Mel B

Melanie Janine Brown (born 29 May 1975), commonly known as Mel B or Melanie B, is an English singer, songwriter, television personality, and actress.

She rose to fame in the 1990s as a member of the pop girl group Spice Girls, in which she was nicknamed Scary Spice.

With over 100 million records sold worldwide, the group became the best-selling female group of all time.

In 1994, Mel B, along with Melanie C, Geri Halliwell and Victoria Beckham responded to an advertisement in The Stage magazine.

Around 400 women who answered the advertisement attended auditions at Danceworks Studios in Mayfair, London.

Halliwell, Melanie C, Beckham, Mel B, and Michelle Stephenson were originally chosen as the members of the group which was known as Touch.

Stephenson later left and was replaced by Emma Bunton.

The group were unsatisfied with their original management, Heart Management, and broke with them.

In 1995, they toured record labels in London and Los Angeles.

After teaming up with music manager Simon Fuller, they signed a deal with Virgin Records and the group name was changed to Spice Girls.

Their debut album, Spice, was a worldwide commercial success.

The album peaked at number one in more than 17 countries and was certified multi-platinum in 27 countries.

The group's massive and sudden popularity was compared to Beatlemania.

In total the album sold 30 million copies worldwide and became the biggest-selling album in music history by a girl group and one of the most successful albums of all time.

The album's first single, "Wannabe", reached number one in 37 countries and all of the subsequent singles from the album – "Say You'll Be There", "2 Become 1", "Who Do You Think You Are" and "Mama" – also peaked at number one in United Kingdom.

In 1997, they released their second album, Spiceworld.

The album's first two singles "Spice Up Your Life" and "Too Much" reached number one in the UK, marking seven consecutive number one singles, an all-time record for a musical group.

The album was a global best seller, selling 20 million copies worldwide.

The group also starred in their own film, Spiceworld: The Movie, which grossed $100 million worldwide.

The third single from Spiceworld, "Stop", peaked at two, breaking the group's sequence of number ones.

Mel B debuted as a solo artist in 1998 with the release of "I Want You Back" which reached number one on the UK Singles Chart.

"Viva Forever" was released as the album's final single in July 1998.

The single was another number one and was the group's first single released following Halliwell's departure from the group in May 1998.

Mel B debuted as a solo artist in September 1998 with the release of "I Want You Back".

The single charted at number 1 on the UK Singles Chart and also had success around the globe.

The song was recorded for the soundtrack of the film Why Do Fools Fall in Love.

Mel B released her debut solo album Hot in 2000, which respectively produced the successful singles "Tell Me" and "Feels So Good".

She released her second solo album, L.A. State of Mind (2005), which spawned the single "Today".

Since 2007, Mel B has established herself as a television personality and talent show judge.

She participated in the fifth season of the American dance competition series Dancing with the Stars (2007), finishing in second place with her professional partner, Maksim Chmerkovskiy.

Between 2011 and 2016, Mel B served as a guest and main judge on the Australia and UK shows of The X Factor.

She also co-presented the Australian version of Dancing with the Stars for one season (2012).

Mel B released "For Once in My Life" in 2013, her first single in eight years; it peaked at number 2 on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs chart.

Mel B judged on the NBC reality show America's Got Talent (2013–2018), served as a coach and mentor on The Voice Kids Australia (2014) and judged on The Masked Singer Australia (2022–).

From 2016 to 2018, she co-presented Lip Sync Battle UK alongside rapper Professor Green and served as a judge on Queen of the Universe (2023).

Melanie Janine Brown was born in Harehills, Leeds, and grew up in the Burley area of the city, the daughter of Andrea and Martin Brown.

Her father is from Saint Kitts and Nevis and her mother is English.

Through her mother, Mel B is a first cousin of actor and director Christian Cooke; Cooke's mother Di, and Mel B's mother Andrea, are sisters.

Mel B studied performing arts at Intake High School in Bramley, Leeds before entering the entertainment industry.

For a time, she worked as a dancer in Blackpool, Lancashire.