Melanie Chisholm

Melanie Jayne Chisholm (born January 12 1974) is one of the most successful British female artists of the last decade. She has co-written eleven chart topping singles — more than any other female artist in chart history. In her early years she was one fifth of the most successful girl group of all time, selling over forty-six million albums and thirty million singles with the Spice Girls. Today, almost ten years after her first appearance on the charts, she's a multi-platinum, international star in her own right, after releasing three solo albums and many hit singles.

Contents

1 Sporty Spice 2 Northern Star 3 Reason 4 Beautiful Intentions 5 Discography 5.1 Albums 5.2 Singles 6 External links

Sporty Spice

Melanie C, along with Melanie B, Geri Halliwell, Emma Bunton, and Victoria Beckham, shot to fame in 1996 with the release of "Wannabe". The Spice Girls dominated the late 1990s, selling over forty million albums in just two years. As the tracksuit-clad Sporty Spice, Melanie was widely considered the most musically talented Spice Girl.

Northern Star

Melanie took her first steps at creating a solo career in 1998 by duetting with Canadian rocker Bryan Adams on the massively successful song "When You're Gone". Thought it never topped the charts in the UK, it went on to become the 82nd best-selling single of the 1990s. She followed the duet with the critically acclaimed album Northern Star in 1999. Eager to distance herself from her sporty image, "Goin' Down" was chosen as the first single from Northern Star. Thought it failed to make a huge impact in the charts or help album sales, the single showed the world that Melanie C was not just a back flipping girl in a track suit. The title track "Northern Star" was chosen as the follow up single and was a surprise hit. With its simple, yet beautiful video the single sold in excess of 100,000 copies, but did little for album sales. A remixed version of "Never Be the Same Again" featuring Lisa Lopez was chosen as the album's third single and became Melanie's first solo number one. It went on to sell over 400,000 copies and helped bring Northern Star back into the top ten. Capitalizing on her new found success, Melanie released a remix version of "I Turn to You" and earned herself another number-one single. "I Turn to You" eventually climbed to the top of the Billboard Dance Charts in America. Northern Star was reissued with the "Never Be the Same Again" and "I Turn to You" remixes and eventually peaked at number four on the album charts. "If That Were Me" was chosen as the fifth and last single, but failed to make an impact on the charts entering at number eighteen. The single followed the release of Mel B's solo album Hot and the Spice Girls' Forever, and as a result received little promotion. Northern Star is certified triple platinum in the UK, selling over 900,000 copies, and has sold 3,000,000 copies worldwide, making it the best-selling solo Spice Girl album to date.

Reason

After almost a half decade break, Melanie returned to the music scene in February 2003 with Reason. The album was poorly received by critics, slating it as "watered-down guitary pap" and "middle of the road". Despite entering at a promising number five, it failed to make a lasting impression on the charts. "Here It Comes Again" was chosen as the first single, and despite being well promoted, it only sold 40,000 copies. With Reason out of the charts, "On the Horizon" was released as the second single. Melanie filmed a great video in Málaga, and even though Evanescence was her only real competition it entered the charts at a disappointing number fourteen, selling 25,000 copies. "Yeh Yeh Yeh" was chosen to be the third single. An amazing video was shot by Ray Kay in Scandinavia and as part of the singles promotion, Melanie agreed to participate in The Games. Unfortunately she sustained a knee injury during a judo competition. The single's release date was pushed back and then cancelled because she wasn't able to promote it. Eventually "Yeh Yeh Yeh" and "Melt" were released as a strong double A-side single. "Let's Love" was released in Japan to help promote Reason. It was featured in a car advert for six months; lack of promotion and a video helped add to another chart failure. Following competition from Busted and Britney Spears, lack of promotion, and an improperly track-listed CD 1, the single entered at number twenty-seven — the lowest Spice entry for a single ever. Following the disappointments of this record and its singles, Melanie parted from her record company, Virgin Records.

Beautiful Intentions

Melanie spent much of 2004 working on new material and setting up her own record company, Red Girl Records. Having written several tracks very quickly, Melanie took her work on the road to preview it with the fans, and in April 2005 Beautiful Intentions was released. The album got good reviews, many claiming it is her best work yet. "Next Best Superstar" was chosen for the first single and was released simultaneously in the UK, Europe, and Australia. The single did relatively well, peaking at number ten in the UK selling around 20,000 copies. Now, without major-label backing, everything she is doing is run and funded by her.

Discography

Albums

• 1999 Northern Star #4 UK; #208 US: 900,000 (3x Platinum) UK; 3,000,000 worldwide
• 2003 Reason #5 UK: 100,000 (Gold) UK; 500,000 worldwide
• 2005 Beautiful Intentions #24 UK: 19,000 UK; 80,000 worldwide

Singles

• 1998 "When You're Gone" (duet with Bryan Adams) #3 UK
• 1999 "Northern Star" #4 UK
• 1999 "Goin' Down" #4 UK; #13 AU
• 2000 "Never Be the Same Again" (ft Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes) #1 UK; #2 AU
• 2000 "I Turn to You" #1 UK
• 2000 "If That Were Me" #18 UK
• 2003 "Here It Comes Again" #7 UK
• 2003 "On the Horizon" #14 UK
• 2003 "Melt/Yeh Yeh Yeh" #27 UK
• 2005 "Next Best Superstar" #8 UK

External links

• Official Website (http://www.melaniec.net/)
• Denden Forums: Melanie C (http://www.denden-forums.com/viewforum.php?f=5)
• Spice Girls' Discography (http://www.spicediscography.tk/)
• MelanieC-Online.net (http://www.melaniec-online.net/)
• Melanie-C.co.uk (http://www.melanie-c.co.uk/)
• Pi Community: Mel C (http://www.melanie-c.co.uk/picommunity/gallery/index.php)de:Melanie Chisholm

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