Spicemania

One of the most influential bands of the 1990s, the Spice Girls, are about to embark on their final tour as a group. The girls, who formed the band in 1996 released their last album in 2000 and all went their separate ways. But they are back and they mean business.

On June 25th 2007 the Spice Girls announced that they had returned to Simon Fuller's management firm 19 Entertainment and that they were having a reunion tour, aptly named "The Return of the Spice Girls."

The band, made up of Geri Halliwell, Emma Bunton, Victoria Beckham, Melanie Brown and Melanie Chisholm released their first single "Wannabe" in 1995 and after that it was continuous pop success. "Wannabe" reached number one in the US and stayed their for four weeks, proving that the girls had talent.

In November 1996 the Spice Girls released their debut album, Spice, and in seven weeks it had sold over 1.8 million copies in Britain alone. The Spice Girl craze was similar to that of Beatlemania, and was dubbed Spicemania.
In Europe and the US the album became the biggest selling album of 1997. So it is undisputed that the Spice Girls were incredibly talented, and also very successful from such an early stage in their career.

However, on May 31st 1998 the unbelievable happened when Geri Halliwell, or as she was known “Ginger Spice”, announced her departure from the band. Her departure from the band broke the hearts of many young girls across the world, and also became one of the biggest entertainment news stories of the year. But would the band give up?

Not at all, the four remaining girls were determined to carry on, especially as they had a North American tour shortly after the news. However, without Geri the band just wasn’t the same and their final album didn’t receive great reviews and in 2001, despite only just returning, the band announced that they were going their separate ways for a break and to concentrate on their solo careers.

But now they are back with a world wide tour and a greatest hits album, and it is obvious that they are still as popular now as they were back then. When the Spice Girls announced the tour they urged their fans to sign up on their official website for the chance to buy tickets and it is reported that over one million people signed up for tickets.

Mel C and Geri Halliwell confirmed that their Greatest hits album will be released on November 12th and will contain all their hits from over the years, plus two new singles; Headlines (Friendship never ends) and Voodoo. Headlines will also be the official children in need single, just proving that the Spice Girls are still as popular in this country as they were all those years ago.

But the album won’t be available for sale in normal music retailers such as HMV or Virgin Megastore. The album will only be available from the LA based store, Victoria’s Secret, and will only be released in normal retailers in January 2008. So all those unlucky fans who didn’t get tickets to the concerts, or can’t afford to go to LA just buy an album will have to wait just a little bit longer.