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After the success of 'Wannabe' came even more success from singles such as 'Say You'll Be There' and '2 Become
1'. They won numerous awards including Brit Awards, Smash Hits Awards, Ivor Novellos and also were the Favourite
Group in London (as voted for by Capital FM listeners!) and the girls also got numerous Number 1's notched up worldwide.
The girls were in demand, and in November 1996 switched on the Oxford Street Christmas Lights in London
and released 'Spice', their album which was highly successful selling 14 million by July 1997. They soon afterwards got promotional
deals with Pepsi, Walkers, Cadbury's, Impulse, Polaroid and Channel 5 and were in many commercials. Their song 'Move Over'
was used for Pepsi, and they recorded 'Step To Me' as a special single obtainable through sending off Pepsi ring-pulls. They
opened the Brit Awards in 1997, and got huge publicity for a famous Union Jack dress worn by Geri Halliwell. In
March 1997 their first book sold amazingly well (200,000 copies in a day) and it is translated to 20 languages. In April 1997,
Spice The Official Video Volume One was released and sells half a million copies.
The girls performed for Prince Charles on 11th May 1997 and also had their first live concert in Istanbul in October
1997 and met Nelson Mandela. They also began filming their movie, 'Spiceworld' which was released on
the 26th December 1997 and was a very profitable film grossing £8.5 million in the UK. The film had Elton John, Richard E. Grant,
Alan Cummings, Michael Barrymore and Meatloaf among its star-studded cast and follows the girls triumphs and disasters in
the final few days running up to a huge gig at the Albert Hall. The second album was written during filming and
released on 3rd November 1997. Spice and Spiceworld amassed enough sales for one out of every two people in Britain to own
a Spice Girls album by this time. on the 6th November, Simon Fuller was sacked and the girls managed themselves and each had
jobs. Melanie B was Tour Control, Emma had Personnel, Schedule and Charities, Geri did the Sponsorship, Victoria
looked after the Finances and Merchandising and Melanie C dealt with the Record Company, Singles and Formats.
By early 1998, a Spiceworld tour was underway with 102 dates from 24th February to 20th September 1998 visiting
Europe, the US and Canada. However, by the end of May, Geri Halliwell had decided to leave the group at the end of the
Europe leg of the tour due to artistic differences. Rumours were that she and Melanie Brown had arguments, being the fireiest
of the band, but it was never confirmed. An official statement was released on the 31st May 1998, although she had
not made appearances with the other girls for a few days prior to the announcement. The other 4 girls continued
with the tour, and although fans and the girls were devastated at the departure of Ginger Spice, Spicemania continued and
their first single after the loss of one of their number, 'Viva Forever', went to Number 1 in the UK. In
August 1998 both Melanie Brown and Victoria Adams announced they were expecting their first children but they continued with
the tour, wrapping it up in style with 2 sellout shows in Wembley Stadium, London.
On the 14th December 1998, the girls scored their 3rd consecutive Christmas Number 1 with 'Goodbye' and had a small
number of concert dates over Christmas in the UK doing dates in Manchester and London. At the 2000 Brit Awards they won the
Lifetime Achievement award for smashing many records, just like the Beatles had in the 1960's with Beatlemania. The last single
from their golden days 'Holler/Let Love Lead The Way' was released in October 2000 and went to Number 1 and they sang it at
the MTV Europe Music Awards in 2000. The album 'Forever', more R&B in style than the previous 2, was the first without
Ginger and had a few criticisms and was the weakest of the 3 albums in sales. The group shortly afterwards decided to split
and pursue solo projects.
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