Spice Girls

Spice Girls biography

The Spice Girls were a British pop girl group formed in 1994. The group comprised Victoria Beckham (née Adams), Melanie Brown, Emma Bunton, Melanie Chisholm, and Geri Halliwell. They were signed to Virgin Records and released their debut single, "Wannabe" in 1996, which hit number-one in more than 30 countries and helped establish the group as a "global phenomenon". Credited for being the pioneers that paved the way for the commercial breakthrough of teen pop in the late 1990s, their debut album, Spice, sold more than 28 million copies worldwide, becoming the best-selling album by a female group in music history. They have sold over 75 million records worldwide. Measures of their success include international record sales, a 2007-2008 reunion tour, merchandising, record-breaking achievements, iconic symbolism such as Geri Halliwell's Union Jack dress, representing "Girl Power", a box-office film, Spice World, and their internationally recognised nicknames. The group became one of the most successful marketing engines ever, with their global grosses estimated at $500-800 million between 1996 and 1998, and the group earned up to $75 million per year.

Under the guidance of their mentor and manager Simon Fuller, the group embraced merchandising and became a regular feature of the British and global press. In 1996, Top of the Pops magazine gave each member of the group aliases, which were adopted by the group and media. According to Rolling Stone journalist and biographer David Sinclair, "Scary, Baby, Ginger, Posh and Sporty were the most widely recognised group of individuals since John, Paul, George, and Ringo". They were the biggest popular cultural icons of the 1990s, according to a survey carried out by Trivial Pursuit, winning by 80 percent in a poll of 1,000 people, stating that "Girl Power" defined the decade. They are cited as part of the 'second wave' '90s British Invasion of the US.

On 31 May 1998, Halliwell unexpectedly left the group in the middle of numerous rumours. The four remaining members released their third album Forever, in November 2000. On 28 June 2007, all five reformed before the launch of their Reunion Tour in December, alongside the release of their Greatest Hits album. In December, a new documentary Giving You Everything aired on television. The tour is estimated to have grossed US$100 million. The tour won the Billboard 2008 Touring Award for Top Boxscore for a 17-night stand at London's O₂ Arena.

Band history

Formation and early years (1994-1996)

In the mid-1990s, father-and-son management team Bob and Chris Herbert set about creating an all female group to compete with popular boy bands that dominated the pop music scene in the mid- to late-1990s: "The whole teen-band scene at the time was saturated by boy bands like Take That and East 17. That was all a bit of a yawn for me, and only appealed to female audiences...I felt if you could appeal to the boys as well, you'd be laughing." In February 1994, Heart Management - which comprised the Herberts together with financier Chic Murphy - placed an advertisement in "The Stage" trade magazine asking "WANTED: R.U. 18-23 with the ability to sing/dance? R.U. streetwise, outgoing, ambitious, and dedicated? Heart Management Ltd. are a widely successful music industry management consortium currently forming a choreographed, singing/dancing, all-female pop act for a recording deal. Open audition. Danceworks, 16 Balderton Street. Friday 4 March. 11 am-5:30 pm. Please bring sheet music or backing cassette". About 400 women who answered the ad went to Dance Works studios. There, they were put into groups of 10 and danced a routine to "Stay" by Eternal. After that, the selection continued and the girls had to sing solo songs. Victoria Adams sang "Mein Herr", Melanie Brown sang "Greatest Love Of All", Melanie Chisholm sang "I'm So Excited", Michelle Stephenson sang "Don't Be A Stranger". After the auditions, the women returned home and waited for some weeks. Geri Halliwell had seen the ad but went skiing in Spain and missed the audition because her face got sunburnt.

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