The Spice Girls were on the agenda not only in the music world but also in social events, British and world politics, and many other important areas. Here are 8 things you should know about the Spice Girls, the most important pop culture icon of the time…
Nelson Mandela, the first black president of the Republic of South Africa, was a diehard Spice Girls fan.
So much so that Mandela described meeting the band members in 1997 as one of the greatest moments in his life and said “they are my heroes“.
Victoria Beckham, one of the most popular members of the band, has been on the cover of Vogue magazine 29 times
Posh Spice” has appeared 29 times on the cover of the famous Vogue magazine as a member of an iconic pop band, businessperson, designer, model, wife of one of the most famous soccer players in the world, and a fashion icon.
The iconic dress worn by Geri Halliwell in 1997 was a kitchen towel!
In 1997, the Spice Girls were chosen as the opening act for the Brit Awards, an important music organization in the UK. One of the band members, Geri Halliwell, thought the dress she was sent to wear to the opening ceremony was extremely “boring” and decided to try an interesting way to have a fun outfit. She requested her sister to sew a kitchen towel with a British flag pattern over the black dress she had been sent, and she attended the ceremony in this outfit. This extraordinary outfit caused a sensation and became one of the most iconic outfits in pop music history. The outfit was sold at an auction in 1998 for $70,000.
The band was first formed under the name “Touch”
In 1994, British talent scout and manager Bob Herbert placed an advertisement in the newspaper “The Stage” looking for outgoing, ambitious, and dedicated young people. Herbert sifted through hundreds of applicants and the first form of the band emerged. The trio of Melanie Brown, Geri Halliwell, and Victoria Adams were joined by Emma Bunton and Melanie Chisholm to form the group Touch…
They almost changed the fate of the 1997 elections in the UK
Before the elections in 1997, Tony Blair, the leader of the Labor Party, was very popular in much of British society. Especially among young people. But members of the Spice Girls were interviewed by a magazine before the elections. One of the prominent topics in the interview was the upcoming elections. The members of the group’s statements about elections and politicians caused Blair to lose much of his popularity among young people. So much so that some political circles even started to worry that the election could be lost because of the huge masses of Spice Girls fans. But the 1997 elections, as expected, resulted in Blair’s victory.
The Spice Girls were strong supporters of Margaret Thatcher
Geri Halliwell, in particular, saw Thatcher as one of the first defenders of the Girl Power movement and expressed their admiration for the Iron Lady as a band. However, Melanie Chisholm stated in an interview in 2022 that admiration for Thatcher was not the band’s consensus. Asked if she saw Thatcher as “the first Spice Girl”, she replied, “absolutely not”.
“Girl Power” phrase popularized by the Spice Girls
Girl Power emerged in the early 90s as a slogan to promote women’s strength, independence, and courage. However, the use of the phrase by the Spice Girls moved known worldwide and raised awareness about the place of women in society.
Band members did not choose their names
In 1996, the editors of the UK magazine “Top of The Pops” both referred to the group as the Spice Girls and gave the band members different nicknames. Eventually, Melanie Brown became known as “Scary Spice”, Melanie Chisholm as “Sporty Spice”, Victoria Beckham as “Posh Spice” (Geri Halliwell as “Ginger Spice” and Emma Bunton as “Baby Spice”).
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