Melanie Jayne Chisholm (born January 12 1974) is a singer and successful British female artist. She has co-written eleven chart topping singles. In the early years of her singing career she was one fifth of the girl group the Spice Girls. Since then she has released three solo albums and many hit singles.
Sporty Spice
Chisholm, along with Melanie Brown, 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, Chisholm was widely considered the most musically talented Spice Girl.''Northern Star''
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Chisholm 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". Though it never topped the charts in the UK, it went on to become the eighty-second 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. Though it failed to make a huge impact in the charts or help album sales, the single showed the world that Chisholm 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 195,000 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 Chisholm's first solo number one. It was co-written and produced by Rhett Lawrence. It went on to sell over 400,000 copies and helped bring ''Northern Star'' back into the top ten. Capitalising on her new found success, Chisholm 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, and was featured in the film ''Bend It Like Beckham'' as the music in a scene where the protagonist dances in a nightclub. ''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 U.K., 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''
The First Release From the Reason Era was "Here It Comes Again" it was released 24 february2003, and reached #7 in the uk singles chart. The Single was released in a cd and dvd format and came with 3 new b-sides, "love to you", "like that" & "Living without you".The Next Release was the album itself, it was released 10 march 2003 and reached #5 in the uk album charts. This containted 12 new songs incuding the hit single "here it comes again" along with 4 more songs that would later become singles.The japanese release of "reason" contained the b-side "Love to you" as well as "Independence day", which was used in the "bend it like beckham" sound track.On June 2nd 2003, "On The Horizon" was released as single #2. It reached #14 in the uk singles chart and was again released on a cd and dvd format, containing 2 new b-sides "I Love you wihtout Trying" & "Wonderland"Let's Love was released in Japan Only on 6th August 2003, and contained 2 b-sides previously released on uk singles, "Like That" & "Living Without You""Yeh Yeh Yeh" was to be UK single #3, and was to be released 22nd september 2003, However due to an accident Whilst Melanie was participating in Channels 4's "The Games" The single was cancelled in the Uk. It was still released in other countires and came with 2 new songs "Knocked out" & "i Wish, live from re:Covered"It was decided "Yeh yeh Yeh" would still be released in the Uk, but as a double a-side with "Melt" making it easier for Melanie to promote the single. This was released 10 novemeber 2003 and reached #27 in the uk singles chart. There was no dvd release with this single, instead a 2nd cd format replaced it & "Knocked out" was the only b-side releasedthe double a-side "Yeah Yeah Yeh/Melt" became the last release from the reason era, adn also became the last release from melanie's "Virgin Era". Melanie Later went on & set up her own record company "red Girl Records" where she would release her new material