English singer-songwriter, actress and TV presenter Mel B was born 50 years ago as Melanie Janine Brown in Leeds, West Yorkshire, is engaged and has 3 children.
Mel attended high school where she studied performing arts and once finished she worked as a dancer for a while. In 1994, she auditioned to become part of an all-girl group along with about 400 other girls. She and 4 more girls were successfully chosen and formed the group ‘Touch’ which a year later changed its name to ‘The Spice Girls’. One of the original girls originally chosen left the group and was replaced.
In 1996, the group’s debut album was released and was an enormous success globally, so much so that it sold around 30 million copies. It featured the number one UK hit singles ‘Wannabe’, ‘Say you’ll be There’, ‘Mama’, ‘2 become 1’ and ‘Who do you think you Are’. The album that followed the year after was a best-seller like the previous one and included the tracks ‘Spice Up your Life’, ‘Too Much’, ‘Stop’ and ‘Viva Forever’. Meanwhile, the group members also starred in the film ‘Spiceworld: The Movie’ which did extremely well in the box office.
Whilst still in the group, Mel tried her luck as a solo artist and released the single ‘I want you Back’ in 1998. It was a number one UK hit and also did well in several other countries worldwide. Two years later, her debut album came out, followed by a second one in 2005, however, none of them reached the expected success.
Meanwhile, in 2000, ‘The Spice Girls’ released their final album which was the least successful and thus the members decided to go their separate ways and concentrate on a solo career. In 2007, however, the group re-united and issued a ‘Greatest Hits’ and embarked on a tour. They re-united again in 2018 for a UK tour.
Apart from singing, Mel appeared in over 50 TV productions including talent shows, soap operas, series, competitions, TV films etc in which she was presenter, contestant, judge, mentor, panellist and actress. She was also cast in 11 movies, voiced characters in 2 animated films and performed in 4 musicals. Brown also published 3 books.
In 2022, Mel received 2 honours: she was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire in recognition for her charitable work as well as a tourism ambassador. Two years later, she was awarded an Honorary Doctorate, again for her charitable works as well as her singing career.
*Image: no infringement intended. Source: superstarsbio.com