Band history
1994–1995: Early years
In the mid-1990s, father-and-son management team Chris Herbert and Bob Herbert set about creating an all female group that could compete with the onslaught of equally 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 ‘N Sync and the Backstreet Boys. 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 “are you street smart, extrovert, ambitious and able to sing and dance?” Hundreds of girls responded and the applicants were whittled down to a final five that included Victoria Adams, Melanie Brown, Geri Halliwell and Michelle Stephenson. The group was given the name Touch, and moved into a house together in Maidenhead, Berkshire, (owned by Murphy) where they were subsidised by Heart Management and each was claiming unemployment benefit. However Lianne Morgan was axed from the line-up due to her age and was replaced by Melanie Chisholm who was the same age as the other girls. During the first two months the group worked on demos and dance routines at the Trinity Studios in Knaphill. According to Stephenson the material the group was given was “very, very young pop” and included the song “We’re Gonna Make It Happen”, a record that never came to light. It soon became apparent that Stephenson did not have the drive and belief that the rest of the group had, so the decision was made to fire her from the group. Bob Herbert stated that “she just wasn’t fitting in… she would never have gelled with it and I had to tell her to go”. However, Stephenson stated that it was her decision to leave the group, because of the illness of her mother, who was diagnosed with breast cancer. Victoria later dismissed this claim, saying she “just couldn’t be arsed” to put in the work the rest of the group was doing. The Herberts searched for a replacement and first came across Abigail Kis, who did not impress, and then were led to eighteen-year-old Emma Bunton at the suggestion of vocal coach Pepe Lemer. Bunton instantly impressed the Herberts and was invited to meet the group in July 1994, who welcomed her with open arms: “Straight away I knew she was the one,” stated Halliwell.
The group felt insecure about the lack of a contract and were frustrated by the direction in which Heart Management was steering them. In October 1994, armed with a catalogue of demos and dance routines, the group began touring management agencies. They persuaded Bob Herbert to set up a showcase performance for the group in front of industry writers, producers and A&R men in December 1994 at the Nomis Studios in Shepherds Bush where they received an “overwhelmingly positive” reaction. Due to the large interest in the group, the Herberts quickly set about creating a binding contract for the group. Encouraged by the reaction they had received at the Nomis showcase, the five girls delayed signing contracts on the legal advice from, amongst others, Victoria’s father Tony Adams. In March 1995, because of the group’s frustration at their management’s unwillingness to listen to their visions and ideas, they parted from Heart Management. In what biographer David Sinclair calls an “incredibly self-serving and underhand” ploy, the group stole the master recordings of their discography from the management offices in order to ensure they kept control of their own work. That same day the girls tracked down Sheffield-based producer Eliot Kennedy, who had been present at the showcase, and persuaded him to work with them.
The group was introduced to record producers Absolute, who in turn brought them to the attention of Simon Fuller of 19 Management. The girls began a relationship with Fuller and finally signed with him in March 1995. During the summer of that year the group toured record labels in London and Los Angeles with Fuller and finally signed a deal with Virgin Records in September 1995. From this point up to the summer of 1996 the girls continued to write and record tracks for their debut album while extensively touring the west coast of America, where they had signed a publishing deal with Windswept Pacific.
1996–1997: Spice
On 8 July 1996, the Spice Girls released their debut single “Wannabe” in the United Kingdom. In the weeks leading up to the release, the video for “Wannabe”, (directed by Johan Camitz and shot in April at St Pancras Chambers in London), got a trial airing on The Box music channel. The video was an instant hit, and was played 70 times a week. The first music press interview appears in Music Week. In July 1996, the group conducted their first interview with Paul Gorman, the contributing editor of music industry paper Music Week, at Virgin Records’ London headquarters. His piece recognised that the Spice Girls were about to institute a change in the charts away from Britpop and towards out-and-out pop. He wrote: “Just when boys with guitars threaten to rule pop life, an all-girl, in-yer-face pop group has arrived with enough sass to burst that rockist cherry!!” The song entered the charts at number 3 before moving up to number 1 the following week and staying there for seven weeks. The song proved to be a global hit, hitting number 1 in 31 countries and becoming not only the biggest selling debut single by an all-female group but also the biggest-selling single by an all-female group of all time.
Riding a wave of publicity and hype, the group released their next singles in UK and Europe, in October “Say You’ll Be There” was released toping the charts at number one for two weeks, in December “2 Become 1″ was released, becoming the first Christmas Number 1 and sold 430,000 copies in its first week, making it the fastest selling single of the year. The two tracks continued the group’s remarkable sales by topping the charts in over fifty-three countries and cementing the group’s reputation as the biggest pop act in the world.
In November 1996, the Spice Girls released their debut album Spice in Europe. The success was unprecedented and drew comparisons to Beatlemania due to the sheer volume of interest in the group. In just seven weeks Spice had sold 1.8 million copies in Britain alone, making the Spice Girls the fastest selling British act since the Beatles. In total, the album sold 3 million copies in Britain, the biggest-selling album of all time in the UK by a female group certified 10x Platinum and peaked at number one for fifteen non-consecutive weeks. In Europe the album became the biggest-selling album of 1997 and was certified 8x Platinum by the IFPI for sales in excess of 8 million copies.
That same month the Spice Girls attracted a crowd of 500,000 when they switched on the Christmas lights in Oxford Street, London. At the same time, Simon Fuller started to set up million pound sponsorship deals for the Spice Girls with Pepsi, Walkers, Impulse, Cadbury’s and Polaroid. In December 1996, the group won three trophies at the Smash Hits awards at the London Arena, including best video for “Say You’ll Be There”.
In January 1997, the group released “Wannabe” in the United States. The single also proved to be a catalyst in helping the Spice Girls break into the notoriously difficult U.S. market when it debuted on the Hot 100 Chart at number 11. At the time, this was the highest-ever debut by a British (or non-American) act in the US, beating the previous record held by the Beatles for “I Want to Hold Your Hand” and the joint highest entry for a debut act beating the Alanis Morissette with “Ironic”. “Wannabe” reached number one in the US for four weeks. In February 1997, Spice was release in U.S., became the biggest-selling album of 1997, peaking at number one and being certified 7x Platinum by the RIAA for sales in excess of 7.4 million copies. In Total, The album sold 23 millions copies worldwide become the best-selling album by a female group in the history, ranked #41 in the list of 100 Most Successful Albums Of All Time.
Later that month, the Spice Girls win two Brit Awards for Best Video, “Say You’ll Be There” and Best Single for “Wannabe”, The girls performed “Who Do You Think You Are” to open the show with Geri Halliwell wearing a Union Jack mini-dress, causing it to become one of pop history’s most famed outfits.
In March 1997, a double A-side of “Mama”/”Who Do You Think You Are” was release in Europe, the last from Spice, which once again saw them at number one, making the Spice Girls the first group in history to have four consecutive number one hits. Girl Power!, The Spice Girls’ first book and manifesto was launched later that same month at the Virgin Megastore. It sold 200,000 copies within a day, and was eventually translated into more than 20 languages. In April, Spice: the Official Video Volume One, was released, and sold half a million copies. In May, Spice World was announced by the Spice Girls at the Cannes Film Festival. The group also performed their first live British show, for the Royalty of Great Britain. At the show, they breached royal protocol when Mel B and then Geri Halliwell planted kisses on Prince Charles’ cheeks and pinched his bottom, causing controversy.
At the Ivor Novella Awards, the group won International Hit Of the Year and Best selling British Single awards for “Wannabe”. In June 1997, Spice World began filming and wrapped in August. In September, the Spice Girls performed “Say You’ll Be There” at the 1997 MTV Video Music Awards, and win Best Dance Video for “Wannabe”. In the 1997 Billboard Music Awards the girls win two awards for , New Artist and Album of the Year, for Spice.
1997–1998: Spiceworld
In October 1997, the Spice Girls released the first single from Spiceworld “Spice Up Your Life”, this enters in the UK charts at number one, the girl’s fifth consecutive number one hit single. This month, Simon Fuller takes the Spice Girls east to perform their first live major concert to 40,000 fans in Istanbul, Turkey. Later, the Girls travel to South Africa to meet Nelson Mandela, who announces, “These are my heroes. This is one of the greatest moments in my life”.
In November 1997, the Spice Girls released their second album, Spiceworld. The album proved to be an instant global best seller. It set a new record for the fastest-selling album when it shipped seven million copies over the course of two weeks. Gaining favourable reviews, the album went on to sell over 10 million copies in Europe, Canada, and the United States combined. Criticised in America for releasing the album just nine months after their debut there, and suffering from over-exposure at home, the Spice Girls began to experience a media backlash. The group was criticised for the number of sponsorship deals signed – over twenty in total – and they began to witness diminishing international chart positions. Nevertheless, the Spice Girls remained the biggest-selling pop group of both 1997 and 1998.
On 7 November 1997, the girls performed “Spice Up Your Life” in the 1997 MTV Europe Music Awards and win award’s for Best Group. After this one performing, the Spice Girls make the decision to take over the running of the group and fired their manager Simon Fuller. The firing was reported on the front page of the Sun and around the world. Many commentators speculated that Fuller had been the true mastermind behind the group, and that this was the moment when the band lost their impetus and direction. According to their various autobiographies, it was mainly Geri and Melanie B who pushed for Fuller’s dismissal, claiming that he had become too controlling by restricting their personal and artistic freedom. The group quickly found the burden of managing themselves time consuming, so they assigned various responsibilities to each member of the group: Melanie B. was responsible for tour control; Geri for sponsorship; Emma Bunton for personnel, schedule, and charities; Victoria Adams for merchandising and finance; and Melanie C. for the record company, singles, and formats. They later built their own team, headed by Nancy Phillips, to deal with their affairs. Two of the Spice Girls, Emma Bunton and Victoria Adams, later returned to Fuller’s stable once it was clear that the impetus behind the group was starting to disappear.
In December 1997, is released the second’s single from Spiceworld, “Too Much”, this become in the second Christmas number one for the group and the sixth consecutive number one hit single in the UK. In February 1998, the Spice Girls win special award for overseas success in the 1998 Brit Awards, for sales of 32 million album’s worldwide, this night the girls perform the next single “Stop”, being the only track not to hit number one in Britain (it entered and peaked at number two). The track, along with their first single after their June 2007 reunion, “Headlines (Friendship Never Ends),” remain their only two singles not to go to number one in the UK. Further single released from the album included “Viva Forever”, was scheduled to be released as a double A-side with “Never Give Up on the Good Times,” but these plans were scrapped due to Geri Halliwell’s departure from the group in May 1998, the song become in the seven number one hit single, and the video includes scenes of Geri stop motion animation.
In early 1998 the Spice Girls embarked upon the world tour that Fuller had set up for them covering Europe and North America. The Spiceworld Tour kicked off in Dublin, Ireland on 24 February 1998 before moving on to mainland Europe and then returning to Britain for two gigs at Wembley Arena with 150,000 fans every night and Twelve gigs at Birmingham’s NEC Arena. It was here that recordings were made for a planned live album, which was confirmed by the group: “We’ve shown everyone we can do the business on stage, so now we want to do a live album for fans”. Despite masters of the recording being made, the idea was eventually dropped. Later that year, the Spice Girls were invited to sing on the official England World Cup song “How Does It Feel (To Be on Top of the World)”, The last song with geri.
1998: Halliwell leaves the group
On 31 May 1998, Geri Halliwell announced her departure from the Spice Girls. Through her solicitor she issued the following statement: “Sadly I would like to confirm that I have left the Spice Girls. This is because of differences between us. I’m sure the group will continue to be successful and I wish them all the best.” Halliwell claimed that she was suffering from exhaustion and wanted to take time out. Halliwell’s departure from the group shocked fans and became one of the biggest entertainment news stories of the year, making news headlines the world over. The four remaining girls were adamant though that the group would carry on and that their approaching North American tour would continue as normal; however, Halliwell’s departure threw most of the group’s plans into disarray. It was cited as the reason the planned live album was cancelled. It also meant that most of the material the girls had recorded throughout the first half of 1998 at Dublin’s Windmill Lane Studios with long-time collaborators Richard Stannard and Matt Rowe was eventually scrapped. A rumoured animated venture by Disney also failed to materialise.
“Viva Forever”, was the last single taken off Spiceworld. The video for the single was made before Geri’s departure and features the girls in animated form – a decision made because there was no time to produce a video due to the heavy world tour schedule. Originally planned as a double A-side with “Never Give Up on the Good Times”, the idea was dropped for several reasons, mainly due to time restraints (since there was no time to re-record and edit out Halliwell’s vocals or make a video for the track).
While on tour in America, the group continued to record new material and they released a new song, “Goodbye”, in Christmas 1998. The song was seen as a tribute to Geri and when it topped the British chart it became their third consecutive Christmas number one – equalling the record previously set by the Beatles. The song also became one of the most successful songs of the 1990s in Canada, where it stayed at number one for sixteen weeks. Later, Emma Bunton and Mel C appear in the 1998 MTV Europe Music Awards, the group win two award’s, Best Pop Act and Best Group for a second time, beaten pop rivals All Saints.
1999–2001: Forever
The Spice Girls returned to the studio in August 1999, after an 8 month recording break to start work on their third album. The album’s sound took a mature direction when American producers like Rodney Jerkins, Jimmy Jam, and Terry Lewis came on to collaborate with the group.
In December 1999 they performed live for a UK-only Christmas tour, named Christmas in Spiceworld, in London and Manchester, also showcasing new songs from the third album.
The Spice Girls came back at the 2000 BRIT Awards, and it was announced that they had received the Outstanding Achievement In Music Award. Despite being at the event, Geri Halliwell did not join her former bandmates on stage. In November 2000 the group released Forever. Sporting a new edgier R&B sound, the album received a lukewarm response and achieved only a fraction of the success of its two best-selling predecessors, selling three million copies. In an attempt to cover more ground, the girls split up and covered different countries separately; for example Victoria Adams and Emma Bunton headed to North America while Melanie B. and Melanie C. concentrated on Europe. In the US, the album peaked at number thirty-nine on the Billboard 200 albums chart. In the UK the album was released the same week as Westlife’s Coast To Coast album and the chart battle was widely reported by the media, where Westlife won the battle reaching number one in the UK, leaving the Spice Girls at number 2. The lead single from Forever, the double A-side “Holler”/”Let Love Lead The Way”, did enjoy some success – it became the group’s ninth number one single in the UK. However the song failed to break onto the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart stateside, instead peaking at number seven on the Bubbling Under chart. “Holler” did peak at number thirty-one on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play in 2001.
The only major performance of the lead single came at the MTV Europe Music Awards in November 2000 and, a few TV performances aside, the group did little meaningful promotion: their last performance was in December 2000. Further planned single releases off the album never materialised. Promo singles of “Tell Me Why”, “Weekend Love”, and “If You Wanna Have Some Fun” came into circulation, but to fans’ dismay the Forever project was abandoned as the girls each began to concentrate on solo careers.
In 2001, the group announced that they were having a break and would be concentrating on their solo careers in regards to their foreseeable future, although they pointed out that the group was not splitting.
2001-2007: Hiatus
2007–2008: The Return of the Spice Girls
On 28 June 2007, the group held a press conference at The O2 in London, formally announcing their intention to reunite. The plan to reform had long been speculated by the media, but the group now confirmed their intention to embark upon a world wide concert tour, starting in Vancouver on 2 December 2007. Filmmaker Bob Smeaton, directed an official documentary on the reunion. It was entitled Spice Girls: Giving You Everything and was first aired on Australia’s Fox8 on 16 December 2007, followed by BBC One in the UK, on 31 December.
Ticket sales for the first London date of “The Return of the Spice Girls” World Tour sold out in 38 seconds. It was reported that over one million people signed up in the UK alone and over five million worldwide for the ticket ballot on the band’s official website. Sixteen additional dates in London had been added and sold out. In America, Las Vegas, Los Angeles and San Jose shows also sold out, prompting additional dates to be added. It was announced that the Spice Girls would be playing dates in Chicago and Detroit (Auburn Hills) and Boston, as well as additional dates in New York to keep up with the demand. On the very first concert in Canada, they performed to an audience of 15,000 people, singing twenty songs and changing a total of eight times.
Along with the tour sell-out, the Spice Girls licensed their name and image to Tesco’s UK supermarket chain. The band have reportedly been paid £5 million for their appearances in Tesco advertisements.
The group’s comeback single, “Headlines (Friendship Never Ends)”, was announced as the official Children in Need charity single for 2007 and was released 5 November. The first public appearance on stage by the Spice Girls was made at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, where the group performed at the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show. They performed two songs, 1998 single “Stop” and the lead single off their greatest hits album, “Headlines (Friendship Never Ends)”. The show was filmed by CBS on 15 November 2007 for broadcast on 4 December 2007. They also performed the song live for the BBC Children in Need telethon on 16 November 2007 from Los Angeles, in Roberto Cavalli gowns. The release peaked at number 11 on the UK Singles Chart, making it the groups lowest charting British single to date. However, the album fared better, peaking at number two on the UK Albums Chart behind Leona Lewis’ record breaking debut album Spirit. Australia was the only country for the album to debut and reach number 1. This is the first Spice Girls album to reach number 1 in Australia. To date, their Greatest Hits album has been declared platinum in Australia and the UK, and gold in the United States, Canada, Brazil and New Zealand.
On 22 December 2007, the Spice Girls pre-recorded a performance of “2 Become 1″ on the finale of Strictly Come Dancing.
On 1 February 2008, it was announced that due to personal and family commitments their tour will come to an end in Toronto on 26 February 2008, meaning that tour dates in Beijing, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Sydney, Cape Town and Buenos Aires have been completely canceled. The demand for tickets was unprecedented, the Girls ended up performing 47 sell out shows, when they had originally planned to perform only 11. This however, did not fare well with the international fans. A statement read “Really sorry if we didn’t get to see you this time round. We all have other commitments in our lives now, but who knows what will happen next.”
2008–present: Recent developments
During one of the Spice Girls’ concerts at Madison Square Garden, Melanie Chisholm revealed that the girls would “be delighted” to perform for Nelson Mandela at his 90th birthday party this summer, but had yet to be formally asked. Melanie C recently stated that she had mixed feelings now that the tour has ended but also stated that “the tour may be over but the Spice Girls are very much still united.”
Although there were rumors of a DVD release of the concert, the group’s official website stated on 2 April 2008 that there would be no release. Because of this numerous sites such as Facebook, Bebo, and YouTube have held a petition to get a release on DVD.
While the Spice Girls said goodbye to their fans on their website, they also stated on their official blog, “Who knows what will happen next!” The Spice Girls have been formally asked to sing for Prince Charles’ 60th birthday. They have not given a reply to the royal prince.
The Spice Girls Reunion Tour had netted £16.5 million (US$33 million) for the London dates alone, making them the highest-grossing concert act of the year 2008 . In total the world tour banked more than $70 million in gross ticket sales..
The Spice Girls rank #50 in the World’s Most Powerful Celebrities 2008, according to business magazine Forbes.
On the 20th of March 2008, the Spice Girls won the coveted Icon Award at the 95.8 Capital Awards. Emma (Baby) and Mel C (Sporty) were there to collect the award.
On the 3rd of June 2008, the Spice Girls won “Best Band” at the Glamour Awards. Emma (Baby), Mel B (Scary) and Geri (Ginger) were there to receive the award.
On the 19th of September 2008, the Spice Girls won the Best Live Return Award at the 2008 Live Vodafone Music Awards, beating acts such as Led Zeppelin and the Sex Pistols. Emma Bunton (Baby Spice) was there to collect the award.
