Girl power! Geri Halliwell (Ginger Spice), Victoria Beckham (Posh Spice), Mel B (Scary Spice), Melanie Chisholm (Sporty Spice) and Emma Bunton (Baby Spice) formed the Spice Girls in 1994 and went on to become one of the most beloved music groups of all time.
The band was originally called Touch, but they later changed their name to Spice after cowriting a song titled “Sugar and Spice.” However, they once again altered the name to the one that eventually stuck, Spice Girls, after discovering that another artist already used the moniker Spice.
The British girl group released their debut single, “Wannabe,” in July 1996. As their popularity skyrocketed, their first album, Spice, followed in November of that year. The Spice Girls — who adopted their nicknames from Top of the Pops magazine — went on to drop a slew of hits, including “Spice Up Your Life,” “Who Do You Think You Are” and “Stop.”
Halliwell announced her intentions to leave the band in May 1998. As the members of the group pursued solo careers and their personal lives flourished, the Spice Girls took an indefinite hiatus in December 2000.
Seven years later, all five of the women revealed their plans to reunite for a worldwide tour. They gathered again in August 2012 to perform a medley of their greatest hits at the closing ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.
Beckham, for her part, distanced herself from her bandmates in November 2018 when Halliwell, Mel B, Chisholm and Bunton shared their intentions to tour again without the fashion designer, who declined to participate.
“Today marks a special day for the girls as they announce the first tour dates since we performed together in 2012!” Beckham wrote via Instagram at the time. “I won’t be joining my girls on stage again but being in the Spice Girls was a hugely important part of my life and I wish them so much love and fun as they go back on tour next year. I know they will put on an amazing show and the fantastic fans past and present are going to have a wonderful time! X vb #spicegirls.”
Despite their professional parting of ways, the women remain close friends. The five ladies reunited in 2020 amid the coronavirus pandemic.
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“Now you may think we propped up a bar somewhere or had drinks in the garden but no!” Bunton explained during a July 2020 episode of her U.K. radio show. “We went on a social-distancing walk in the woods. … This time last year, we were performing at Wembley all glammed up. Well, this year we were in wellies, walking in the rain. Something you don’t see every day — five Spice Girls in their wellies!”
Scroll through the gallery below to see what Scary, Sporty, Posh, Baby and Ginger Spice are up to today!
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