for children, which are quite popular.
Mel C
Melanie Chisholm has also made a good solo career, and has no intention of giving it up yet. Although now she devotes much less energy to music, having become interested in acting in the theater.
Emma Bunton
Emma Bunton was included in the group at the last minute, replacing Michelle Stephenson, who chose college over a pop career. Her solo career did not go well, but for several years now she has been happily appearing on television as a judge in various music competitions.
Mel B
In the early 2000s, Mel B moved from the UK to the USA, where she eventually successfully married film producer Stephen Belafonte. According to rumors, the girl recently decided to pursue her solo music career.
Victoria Adams - Beckham
Of course, Victoria Adams has had the most impressive career as the wife of Britain's most beloved footballer. But, according to rumors, the star couple is preparing for divorce... Maybe Victoria will decide to return to the stage?
A real phenomenon in the history of modern music! The Spice Girls are the most famous girl group with millions of fans around the world. Its participants combine intelligence and beauty, kindness and fun, inexhaustible energy and a sense of style. The Spice Girls group, whose line-up was not formed immediately, burst onto the UK scene back in 1996. Her calling card was her special style and the phrase Girl Power. Literally after a year of the girls’ work, the whole world started talking about them, comparing them with the legendary Beatles.
Interestingly, the composition of the Spice Girls group was different at first. Bob and Chris Herbert, father and son, decided to create a girl group, since male groups confidently ruled the stages. Experts immediately predicted failure for them, but that was not the case. Around 1993, a casting was announced, which attracted about seven hundred applicants. After auditions, the producers chose four girls: Melanie Chissom, Michelle Stevenson and Melanie Brown. They invited her to play the role of the fifth vocalist. However, the Spice Girls, whose lineup is given above, had a different name: Touch. The girls got to know each other, learned to sing together, danced, and prepared for future performances. However, the team immediately did not like the fact that the producers gave them ready-made songs and choreographed dances. They wanted to do everything themselves.
Michelle left after seven months and was replaced by Abigail Keys, who also left the group a month later. So among the “peppercorns” appeared seventeen-year-old Emma Lee Bunton, who was recommended by a singing teacher. So, this was the beginning of a new stage for the team, which was still not called the Spice Girls. The composition was formed, and the new name was invented by Geri and Melanie C. In 1994, the girls quit, but came together again to conquer the world with their own creations.
The lead singers of the Spice Girls became the wards of the famous producer Simon Fuller, who concluded several lucrative contracts for them and literally brought them to the star Olympus. In June 1996, the British channel MTV aired the Wannabe video, which reached the top of the charts within a month and stayed there for seven weeks. Then everything was like in a fairy tale: interest in the group increases sharply, it is in demand and popular. Concerts, new songs and videos, tours around Europe and the world were accompanied by receiving various awards. In 1998, America fell at the feet of the “peppercorns”.
The hard work, and perhaps that of the participants, affected their well-coordinated team. The Fab Five have become a foursome since Geri Halliwell, aka Ginger Spice, left. For fans of the depleted Spice Girls, it was a tragedy: young girls took their own lives and cried all night long. But the group did not disappear from the stage, but delighted fans with new hits and amazing shows.
However, over time, girls began to get married and become mothers. There was less and less time left for the group, especially since some members began to think about a solo career (Mel B and Mel C). Posh Spice (aka Vicky Adams) became a model and designer, and Emma became a TV presenter. It would seem that the triumphant march of the Spice Girls was over, but during the London Olympics in 2012, they performed in front of the audience with the same lineup. Fans immediately started talking about the reunion of the “peppercorns”. Why not?
The musical group “Spice Girls” has sold a total of more than 80 million records during its existence. The team is rightfully considered. Simple girls easily conquered British and then world show business. True, sometimes the popularity of singers went beyond reason - after the departure of one of the participants, the UK was hit by a wave of suicides.
Compound
The biography of the girl pop group, which released its debut album with a circulation of 50 million, began with an advertisement in the newspaper. Successful music managers Lindsey Casborne, Bob and Chris Herbert wanted to launch an unusual project on the world stage. The producers decided to assemble an all-female team that would compete with the boring boy bands.
Having placed a casting announcement in the newspaper, music industry workers did not expect such an influx of applicants. Managers reviewed more than 400 applicants. The producers made the final choice in April 1994, a month after the launch of the project.
The original lineup of the group “Touch,” as the newly formed group received its name, included (now known as Victoria Beckham), Michelle Stevenson, Melanie Brown and Melanie Chisholm.
Two months after the start of rehearsals and the first attempts to record a single, it became clear that Michelle Stevenson was leaving the organically selected team. The girl was replaced by Abigail Keys, who did not last even a month in the group.
The upset producers were about to announce a re-casting when, on the recommendation of a vocal teacher they knew, Emma Bunton was invited to a test recording. In September 1994, the composition of the new women's musical group was completely assembled.
Music
It soon became clear that the vision of the future of the group between the girls and the managers did not coincide. The participants of “Touch” were not satisfied with the repertoire and the name. After several months of incessant conflicts, the girls broke their contract with the producers.
The idea to change the name to "Spice" came to the minds of Geri Halliwell and Melanie Chishall, who had already received the nickname Melanie C. In order not to be confused between the two Melanies, the girls took pseudonyms and added the first letter of their surname to the name of both participants.
Everyone liked the new name of the group, but it turned out that such a musical group already existed. At the general meeting this problem was quickly resolved. The word "girls" was added to "Spice". The new manager of the group was Syson Fuller, who quickly won a contract with Virgin Records for the developing quintet.
In December 1996, the group's first album, entitled "Spice", was released. The release of the debut disc was preceded by the single “Wannabe” and a video for the same musical composition. A month before the official release of the album, the Spice Girls present the song “Say You’ll Be There.” The colorful video was filmed in the desert. After the premiere of the video, people started talking about the emerging group in Europe.
No one expected the Spice album to receive this level of recognition. The disc was certified 7 times platinum in the US and 10 times in the UK. In order not to miss the wave of popularity, in December 1996 the group released the third single “2 Become 1”.
The song "Wannabe" by the Spice GirlsNovember 1997 was marked by the release of the second album. Unlike the first disc, the girls, in addition to vocals, independently wrote several songs included in the collection. The success of the second disc is almost as good as the debut creation.
In parallel with the release of songs, the group presents fans with their own movie. The film "SpiceWorld" was first shown at the Cannes Film Festival. This important event was followed by a performance by the Spice Girls at a birthday party. The popularity of the women's group has reached incredible proportions.
In support of their second album, the girls go on a world tour, “The SpiceWorld world tour”. The tour schedule of the “peppercorns” included Europe, Canada and the USA. Tickets for each concert were purchased long before the start. And seats at the show in Los Angeles ran out 7 minutes after the start of sales.
In May 1998, Geri Halliwell left the Spice Girls. The girl decides that the time has come for a solo career, but the press puts forward the version that the former member of the group has earned money. Fans had no idea about the gradually impending collapse of the group. In addition, a new video for the song “Viva Forever” was aired on music TV channels, where the girls are still present in full force.
The song "Viva Forever" by the Spice GirlsIn November 2000, the group's third and final album was released. The “Forever” disc, which took two years to complete, did not repeat the success of previous collections. Gradually, all members of the popular group began to devote more time to their own projects. At the same time, no one officially announced the dissolution of the group.
A new surge of activity occurred in 2007. "Spice Girls" releases the collection "Greatest Hits", which contains the best creations of the group since 1995 and 2 new songs - "Voodoo" and "Headlines". The members went on a world tour, but concerts in most countries were canceled due to “personal and family reasons.”
The song "Spice Up Your Life" by the Spice GirlsThe last striking appearance of the girls was their performance at the closing of the Summer Olympic Games in 2012. The Spice Girls sang their first single "Wannabe" and the song "Spice Up Your Life". From that moment on, the participants of the popular project no longer appeared in public together.
The Spice Girls now
In February 2018, the news spread around the world that the Spice Girls were in full force and intended to launch a concert program and even a TV show in the near future. The news did not cause the expected excitement, since a similar message had appeared before.
In 2016, articles already appeared in the press that the Spice Girls were dreaming of returning to the stage. The only thing that prevented the reunion of the pop stars was the reluctance of Victoria Beckham and Melanie Chishall to join the team. There were rumors that the remaining members of the group agreed to replace the protesters with new girls. But the matter did not advance beyond newspaper headlines.
According to The Sun, Victoria Beckham was forced to change her mind by a high fee, which the girl plans to invest in her own successful clothing brand. The only condition that the fashion designer put forward was that she would not sing. On her Instagram, the wife of football player David Beckham avoids answering questions from fans about the future of the musical group.
After Victoria's consent, Melanie also changed her mind. Now the girl, who is raising her daughter alone, is building a musical career and is passionate about sports. Geri Halliwell, who left the group early, is today famous as a children's author. In 2017, the girl married the head of the Formula 1 team, Christian Horner.
The mother of two sons, Emma Bunton continues to record songs while simultaneously acting in films and playing in musicals. The girl's voice can be heard on the radio, where Emma works as a presenter.
Recent news about Melanie B has left fans stunned. A girl whose solo career failed was hospitalized with an overdose of sedatives. The American press is actively discussing the beatings that Mel B received from her husband, film producer Stephen Belafonte.
Clips
- 1996 – “Wannabe”
- 1996 – “Say You’ll Be There”
- 1996 – “2 Become 1”
- 1997 – “Mama”
- 1997 – “Who Do You Think You Are”
- 1997 – “Spice Up Your Life”
- 1997 – “Too Much”
- 1998 – “Stop”
- 1998 – “Viva Forever”
- 1998 – “Goodbye”
- 2000 – “Holler”
- 2000 – “Let Love Lead the Way”
- 2000 – “If You Wanna Have Some Fun”