Spice Girls’ Debut Album Turns 23: A Look at their Journey in the World of Pop


Spice Girl, the popular all-girl pop band, is celebrating 23 years of their first album’s release. Learn how they revolutionized the world of pop.

Spice Girls’ debut album Slice was released 23 years ago!  The English all-female pop band was formed in 1994 by Victoria Beckham (Posh Spice), Melanie Brown (Scary Spice), Melanie Chisholm (Sporty Spice), Emma Bunton (Baby Spice) and Geri Halliwell (Ginger Spice). Their first hit single Wannabe released in 1996 and became a chart topper in 37 countries, while their 1996 album Spice -- which included dance, R&B and hip hop music -- sold more than 31 million copies worldwide. It became the best-selling album in music history by a girl band as well as one of the most successful albums of all time.

Overall, the Spice Girls have sold about 85 million records and are considered one of the best-selling pop groups of all time. After a successful second album, they also featured in a movie called Spiceworld: The Movie, which made more than £150 million at the box office. Despite achieving so much success together, in 1998, Geri Halliwell or Ginger Spice quit band citing "differences" and “extreme tiredness” as the reasons. The remaining members of the band however continued to perform as Spice Girls until their split in 2000.

The band also earned millions via sponsorship deals. They were featured in different advertisements and had their own dolls and even a video game.

The group (sans Victoria Beckham) had a reunion tour this year in May in the UK and Ireland, which was quickly sold out, with a virtual queue of 700,000 fans who wanted to attend the concerts. Apart from great music, one of the other reasons for the popularity of Spice Girls has been their clever use of feminism as a marketing tool. The all-girl band was a pop culture icon and revolutionised the world of pop in the 1990s because their songs always promoted girl power and spread positive vibes among women.



By Ayesha Hoda