Sporty Spice

Background:

"People call me [Sporty Spice] now and it really pisses me off. I'll be 50 and people will [still] be calling me Sporty Spice." Melanie Chisholm

First shot to fame as a member of the girl group ''Spice Girls'' with whom she has scored nine #1 singles in the U.K. and sold over 40 million albums worldwide, Melanie Chisholm, also known as Melanie C or Mel C, has gone solo and released four albums: "Northern Star" (1999), "Reason" (2003), "Beautiful Intentions" (2005) and "This Time" (2007). Her successful singles include "Never Be the Same Again" (featuring Lisa Lopes; 2000), "I Turn to You" (2000), "First Day of My Life" (2005) and "The Moment You Believe" (2007).

The British singer/songwriter, who has her own record company called ''Red Girl Records,'' holds the record for female who has co-written the most U.K. number-one singles (equal with Madonna) and is also third after Lennon and McCartney for most U.K. number-one singles for a British co-writer.

More personally, the 5' 6" songbird with bewitching hazel eyes and naturally light brown hair was romantically linked to Anthony Kiedis (actor, musician; born on November 1, 1962; dated in 1998) and Robbie Williams (singer; born on February 13, 1974; dated November 1997-January1998). Since 2001, she has been dating Thomas Starr and lives with him in Wales.

Mel C

Childhood and Family:

In Whiston, Knowsley, Merseyside, England, Melanie Jayne Chisholm was born on January 12, 1974. Her mother, Joan O'Neill, is a singer in a rock band who first met Melanie's father, Alan Chisholm, at the famous Liverpool club The Cavern, which launched The Beatles. Her parents divorced and both remarried when she was a little girl. She now has one half-brother (Paul), four step-brothers (Jad, Stuart, Liam and Declan) and one step-sister (Emma).

As a child, Melanie took ballet and impressed fellow students and teachers with her athletic dancing skills. She attended Southgates Infant School, in Runcorn, and then Brookvale Junior School & Fairfield Junior School, in Widnes. After graduating from Fairfield County High School, she went to Doreen Bird College of Performing Arts in Sidcup, Kent, until 1993. She was a student on the Diploma course at the college, studying dance, singing, drama and musical theatre.

Melanie is a devoted fan of the Liverpool Football Club. Her favorite singers are Madonna and Stevie Wonder and her favorite band is Blur. She is great friends with former Sex Pistols guitarist Steve Jones, who played guitar on her first album ''Northern Star,'' and producer Rick Rubin, who produced some of the tracks on her first solo album ''Northern Star.'' She currently resides in Wales with her boyfriend, Thomas Starr.

Northern Star

Career:

In 1994, Melanie Chisholm auditioned for a new all-girl pop group, originally called "Touch" and the brainchild of promoter Chris Herbert. She almost missed her final callback due to a bout of chronic tonsillitis, but eventually made the final cut along with fellow applicants Geri Halliwell, Victoria Adams and Melanie Brown (with the addition of fifth member Emma Bunton) as a new pop group that would later became the ''Spice Girls.''

The girls signed with Virgin Records in 1995 and Melanie got her nickname, "Sporty Spice," from the U.K. magazine “Smash Hits” that declared she was the most tomboyish of the band.

The Spic Girls debut album, ''Spice'' (1996), sold over 20 million copies and their follow-up effort, ''Spiceworld'' (1997), spawned a movie of the same name.

Geri Halliwell became the first to leave the band for a solo career in 1998. Meanwhile, Melanie, who was still with the ''Spice Girls,'' tried to branch out too. She recorded a duet song titled "When You're Gone" with Bryan Adams that same year. The song peaked at #3 on the U.K. singles’ chart and spent 15 weeks on the U.K. Top 40.

In 1999, Melanie launched her solo debut album, ''Northern Star.'' The album was well received by critics and was a commercial success, selling over 900,000 copies in the United Kingdom and was almost 3 million copies internationally, making it the most successful solo-Spice Girl effort. It spun off the successful hits "Goin' Down" (reached the Top 10 in the United Kingdom, the Top 20 in Australia and the Top 50 in Canada) and "Northern Star" (reached the Top 5 in the United Kingdom, Italy and Sweden), as well as "Never Be the Same Again" (featuring TLC member Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes), which became her first U.K. #1 single as a solo artist. "Never Be the Same Again" debuted and topped the U.K. charts.

The fourth single, "I Turn to You," became Melanie's second U.K. number-one single and also topped the U.S. Dance Chart. The song was featured in the film "Bend it like Beckham" (2002) and was covered by the metal band Machinae Supremacy in their "Webography." The fifth and final single from the album, "If That Were Me," was released on November 27, 2000. It debuted at #18 in the U.K. and proceeds were donated to a charity for the homeless.

The album ''Northern Star'' finally received three times platinum in the United Kingdom, platinum in Germany, and went gold in Australia. Melanie subsequently went on her ''Northern Star World Tour,'' performing in countries such as Canada, Germany, Spain, the United States, Bahrain, Israel, the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom. She left the ''Spice Girls'' in 2000 soon after they released their third and final album, the ironically-titled flop ''Forever.''

''It was an amazing, amazing ride. I can't say I enjoyed every minute of it. I can't say I loved every song we did. But it was just an out-of-this-world experience, something incredible to have been a part of.'' Melanie Chisholm (on being part of Spice Girls)

In March 2003, Melanie released her much-anticipated second solo album, ''Reason.'' It climbed to #5 in the U.K. and sold 30,876 copies in its first week. The first single "Here It Comes Again" was released on February 24, 2003, and became a Top 10 hit in U.K., while the second single "On the Horizon" was released on June 2, 2003. The album also spawned a Japanese-only release single titled "Let's Love," which featured an instrumental of the track and two b-sides. The third and final single from ''Reason'' was released on November 10, 2003. Due to numerous problems including lack of promotion and distribution problems, the single entered the U.K. Singles Chart at #27 and sold just 8,307 copies. Melanie was later dropped by her label, Virgin Records.

The following year, Melanie founded her own record company, ''Red Girl Records'' and released the album, "Beautiful Intentions," in April 2005. It has received Gold certification in Germany, Switzerland and Austria, and Platinum in Portugal, where it peaked at #1 for 9 weeks.

Melanie's fourth studio album "This Time," was released on March 30, 2007, in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, and on April 2 in the United Kingdom and some other countries. It features the ballad "The Moment You Believe," "I Want Candy," the up-tempo "Carolyna" and the disappointing "This Time.”

Melanie is currently reuniting with the other ''Spice Girls'' for a ''Greatest Hits'' album release and ''The Return of the Spice Girls'' tour. The tour will start in Vancouver on December 2 and is scheduled to play 18 cities in nine countries.

"We all hoped (the reunion) would be successful, but we're all quite overwhelmed by the actual response. That has just made us more determined to make the show the best show any British pop band has ever put on. For years I always thought I would never go back. It's a very personal thing to me. I had a lot of things to deal with after the Spice Girls, I had a lot of personal issues and I have been very happy being a solo artist. I had to really think about my decision, but after spending time with the girls and now getting into the show, I am so glad this is the decision I had made.'' Melanie Chisholm

Awards:

• Razzie: Worst Actress, "Spice World," 1999