Spice Girls

The Spice Girls (1996–1998/2000) were a British vocal girl group. They enjoyed substantial commercial success from 1996 to 2000, and it is claimed that they are the biggest-selling girl group of all time, with reported sales of over forty-five million albums and thirty million singles. They are also famous for popularising the term Girl Power. The group originally consisted of Victoria Adams, Emma Bunton, Melanie Chisholm, Melanie Brown, and Geri Halliwell. However, in 1998, Halliwell left to pursue a solo career. The remaining four members never formally broke up, but have not performed together or released any new recordings since 2000. They have each released solo material, and some have stated that they have no interest in participating in the group in the future.

Birth of Spice

On July 8, 1996, the Spice Girls released their first single, "Wannabe" (which contains the memorable hook "I wanna really, really, really wanna Zig-A-Zig Ah"), in the United Kingdom. Quickly gaining regular airplay and video play, it entered the U.K. singles chart at number three, and reached number one the following week. It topped the charts for seven weeks, becoming the second-best selling single of the year. By the following year, the song had reached number one in thirty-seven countries including Canada, where it spent five weeks at the top, the United States, where it spent four weeks at the top, and Australia, where it spent eleven weeks at the top. "Wannabe" went on to become the twelfth best-selling single of the 1990s. http://foreverspice.com/spicediscography/spicegirls-wannabe.htm The Spice Girls became one of the few British acts to break America during the earliest stages of their career.

Related Topics:
July 8 - Wannabe - Canada - United States - Australia - 1990s

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Along with songwriters Richard Stannard and Matt Rowe, the girls were able to score many other hits, such as the slightly more mellow follow-up single to their massive debut, "Say You'll Be There", which entered at number one on the UK charts, was another global success, and reached the top three in the United States, becoming the thirtieth best-selling single of the 1990s. http://foreverspice.com/spicediscography/spicegirls-sybt.htm However, by the time both "Wannabe" and "Say You'll Be There" were released in the U.S., the girls had already released their fourth single in the UK. The third single, a ballad about love, "2 Become 1", became the first of three consecutive Christmas number-one singles for the girls in the U.K., and their debut album, Spice, topped the charts for fifteen weeks during late 1996 and early 1997, selling more than three million copies, and becoming the tenth biggest-selling album of all time in the UK. When released in the U.S. the following year, it sold in excess of seven million copies, and "2 Become 1" peaked at number four. The ballad also reached number one in Canada, and would go on to become the twenty-fourth best-selling single of the decade. http://foreverspice.com/spicediscography/spicegirls-2become1.htm

Related Topics:
Richard Stannard - Matt Rowe - Say You'll Be There - Ballad - 2 Become 1 - Spice

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In early 1997, "Who Do You Think You Are"/"Mama" became the official Comic Relief song of the year, and sold 672,577 copies, from which many charities benefitted. It was number one on the UK charts for three weeks, making the Spice Girls the first act to have their first four singles make number one on the UK charts, breaking the record set by Gerry & the Pacemakers thirty-four years earlier. The single had no North American release because, according to the Spice Girls, the American singles market is slower moving than most other nations' singles markets, and songs remain popular in America longer than they do in other countries. Nevertheless, the Spice Girls were so huge in 1997 and 1998 that American MTV, MTV2 and Canadian MuchMusic and MuchMoreMusic played the "Who Do You Think You Are" video occasionally. It may have only been a U.K. release, but the song became the seventy-fifth best-selling single of the 1990s. http://foreverspice.com/spicediscography/spicegirls-mama.htm While "2 Become 1" was popular in America during the summer and early autumn of 1997, it (as well as "Who Do You Think You Are" and "Mama") had long run its course in Europe.

Related Topics:
Who Do You Think You Are - Mama - Comic Relief - Gerry & the Pacemakers - North America - MTV2 - MuchMusic - MuchMoreMusic

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