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| '''Melanie Jayne Chisholm''' (born ], ]) is a ] ] who was a member of the ], where she was known as ''Sporty Spice'' or ''Mel C''. She has also enjoyed relative success as a solo artist. | |||
| The world-famous Sporty Spice, singer Melanie Chisholm was born January 12, 1975 in Liverpool, England; a onetime session vocalist and ballet dancer, in March of 1994 | |||
| ⚫ | she answered an advertisement for an all-girl vocal group, and with fellow applicants Geri Halliwell, Victoria Adams and Melanie Brown formed the nucleus of what later (with the addition of fifth member Emma Bunton) became the Spice Girls. The biggest pop phenomenon of the |
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| ⚫ | Born in ], she answered an advertisement for an all-girl vocal group, and with fellow applicants ], ] and ] formed the nucleus of what later (with the addition of fifth member ]) became the Spice Girls. The biggest pop phenomenon of the mid-], the Spice Girls enjoyed a series of chart-topping singles like "]", "]" and "]"; as the tracksuit-clad Sporty Spice, Mel C was widely considered the "most musically talented" Spice Girl. | ||
| 'It's me on a plate, pretty much'. This is how Melanie Chisholm describes the content of 'Reason', her second solo project, and follow-up to 1999's much loved and multi-platinum debut, 'Northern Star'. And what a gourmet feast she represents. With her vocals displaying a new warmth and maturity, and her songwriting yet more boldly assured and energetic than before, she is set to turn any remaining preconceptions about her upside down. This is not the work of a manufactured pop puppet, but that of a richly gifted and imaginative artist. In both personal and artistic terms, 'Reason' is a joy and triumph and a giant step forwards. | |||
| In the fall of 1999 she made her solo debut with ''Northern Star''. Featuring the #1 hits "Never Be The Same Again" and "I Turn To You", the album mixed a lot of influences, especially ], and turned out to be a commercial success in Europe. It was certified x3 ] in the UK and sold 3 million copies worldwide. It sold 83.000 copies in the US, entering at #208. The album enabled her to embark on a worldwide tour. | |||
| You didn't have to be an avid Spice-watcher to know that, with 'Northern Star', Melanie fared far better commercially and critically than did her former colleagues with their own first individual projects. Which was very nice, she admits, but something of an irrelevance. 'I've never felt that I was in competition with the other girls. I think any one of them would tell you that, during the time we were in the band, I was the one who was most serious about her music, and the most driven.' | |||
| After a long break, Melanie C returned to the music scene in February 2003 with the album ''Reason'', which despite initially entering the charts at number five, failed to make a lasting impact on the charts, selling only 80.000 copies in the UK, and around 350,000 worldwide. Critics didn't like the album either, slating it as "watered-down guitary pap". A knee injury sustained in a tv show ensured Melanie did not have the sufficient time to prove the record's merits. Following the dissapointment of this record, Melanie parted from her record company Virgin Records a few months later. | |||
| She had rushed headlong into the writing and recording of that album, immediately after the mutual decision had been made to call a halt to what had been the biggest global pop phenomenon of the 1990s. 'It was an amazing, amazing ride', she says now. 'I can't say I enjoyed every minute of it. I can't say I loved every song we did. But it was just an out-of-this-world experience, something incredible to have been a part of.' That said, being one of five, then one of four, had meant learning to live with compromise and frustration, most especially in musical terms. No wonder, then, that she couldn't wait to start expressing her solo self. | |||
| 'I went straight into 'Northern Star' off the back of the Spice Girls final tour, which may have been a bit of a mistake. But the fact is I couldn't help myself. I was just so excited by the freedom of it all. And to find that so many great people wanted to work with me... I just went crazy...Mental. | |||
| Her third album ''Beautiful Intentions'' is due for release in April 2005 on her own label "Red Girl Records". Preceding the album will be a new single entitled, "Next Best Superstar", set for release in the UK and other European and Australiasian markets. The showcasing of material off the forthcoming album was received well, with many regarding the new songs as her best material yet. Melanie plans to heavily promote the album over 2005-6, and hopes to tour worldwide. | |||
| " I so loved the whole process of making a record that was all about me and my tastes, and which didn't have to be put together by committee.' That sense of excitement and self-expression permeated all 12 of 'Northern Star's' tracks. But how would it be received? Having enjoyed Top Three success the previous year as featured vocalist on the Bryan Adams hit 'When You're Gone', Melanie now prepared to stand alone. | |||
| == Discography == | |||
| To their great credit, British consumers proved happy and willing to look, listen, and quickly put away all received notions of who or what Sporty Spice represented. Acceptance of the new, lone Melanie was such that a first single, 'Goin' Down', debuted at Number Four in October of 99, and the album's title track replicated that achievement in the crowded Christmas chart two months later. But it was 'Never Be The Same Again', written with a team that included the late Lisa Left Eye Lopes, which would fully break 'Northern Star' in April of 2000. In doing so, it gave Melanie her first solo Number One single. 'I Turn To You' would give her a second, four months later. | |||
| === Albums === | |||
| * 1999 '']'' #4 UK, #208 US | |||
| * 2003 '']'' #5 UK | |||
| === Hit singles === | |||
| In preparing for that album's release, she had made it clear to company executives that she didn't intend to promote it merely by flying from one territory to the next, schmoozing a room full of sales and media personnel, and then miming to a track for three minutes. True to her word, then, and with former Spice drummer Fergus Gerrand as her musical director, she set about putting together the band that would tour with her for two full years, thus notching up a total of 124 gigs and festival performances - more than the Girls achieved in their entire career. Returning home to London finally in September of last year, Melanie intended to take time out to breathe, to just allow herself to live a life... | |||
| * 1998 "When You're Gone" #3 | |||
| * 1999 "Northern Star" #4 | |||
| * 1999 "Goin' Down" #4 | |||
| * 2000 "Never Be The Same Again" #1 | |||
| * 2000 "I Turn To You" #1 | |||
| * 2000 "If That Were Me" #18 | |||
| * 2001 "Here It Comes Again" #7 | |||
| * 2001 "On The Horizon" #14 | |||
| * 2004 "Melt/Yeh Yeh Yeh" #27 | |||
| ⚫ | ==External links== | ||
| Not possible. The singer and composer within her wouldn't switch off. Two months later, she was back in the studio, and the fruits of a writing and recording marathon that zigzagged back and forth between London and Los Angeles are now ready for us to enjoy. 'Reason' is, save for one exception, an album of wholly original material. | |||
| * ''(requires Flash)'' | |||
| This time round, Melanie's songwriting collaborators include such stellar names as Rick Nowels, Gregg Alexander, Tore Johansson, Rhett Lawrence and Phil Thornalley. Rick, Gregg, Tore and Rhett also take production credits, along with Marius de Vries, Peter Vettese, Pat McCarthy, Damien Le Gassick and Gary Clark. The first single, written with Marius and former Blow Monkey Dr Robert Howard, is the insidious and irresistible 'Here It Comes Again'. | |||
| ] | |||
| It's the aperitif to an album that is uplifting, insightful, exciting, energetic and reflective, all at one and the same time. How true a portrait does it provide of its maker, meanwhile? Melanie thinks for a moment or two, and then smiles. 'I think it offers up a pretty accurate reflection of who I am and where I'm at now. It's generally positive, which is the way I'm trying to go these days. It says I've found myself in what is generally a good place, but that I still have my moments of darkness and insecurity - as, I think, everyone does'. | |||
| 'In that sense, I hope people will be able to identify with it and hence with me. In summary, and as I said at the outset, it's pretty much me on a plate. Oh, and could I just say that I'm very, very excited by and proud of it? I could? Well, thank you very much!' | |||
| ] | |||
| ⚫ | ==External links== | ||
| ] | |||
| www.melanie.net | |||
Revision as of 18:07, 30 March 2005
Melanie Jayne Chisholm (born January 12, 1974) is a British pop singer who was a member of the Spice Girls, where she was known as Sporty Spice or Mel C. She has also enjoyed relative success as a solo artist.
Born in Liverpool, she answered an advertisement for an all-girl vocal group, and with fellow applicants Geri Halliwell, Victoria Adams and Melanie Brown formed the nucleus of what later (with the addition of fifth member Emma Bunton) became the Spice Girls. The biggest pop phenomenon of the mid-1990s, the Spice Girls enjoyed a series of chart-topping singles like "Wannabe", "Say You'll Be There" and "2 Become 1"; as the tracksuit-clad Sporty Spice, Mel C was widely considered the "most musically talented" Spice Girl.
In the fall of 1999 she made her solo debut with Northern Star. Featuring the #1 hits "Never Be The Same Again" and "I Turn To You", the album mixed a lot of influences, especially Grunge, and turned out to be a commercial success in Europe. It was certified x3 platinum in the UK and sold 3 million copies worldwide. It sold 83.000 copies in the US, entering at #208. The album enabled her to embark on a worldwide tour.
After a long break, Melanie C returned to the music scene in February 2003 with the album Reason, which despite initially entering the charts at number five, failed to make a lasting impact on the charts, selling only 80.000 copies in the UK, and around 350,000 worldwide. Critics didn't like the album either, slating it as "watered-down guitary pap". A knee injury sustained in a tv show ensured Melanie did not have the sufficient time to prove the record's merits. Following the dissapointment of this record, Melanie parted from her record company Virgin Records a few months later.
Her third album Beautiful Intentions is due for release in April 2005 on her own label "Red Girl Records". Preceding the album will be a new single entitled, "Next Best Superstar", set for release in the UK and other European and Australiasian markets. The showcasing of material off the forthcoming album was received well, with many regarding the new songs as her best material yet. Melanie plans to heavily promote the album over 2005-6, and hopes to tour worldwide.
Discography
Albums
- 1999 Northern Star #4 UK, #208 US
- 2003 Reason #5 UK
Hit singles
- 1998 "When You're Gone" #3
- 1999 "Northern Star" #4
- 1999 "Goin' Down" #4
- 2000 "Never Be The Same Again" #1
- 2000 "I Turn To You" #1
- 2000 "If That Were Me" #18
- 2001 "Here It Comes Again" #7
- 2001 "On The Horizon" #14
- 2004 "Melt/Yeh Yeh Yeh" #27
External links
- Official Website (requires Flash)