WHEN FIVE BECOME FOUR – GO ON TOUR
Are you ready to spice up your life? Marion McMullen checks out the streamlined Spice Girls
1 THE Spice Girls have announced a six-date UK stadium tour next June – minus Victoria Beckham. Melanie Brown, Melanie Chisholm, Geri Horner and Emma Bunton announced the tour as a mock news broadcast on the band’s newlycreated Twitter account. Mel B said they cried with relief after they confirmed their reunion.
2 VICTORIA, below, wished her former bandmates good luck saying “friendship never ends”. She shared a photo of the other four Spice Girls on Instagram saying: “I won’t be joining my girls on stage again, but being in the Spice Girls was a hugely important part of my life and I wish them so much love and fun as they go back on tour.”
3 SINGER Adele was one of the first to welcome the tour news. She shared a throwback snap of herself on Instagram as a young Spice Girls fan standing in front of a wall covered in posters of the 90s superstars and doing a fist pump. “Ha! This is how I feel right now,” she captioned the photo. “I AM READY.”
4 THE reunited Spice Girls will perform at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, Coventry Ricoh Arena, Sunderland Stadium of Light, Edinburgh’s BT Murreyfield Stadium, Bristol Ashton Gate Stadium and London’s Wembley Stadium. Singer Jess Glynne, inset, will join the Spice Girls on tour as a “very special guest”.
5 THE Spice Girls burst onto the music scene in 1994 with their debut single Wannabe and they went on to become one of the most successful acts of the decade. A Top Of The Pops magazine feature gave them their nicknames – Posh Spice (Victoria), Baby Spice (Emma), Scary Spice (Mel B), Sporty Spice (Mel C) and Ginger Spice (Geri).
6 THEY followed Wannabe with a string of number one singles including Say You’ll Be There, 2 Become 1 and Spice Up Your Life. Their debut album, Spice, made them the fastest-selling British act since The Beatles and to date they have sold more than 85 million records.
7 THE group performed with opera star Pavarotti during the height of their fame and were pictured with Nelson Mandela – who called the girls “my heroes”. Geri also made headlines when she wore a Union Jack dress during their appearance at the 1997 Brit awards.
8 GERI left the group in 1998 following the release of the Spice World movie citing “differences between us”. The band split in 2000 but performed at the London Olympics closing ceremony in 2012. They last toured together 10 years ago.
9 POST-SPICE Girls, Geri has enjoyed solo success with singles like Mi Chico Latino and Lift Me Up, Victoria launched her fashion career, Mel B became a judge on The X Factor, Mel C has brought out hit singles like Never Be The Same Again And I Turn To You and Emma is about to join Paul Hollywood to present the US version of Bake Off.
10 TICKETS go on sale for the 2019 stadium tour at 10.30am on Saturday. In a joint statement, the Spice Girls said: “We are beyond excited to be reuniting next year for a stadium tour. “Bringing girl power and our message of friendship and love back to the stage feels more relevant that ever. We hope everyone can join us for one big Spice Girls Party!”