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.

Career records and achievements

• Biggest-selling girl group of all time, selling in excess of forty-five million albums with only three LPs released. They have also sold in excess of thirty million singles, the most ever for a female group.
• First (and only female) act to have their first six singles ("Wannabe", "Say You'll Be There", "2 Become 1", "Who Do You Think You Are"/"Mama", "Spice Up Your Life", and "Too Much") make number one on the U.K. charts. (Their run was broken by "Stop", which peaked at number two in March 1998.)
• Female group with the most number one singles in the UK (nine); with only ten singles released. (The aforementioned six number-ones plus "Viva Forever", "Goodbye", and "Holler"/"Let Love Lead the Way".)
• Tied with The Beatles for the most consecutive Christmas number-ones. ("2 Become 1", 1996; "Too Much", 1997; "Goodbye", 1998.) This achievement is documented in the Guinness Book of World Records. http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/gwr5/content_pages/record.asp?recordid=50853
• Tied with ABBA in sixth place for most number-one singles in the U.K., behind Elvis Presley (twenty-one), The Beatles (seventeen), Cliff Richard (fourteen), Westlife (twelve), and Madonna (ten).
• Female group with the most consecutive number-one singles in the U.K. (six).
• Spice is the tenth biggest-selling album of all time in the U.K. with over three million copies sold. It topped the charts for fifteen weeks (non-consecutive), the most by a female group in the U.K. http://www.everyhit.com/recordalb.html
• "Wannabe" is the biggest-selling single by a female group, with over six million copies sold worldwide. It is also one of the fastest-rising songs by a female group to reach number one on the Billboard Hot 100, and one of the fastest-rising singles by an international act.
• Highest international debut on the Billboard Hot 100 at number five with "Say You'll Be There". (This record still holds to date.) http://www.billboard.com/bb/search/article_display.jsp?schema=&vnu_content_id=1000911907
• Spiceworld sold seven million copies in just two weeks, the highest sales ever for an LP in fourteen days.
• Credited for starting the revolution in music that got single digit year-olds to beg their parents to purchase mainstream music for them. (This trend is being continued by Hilary Duff, Lindsay Lohan, and Ashlee Simpson among others.)
• Though the group has never won any Grammy Awards, they have won over thirty awards from around the world, including Brit Awards and multiple MTV Video Music Awards.
• Spice Girls Dolls and other merchandise became big sellers worldwide.