  The Spice Girls were the latest
British imports to take the U.S. and the
world by storm in 1997. The Spice Girls
consist of: Geri Halliwell, Melanie Brown,
Emma Bunton, Victoria Adams, and Melanie
Chisholm, but you may know them as Ginger
(not Sexy) Spice, Scary Spice, Baby Spice,
Posh Spice, and Sporty Spice. After
dominating the charts in Britain, the Spice
Girls decided to dominate the world in 1997.
With the intensity of New Kids On The
Block and the
intrigue of Milli
Vanilli, the Spice Girls became one of
the most loved and most hated new pop
sensations.
The Spice Girls formed when 4 of
them responded to an advertisement looking
for 5 "lively girls" for a musical
group ("R. U. 18-23 with the ability to
sing/dance? R.U. streetwise, outgoing,
ambitious, and dedicated?"). 5 girls
were selected and formed into a band called
Touch. Soon after, a member named Michelle
had to quit for family and personal reasons.
This allowed the 5th member (Emma) to join
the group. The name was then changed to the
Spice Girls and they split with the managers
who had joined them as a group. The girls
spent 2 years looking for a record contract
that would allow them equal status in the
group (and not with one defined leader).
Eventually, the Spice Girls
found a manager, signed with Virgin Records,
and collaborated on songs.The Spice Girls
have made it a routine to express their
feminism with their "Girl Power."
Striking their independence while having fun
with their success, the Spice Girls often
laugh at their critics and keep singing and
dancing while they are young and in demand.
Before the fame, and even before hooking up
as a group, some of the Spice Girls were
already making career moves. Melanie Brown
(Mel B), the one with the pierced tongue
often displayed to photographers, appeared on
a British soap opera. Emma Bunton was a child
model and continues this vein with her
"sweet and innocent," often
pig-tailed persona. Geri Halliwell was a
model (including nudes) and aerobic
instructor. Victoria Adams, the one who
doesn't smile, hails from a very wealthy
family. Melanie Chisholm (Mel C) is most
notably the most athletic member of the group
and was once a ballet dancer and session
singer.
The Spice Girls topped the UK
Singles chart for 7 weeks with "Wannabe."
The Spice Girls topped the UK
Singles chart for 2 weeks with "Say You'll Be There."
Spice topped the UK LP
charts for 9 weeks.
 # 1
Singles Artist of the Year (# 1 Group/Duo
of the Year)
 "2 Become 1" topped the UK
Singles chart for 2 weeks.
The U.S. invasion began with the
#1 single ("Wannabe") hitting the Top
40. The escapades of the Girls and their
"Girl Power" got more press than
the royal family. Ginger Spice could be found
all around the Internet sporting her birthday
suit from her prior modeling experiences.
Scary Spice was showing the world her pierced
tongue so much that rumors of lock-jaw were
popping up.
 The Spice Girls' debut LP Spice was released in the
U.S. Their debut LP, Spice sold over 18
million copies worldwide (over 6 million
copies in the U.S. alone) and spawned 2 #1
hits in the U.S.: "Wannabe" and "Say
You'll Be There" and the Top 10 "2
Become 1."
The Spice Girls hit the Top 10 with "Wannabe."
"Wannabe" topped the
Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart for 4 weeks
and the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Sales chart
for 4 weeks.
 The single "Wannabe" was certified
platinum.
The Spice Girls hit #1 with "Wannabe."
The Spice Girls topped the UK
Singles chart for 3 weeks with "Who Do
You Think You Are / Mama."
 The Spice Girls hit the Top 40
with "Say You'll Be There."
The Spice Girls stirred up Maori
leaders when they performed a native war
dance move only men were allowed to dance.
"It is totally inappropriate," Joe
Harawira of the Urban Maorian Authorities
told reporters. "It is not acceptable in
our culture, and especially by girlie pop
stars from another culture."
Spice was certified 2x
platinum.
The Spice Girls
performed on Saturday
Night Live.
The Spice Girls hit the Top 10 with "Say You'll Be There."
The girls were said to be a bit
too flirtatious with Prince Charles after
performing for the Prince's Trust charity
concert.
Spice topped the Billboard
200 Albums chart for 5 weeks.
Spice was certified 3x
platinum.
The Spice Girls hit #1 with "Say You'll Be There."
 Spice was certified 4x
platinum and the single "Say You'll Be There" was certified
gold.
The Spice Girls hit the Top 40
with "2 Become 1."
The Spice Girls hit the Top 10 with "2 Become 1."
The Spice Girls won a MTV Video Music
Award for Best Dance Video ("Wannabe") and was
nominated for Viewer's Choice ("Say You'll Be There").
Spice was certified 5x
platinum and the single "2 Become 1" was certified
gold.
 When gearing up for their next
LP release, Spice
World, Ginger Spice said of the new
work: "(it's) ...a fantasy album...
we've taken everything to the max."
The first single release was
delayed (to allow Elton
John's "Candle In The Wind
1997" to reign at # 1 for awhile).
"Spice Up Your Life" gave Elton 6
weeks at the top before it debuted at #1 in
Britain toward the end of the month becoming
the first band in Britain to have their first
5 hits top the charts and 4 in a row debut at
#1.
The Spice Girls played their
first full live concert in Istanbul.
The Spice Girls inked a
lucrative deal with Pepsi to appear in
television commercials and also launched
their own fragrance.
The girls reportedly made over
$47 million in the year.
The Spice Girls hit the Top 40
with "Spice Up Your Life."
 Spice
World was released in the U.S.
The Spice Girls were booed of
stage in mid-month in Barcelona - the girls
lip-synched their new hit "Spice Up Your Life" at the Premios
Ondas Awards to a crowd of industry insiders.
The boos and jeers directed at the girls were
a result of the announcement that the girls
would not come on stage until photographers
had left the room (reportedly a stipulation
in their contract).
More bad news for the girls came
from U.S. LP sales. Their new LP debuted on
the Billboard LP charts at #8 while their new
single "Spice Up Your Life" was still
outside the Top 10 after 3 weeks. Bigger
numbers for records sales and chart positions
were expected around the world.
The Spice Girls hit the Top 10 with "Spice Up Your Life."
 "Spice Up Your Life" topped the UK
Singles chart for a week.
Spice
World topped the UK Albums chart for
2 weeks.
SoundScan (which Billboard
magazine uses for their charts) announced a
list of the Top Selling LPs of 1997 and Spice was the biggest with
sales totaling 5.3 million in the U.S. for
the year.
The Spice Girls topped the Billboard
Year-End Charts as the Top Pop Artist
- Duo/Group (singles & albums), Top New
Pop Artist, Top Billboard 200 Album (Spice), Top Billboard 200
Album Artist - Duo/Group, and Top Hot 100
Singles Artist - Duos/Group.
Throughout the year the girls
won 2 Brit Awards for Best Single ("Wannabe") and Best Video
("Say You'll Be There") and a MTV
Europe Music Award for Best Group.
 # 37
Singles Artist of the Year
 The Spice Girls won 3 American Music
Awards for Favorite
Pop/Rock Album (Spice), Favorite Pop/Rock
Band, Duo or Group, and Favorite Pop/Rock New
Artist.
The Spice Girls were on top
again, but not where they might like to be -
atop in the infamous "Worst-Dressed
List". Mr. Blackwell said of the girls;
"The only spices on the planet that have
no taste."
"Too
Much"
topped the UK Singles chart for 2 weeks.
The Spice Girls' movie Spice
World opened in the U.S. but
wasn't able to stop the unsinkable Titanic.
Spice
World took in an estimated $11
million which was higher than expected and
set a new record for a movie opening during a
Super Bowl weekend.
 Spice
World also helped their new LP move
up to a new peak of #3 on the U.S. LP charts.
The Spice Girls learned that
their pay-per-view concert last December
received the most viewers since Woodstock '94
and more than the Rolling
Stones concert.
Spice was certified 6x
platinum and the single "Spice Up Your Life" was certified
gold.
The girls hit the Top 40 with
"Too
Much."
Spice
World was certified 3x platinum.
The Spice Girls hit the Top 10 with "Too
Much."
 Ginger Spice (aka Geri
Halliwell) confirmed that she was leaving the
group due to differences with the other 4
girls. Halliwell stated: "Sadly, I would
like to confirm I have left the Spice
Girls... this is because of differences
between us. I am sure the group will continue
to be successful and I wish them all the
best." The remaining Spice Girls also
issued a statement: "We are upset and
saddened by Geri's departure but we are very
supportive in whatever she wants to do. The
Spice Girls are here to stay. See you at the
stadiums... friendship never ends." Posh
Spice later said: "If Geri walked
through the door now we would all be like
'Hello.' It would be like friends meeting up.
It's not nasty, we've all said that. We all
love each other and we all love Geri."
The Spice Girls hit the Top 40
with "Stop."
 "Viva Forever" topped
the UK Singles chart for 2 weeks.
Mel B (aka Scary Spice) married
her boyfriend, dancer Jimmy Gulzar, in
England.
Spice was certified 7x
platinum.
The rest of the Spice Girls
ended the year with a new single: "Goodbye" - their first as
a 4some.
Geri Halliwell was name one of People magazine's "25
Most Intriguing People of 1998."
The Spice Girls topped the Billboard
Year-End Charts as the Top Billboard
200 Album Artist - Duo/Group.
 # 144
Singles Artist of the Year
 The Spice Girls hit the Top 40
with "Goodbye" which topped the
UK Singles charts for a week.
The single "Goodbye" was certified
gold.
Scary Spice gave birth to a baby
girl in London - 3 weeks earlier than
expected.
 Posh Spice gave birth to a baby
boy.
The Spice Girls could be heard
on the compilation, Elton
John And Tim Rice's Aida, with "My
Strongest Suit."
Spice
World was certified 4x platinum.
Geri released Schizophonic.
Halliwell topped the UK Singles
chart with "Mi Chico Latino" for a
week.
 Melanie C released her solo LP, Northern
Star.
Geri Halliwell came out on top
in a battle for #1 (in the UK) between her
single, "Lift Me Up," and a single
featuring Baby Spice, "What I Am."
 # 139
Singles Artist of the Year
Mel C topped the charts in the
UK with "Never Be The Same Again"
with help from Lisa Left Eye Lopes from TLC.
The Spice Girls were also
honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award at
the Brit Awards.
 Halliwell topped the UK charts
with "Bag It Up" followed by
Melanie C topping the charts with "Never
Be The Same."
Mel C topped the UK charts with
"I Turn To You."
Posh Spice was diagnosed with
viral meningitis.
The Spice Girls made history in
Britain when their new single "Holler" hit #1 making
them the first all-female group to have 9 #1
singles.
Mel B released her solo LP, Hot.
 Melanie C topped the Billboard
Club Play chart with "I Turn To
You."
The Spice Girls released their
next LP, Forever. The LP failed to top
the U.K. LP charts (debuting at #2) and
debuted in the U.S. at #39 selling only
34,000 copies in its first week.
The video for "Holler" hit #1 in
Canada.
The girls did top the UK singles
chart with "Holler/Let Love Lead The
Way" for a week.
 The Spice Girls hit the Top 40
with "Holler."
Mel C continued to tour solo to
support her LP as Posh Spice and Baby Spice
readied their own solo LPs.
Mel C told Reuters that her days
with the Spice Girls were over: "I'll
always be a Spice Girl. I don't intend to do
any more work with the Spice Girls ....
Really, I've not been comfortable being in
the Spice Girls for probably the last 2
years. It doesn't really feel that natural to
me anymore. I've grown up and I just feel
that I want to do things my own way and not
compromise... We were such a huge phenomenon,
and there's not really anywhere else to go
with that. It was a question of sacrificing
our lives and trying to maintain the success,
or just being honest with ourselves. We've
all been very honest and we all wanted to
pursue solo careers.''
 Emma released the LP A
Girl Like Me.
Geri released Scream
If You Want To Go Faster.
Posh Spice revealed through her
autobiography that she suffered from an
eating disorder and inferred that former
bandmate, Geri Halliwell, is part of the
reason.
 Posh Spice's solo concert in
Leicester, England found her having fruit and
vegetables thrown at her.
After Mel B and Posh Spice fired
the group's manager, reports implied that the
group was over. Tabloid reports stated that
the girls haven't officially broken up
because their "squabbling" prevents
them from being together.
 Victoria released the LP Victoria
Beckham.
The Spice Girls
ranked # 75 on VH1: 100
Sexiest Artists.
Nine suspects were arrested in
London on suspicion of kidnapping Posh Spice
and possibly her sons.
 Melanie B released the LP Hot.
Melanie C released the LP Reason.
# 146 on the Top Pop Artists
of the Past 25 Years chart.
   
Emma released the LP Free
Me.
 Melanie C released the LP Beautiful
Intentions.
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