Melanie B

Melanie B

Melanie B, also known as Melanie Brown, Mel B and Mel G, is a British singer, songwriter and actress from Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. She is born Melanie Janine Brown on 29 May 1975. She is best known as a member of the Spice Girls, where she is known as “Scary Spice”.

Spice Girls

As part of the Spice Girls, Melanie B becomes one of the group’s most recognisable members. Her “Scary Spice” image is linked to her outspoken style and hairstyle. The group’s final concert of its World Tour takes place at Wembley Stadium in front of 52,000 fans, and around that time she becomes the first Spice Girl to release a solo single and the first to reach number one as a solo artist in her own country.

Solo career

In 1998, while the Spice Girls are touring, Missy Elliott contacts her about singing on “I Want You Back”, a song that appears on the soundtrack to Why Do Fools Fall in Love. The recording is completed in one afternoon. The single sells 218,000 copies, reaches number one in the UK, and is the 82nd best-selling single of 1998 in the UK.

Her second solo single, “Word Up”, is a cover of the Cameo song. It is released in 1999, reaches number 14 in the UK, and has an animated video because she is pregnant at the time. The track is included on the soundtrack to Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, and a separate version of the video is made for the American market featuring Mini-Me, played by Verne Troyer.

She begins work on her first solo album with producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, who also work on the Spice Girls’ album Forever. Her first album, Hot, is released in October 2000. It includes “Tell Me”, which reaches number 4 in the UK, sells about 100,000 copies overall, and is the 158th best-selling single of 2000. Another single, “Feels So Good”, becomes a relative hit. “Lullaby”, released in 2001, is a pop song dedicated to her daughter Phoenix Chi; it peaks at number 13. After that release, Virgin Records drops her from the label.

In 2005 she releases L.A. State of Mind on the independent label Amber Cafe. The album is issued in a regular edition and a limited edition with a DVD documentary about her time in Los Angeles. Its lead single, “Today”, is released only in the UK and reaches number 41.

Other work

Melanie B presents the 1998 and 1999 editions of the MOBO Awards, the second time alongside Wyclef Jean. She also hosts the television programme Pure Naughty, about black music, and interviews artists including Usher. She appears in the short film Fish, the British drama Burn It, and the DVD film Lethal Dose in 2004. She also appears in an advert for the Yorkshire tourist board alongside other Yorkshire-born celebrities.

Her stage work includes a long run in The Vagina Monologues. In 2004 she plays Mimi in a production of Rent and later performs with the cast in a New York club, where she presents new songs she has written. She later moves to the United States with her daughter Phoenix Chi.

Writing and television

In 2002 she publishes her autobiography, Catch A Fire, which reaches number 7 in the official books chart. She tours the UK to promote it through book signings. She also works on television projects including This Is My Moment, and she makes a documentary called Voodoo Princess.