Spice Girls
January 31st 2008 22:05
The Spice Girls are arguably the world's most successful all-girl pop group.
The band was formed in 1994, but the girls initially met in 1992 through auditions while chasing work in shows and as TV extras. Four of the girls, Melanie C, Mel B, Victoria Adams and Geri together with Michelle Stephenson later became part of a girl group called Touch, the brain child of Bob & Chris Herbert and Heart Management Ltd.
Michelle's participation in the group was short-lived and was later replaced by Emma Bunton and the Spice Girls as we know it, was formed - unofficially. (Spice had been Geri's idea of a new name for the girls but that was scrapped - a US rapper had already used that name).
Under the tutelage of Simon Fuller, the girls officially became the Spice Girls and were signed to a recording deal with Virgin Records. In July 1996, a feature in 'Top of the Pops' magazine gave the Spice Girls their nicknames - Posh, Baby, Scary, Sporty and Ginger - and in that same month, the group's first single "Wannabe" (widely regarded as their signature song) was released, entering the UK charts at No.3. Just a week after its release, the single rose to No.1 where it stayed for seven weeks making them the first all-female group to top the charts with their debut single.
The single became an international smash hit and pushed the anticipation for their debut album to fever-pitch. In November 2006, the girls delivered Spice which sold two million copies in the first two weeks of it being released. Spice became the biggest album of 1996 in the UK, and the biggest album of 1997 in the US, selling 10 million copies worldwide in less than seven months. Spice Girls became the first british group to score a No.1 debut single and debut album in the US - a feat that not even the legendary Beatles could manage. Later updates put the UK sales figure around three million and worldwide sales at some 23 million.
The group's sophomore album, Spiceworld, was released in November 1997 and shot straight to No.1. It produced 3 top twenty singles in the US, four top 2 singles (including 3 number one singles) in the UK, and 5 number one singles in Asia. It has sold 18 million copies worldwide.
However, just six months later, Geri aka Ginger Spice left the group citing 'differences' as the reason for her departure. The girls soldiered on with their US tour and in October 2000, they released Forever - their last album of new material and their first without Geri Halliwell.
In 2001, the girls parted ways to pursue their own interests and after a six-year hiatus, all five girls including Geri re-formed in June 2007 to launch a World Tour alongside the release of their Greatist Hits album, featuring two new songs "Headlines (Friendship Never Ends)" and "Voodoo".
Spice Girls are currently on the US leg of their World Tour.
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