Sporty phenomenon
Beautiful Spice Soul
Northern StarMelanie C: From Spice to Red Girl
(article taken from www.chickipedia.com)
Immediately before joining the Spice Girls, Chisholm studied for a Diploma course in dance, singing, drama and musical theatre at the Doreen Bird College of Performing Arts in Sidcup, Kent. While at the college, she replied to an advert placed in The Stage by Chris and Bob Herbert, who were looking to form a new girl group, later to become the Spice Girls. Initially, another girl was chosen, Lianne Morgan, but the management replaced her with Chisholm at the last moment. Chisholm left the college having nearly completed her three-year course and gained teaching qualifications in Tap and Modern Theatre Dance with the ISTD.
1994–2000: Sporty Spice
In 1994 Chisholm, along with Melanie Brown, Geri Halliwell, Emma Bunton, and Victoria Beckham (at that time Victoria Adams), shot to fame as a member of the Spice Girls with the release of "Wannabe". The debut album, Spice, shot to number one all over the globe, including the U.S.. Because she was often to be found in a tracksuit with her hair in a ponytail and sporting a rather "tomboyish" attitude, Chisholm received the nickname "Sporty Spice" from Top of the Pops Magazine (each member of the group was given a humorous nickname in a small piece titled "Spice Rack"). The Spice Girls dominated the late 1990s, selling over thirty-five million albums in just two years. They went on to become one of the best-selling girl groups of all time, selling more than fifty-five million records worldwide. They had nine UK number-one singles and two number-one albums. After a third album release, Forever (UK number-two), the members went their separate ways, and Chisholm developed a solo career.
Chisholm took her first steps in establishing a solo career in late 1998 by singing with Canadian rocker Bryan Adams on the song "When You're Gone". She followed the duet with the album Northern Star in 1999. A track from this album ("Ga Ga") was included on the Big Daddy soundtrack before her own album's release. Singles "Goin' Down" and "Northern Star" were met with promising success, but the third single "Never Be the Same Again", featuring TLC member Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes, became her first UK number-one single as a solo artist, also a Top Five hit in Germany and #2 in Australia. Capitalising on her new found success, Chisholm released a fourth single from Northern Star, a dance remix of "I Turn to You", and earned herself a second UK number-one single. "I Turn to You" reached #2 in Germany, #11 in Australia and eventually climbed to the top of the Billboard dance chart in the United States. Northern Star was re-released with the single versions of "Never Be the Same Again" and "I Turn to You", and eventually peaked at number four on the United Kingdom album chart and number six in Germany.
"If That Were Me" was chosen as the fifth and final single from Northern Star and proceeds were donated to a charity for the homeless; it peaked at number eighteen in the UK. Northern Star is certified three times platinum in the United Kingdom for shipping 900,000 copies, platinum in Germany for selling over 500,000 copies, and gold in Australia for selling over 35,000 copies. Chisholm then went on her Northern Star World Tour, performing in countries such as Canada, Germany, Spain, USA, Bahrain, Israel, Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom.
Chisholm released her second studio album, Reason, in March 2003. The album included production from a series of collaborators including Gregg Alexander (New Radicals, Ronan Keating), Marius De Vries (Madonna), Dr Robert of The Blow Monkeys, David Arnold (Björk) and Matt Rowe, co-writer of the Spice Girls' "Wannabe". The lead single from Reason was "Here It Comes Again", which peaked at number seven in the UK, with the album entering the UK album chart a week later at number five.
Other singles from the album were "On the Horizon" (UK number fourteen, written with Gregg Alexander), "Let's Love" in Japan (where the song accompanied a Toyota commercial), "Yeh Yeh Yeh" in mainland Europe and, finally, a UK double A-side of "Melt"/"Yeh Yeh Yeh", which achieved a disappointing UK chart position of number twenty-seven. After a series of disappointments and the relative failure of "Melt"/"Yeh Yeh Yeh", Chisholm parted ways with her label, Virgin Records. Reason has been certified gold in the United Kingdom.
2004–present: Red Girl Records
Mel C performing at a music festival in Germany, 2006 Chisholm spent much of 2004 working on new material and setting up her own record company, Red Girl Records. Without major label backing, her activities are decided on and funded by herself, alongside her business partner and manager, Nancy Phillips. In April 2005, Chisholm released her third album, Beautiful Intentions. The Adam Argyle-penned "Next Best Superstar" was chosen as the lead single and was released simultaneously in the UK, Europe, and Australia. The single peaked at number ten in the UK and reached the top of the Germany radio airplay chart for several weeks. A second single, "Better Alone", was released but later restricted to purchase from the iTunes Store (for digital download) and from her official online shop. Melanie re-relesing "Better Alone" in 2006 in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and some other European countries. The third single from her third album was "First Day of My Life", a previously unheard Chisholm recording written by Guy Chambers and Enrique Iglesias. "First Day of My Life" topped the charts in several European countries, including Spain, Germany, Sweden, Austria, Switzerland and Portugal. The single became one of the biggest hits of 2005 in parts of Europe, but it was never released in the UK. Beautiful Intentions has been certified gold in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and platinum in Portugal, where it spent nine weeks at number one.
In early 2007 Chisholm released her fourth album, This Time. It features writing collaborations with Adam Argyle, Peter-John Vettese, Guy Chambers and Cathy Dennis (amongst others). This Time is carbon neutral (as were Reason and Beautiful Intentions). The first single release from the project was the international single "The Moment You Believe", primarily released in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, where it was a top twenty hit. The single peaked at number one in Spain for two weeks, at number two in Portugal and was a Top 20 hit in Sweden. In the UK, Chisholm released the track "I Want Candy", which peaked at number twenty-four and featured on the soundtrack to the film of the same name. The single peaked at number nine in Italy and Denmark. The second international single from the album This Time was "Carolyna", released in June in the UK and across Europe; although it underperformed in the UK (peaking at number forty-nine due to lack of media support), it became a top five radio hit in Germany and Switzerland and a top twenty hit in Italy. On 12 October 2007 in Germany, Switzerland and Austria, and on 22 October in UK, Mel C released album titled track "This Time" as the final single from the fourth LP (Melanie re-recorded this track for a new single version). It features a B-side track called "We Love to Entertain You", which was used for 2007's Pro7 Starforce campaign in Germany.
At the moment Chisholm is reunited with the Spice Girls for a Greatest Hits album release and tour. When the tour reached its first two-day break, Melanie performed an acoustic solo set at The Mint in Los Angeles on December 6. In February 2008 Chisholm came into much criticism, because of gossips, that she was blamed for the decision to end the Spice Girls world tour early. It is said she, also with Melanie Brown, wants to return to her duties as a solo artist and that if the girls were ever to reform again, it would be without Mel. However in her official website message board, Melanie annonced that she is very disappointed that the tour isn't continuing at this stage and, as she does not have the family commitments of the other Girls, she is in the best position of all of them to continue.
Personal life
Melanie has been linked with such stars as singers Robbie Williams and Anthony Kiedis from the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Rumoured that Red Hot Chili Peppers song "Emit Remmus" is about Kiedis relationship with Chisholm. She has been dating property developer Thomas Starr since 2002; they currently share a £1m country home at Catbrook, Monmouthshire.
Chisholm says she has battled depression and an eating disorder in her 20s.
The singer is noted for her tattoos. Most of them are along eastern lines – among them a lotus flower, a phoenix and a dragon, and Tibetan symbols for love and happiness. She has 11 tattoos on her body with the last done in 2007 at Hanky Panky's in Amsterdam. It was reported in January 2008 that she intends to have them removed because they remind her of bad times and depression in her life
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