Spice Girls #02

In the early 90s the boy bands like the Back Street Boys dominated the world of pop music. It was then that Bob and Chris Herbert, father-and-son management team came up with the idea of making an only-girls band. The Herberts along with Chic Murphey came up with audition for the same and out of about 400 applicants they brought forth the "Spice Girls".

The British pop girl group, Spice Girls, consisting of five singers Victoria Beckham, Melanie Brown, Emma Bunton, Melanie Chisholm and Geri Halliwell, were formed in 1994. They were signed to the Virgin Records, a British record label. In 1996 they released their debut single "Wannabe" which was a worldwide hit and established them as a global phenomenon.

They paved the way for the commercial teen pop culture in the 90s. They repeated their success with their debut album "Spice" that sold more than 23 million copies worldwide and thus created history in the music industry being the best selling album by a female group. They also became the best selling girl group of all time with 75 million copies sold worldwide with only four albums and 12 singles.

The Top of the Pop magazine gave each member of the group their alias which was liked by both the media and the girls. Thus Scary, Baby, Ginger, Posh and Sporty became the most widely recognized individuals and came to be known as the biggest cultural icons of the 90s. Their first book and manifesto "Girl Power!" launched in 1997 sold 200,000 copies within a day, and was later translated into 20 more languages. The same year also saw them winning New Artist and Album of the year at the Billboard Music Awards. They also won the International Hit of the Year and Best selling British Single awards for "Wannabe" at the at the Ivor Novello Awards.

But the group dint stay together for a long. After seeing the height of their career, Geri Halliwell left the group in 1998, making headlines world over. She went on to launch a solo career later. The rest of the girls stuck together determined to carry on the band. After Geri's departure the girls came out with "Goodbye", which was considered as a tribute to Geri. It topped the UK Singles Chart and became their third Consecutive Christmas number one, a feat which was previously set by The Beatles.