Cassandra Knapman
Most of us will probably remember the Spice Girls, the group of five, and then four, female singers who took the world by storm. At the time, the world was governed by male-only pop groups like the Backstreet Boys and N’Sync. The Spice Girls would show the world girl power. It was in London, England, in the year 1993, when five girls were among the 400 auditions for a new singing group. By 1996, they were on the top of the charts with their hit “Wannabe.” It has been 15 years since then, and we’ve all been able to watch the Spice Girls rise to fame and then begin to fall apart until it all ended. In 2008, I and many other Spice Girls fans – both those who had been there the first go around and those who never got the chance – came together to watch the girls come on stage one last time. But whatever did happen to the Spice Force Five members?
Always choosing “the little black dress,” Victoria Beckham (Posh Spice) hasn’t changed too much from her Spice Girls persona. She is married to ex-Manchester United, now Los Angeles Galaxy soccer player, David Beckham, and she currently lives in Los Angeles with their four children, Brooklyn, Romeo, Cruz, and Harper, who was born earlier this year. Between Victoria’s fashion lines, David’s soccer contract and the ads you see plastered on billboards, the couple is worth an estimated 271 million Euros today.
Geri Halliwell (Ginger Spice), famous for the union jack dress she wore on stage, was the first to leave the Spice Girls. Just as the group landed in the States for their first American tour, Geri stood up and announced that she was leaving. At first, even the girls didn’t know what to make of the sudden disappearance, so they announced that Geri just wasn’t feeling well. But it quickly became apparent that she was not planning on returning, so the girls were forced to split up Geri’s singing parts and continue without her. Geri herself went on to release three studio albums, including her rendition of “It’s Raining Men.” She is the author of a children’s novel, Ugenia Lavender, and she has been more recently working on another album. She has one daughter, Bluebell, but has never been married.
Emma Bunton (Baby Spice) was always known as the “sweet one” of the group, but she seemed to grow up quite a bit when she released her first of three studio albums. These days, she hosts a British radio show as well as hosting and judging on two separate TV shows. Still living in Britain, Emma now has two babies of her own, Beau and Tate, with her fiancé, ex-R&B singer, Jade Jones.
It was nothing short of shocking to see the trademark curls gone from Melanie Brown’s (Scary Spice) hair, but the energy is still there. After the Spice Girls, Melanie B got married and gave birth to her daughter, Phoenix, before going through a very public divorce with her husband. She has released two albums with a third to be released next year. She has also appeared in several TV shows, both reality and fiction, as well as her own Vegas Show. She is currently living in LA with her daughters, Phoenix Angel (whose father is Eddie Murphy) and Madison (whose father is producer Stephan Belafonte).
Often considered the best singer of the group, Melanie Chisholm (Sporty Spice), did not have the happiest time as a Spice Girl; at one period, she battled with depression and an eating disorder. But since then, she has brought herself back and now has a mainly musical career. She has released five albums; the later three released by her own record, Red Girl Records. As well, she did a short theatre run in the play “Blood Brothers.” She is currently living inChepstow,Englandwith her boyfriend, Thomas Starr, and their daughter, Scarlet.
We will always know them as the Spice Girls because that is how we first got to know them. They were role models to a generation, a symbol for girl power and a great group of singers. Now they are also well seasoned members of the world wide entertainment industry. The sun may have set on the Spice Girls as a singing group, but we can still enjoy the legacy that left through the movie and their music.