Spice Girls, The

The Spice Girls were an all female pop group who formed in 1994 in London, UK. After releasing their debut single, "Wannabe," in 1996 the group went to become a pop phenomenon that dominated popular music towards the end of the 20th century. more...

Such was the level of interest in the group that their success was regularly compared to that of The Beatles. Selling in excess of 55 million records, the group is the biggest selling girl group of the 20th century. They released three studio albums and ten singles - and even starred in their own film, Spiceworld: The Movie, which grossed $75 million (US) at the box office.

History

Beginning

In March 1993 advertisements were placed in The Stage newspaper asking: "R U 18-23 with the ability to sing/dance? R U streetwise, ambitious, outgoing and determined?". Hundreds of girls responded to the ads. The applicants were whittled down to a final five which consisted of Melanie Chisholm, Geri Halliwell, Melanie Brown, Victoria Adams and Michelle Stephenson, who combined to form an all female group called "Touch." In June, during the groups first recording session, Michelle Stephenson was forced to leave due to commitment issues. She was replaced by Emma Bunton after Bunton's singing tutor had recommended her to the other girls. From this point up to March 1994 the girls lived together in a small house in Maidenhead where they worked on demos and practiced dance routines. After a successful showcase performance for music critics and producers in October, the group decided to fire their original management, who they cited as controlling and too domineering. That same day, the girls tracked down Sheffield-based producer Eliot Kennedy and persuaded him to work with the group (by then renamed the Spice Girls) over the course of the next year.

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