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Famous Like Me > Singer > C > Melanie Chisholm

Profile of Melanie Chisholm on Famous Like Me

 
Name: Melanie Chisholm  
   
Also Know As:
   
Date of Birth: 12th January 1974
   
Place of Birth: Whiston, Knowsley, Merseyside, England, UK
   
Profession: Singer
 
 
From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia
Melanie Chisholm, a.k.a. "Sporty Spice"

Melanie Jayne Chisholm (born January 12, 1974) is a singer and 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.

Sporty Spice

Sporting short, blonde hair; clearly Sporty Spice is gone.

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

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 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. 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

Screencap from the "Yeh Yeh Yeh" video

After almost a half decade break, Chisholm 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. Chisholm 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, Chisholm 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 second lowest Spice entry for a single ever. (Melanie Brown broke the record with her 2005 single release, "Today" which only reached number forty-one) Following the disappointments of this record and its singles, Chisholm left her record company, Virgin Records.

Beautiful Intentions

Chisholm performing in Liverpool on the BI Preview Tour, 2004

Chisholm spent much of 2004 working on new material and setting up her own record company, Red Girl Records. Having written several tracks very quickly, Chisholm 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.

In 2005, Chisholm announced that the second single, 'Better Alone', would only be available for purchase from iTunes and her official online shop. It would not be sold in ordinary shops for undisclosed reasons, and so would not be eligible for entry to the charts.

Later, in August 2005, Chisholm and her management decided to release the single "First Day of My Life" (written by Guy Chambers and Enrique Iglesias). The song was not on Beautiful Intentions; however, it was included on a special edition of the album released only in Germany, Switzerland, and Austria, where it is the theme song of the telenovela Julia. 'First Day Of My life' is predicted to become one of the biggest hits in certain parts of Europe this year.

Discography

Albums

  • 1999 Northern Star #4 UK; #208 US: 881,420 (3x Platinum) UK; 3,000,000 worldwide
  • 2003 Reason #5 UK: 99,859 (Gold) UK; 500,000 worldwide
  • 2005 Beautiful Intentions #24 UK: 19,957 UK; 80,000 worldwide

Singles

  • 1998 "When You're Gone" (duet with Bryan Adams) #3 UK
  • 1999 "Goin' Down" #4 UK; #13 AU
  • 1999 "Northern Star" #4 UK
  • 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" #19 UK
  • 2003 "Here It Comes Again" #7 UK
  • 2003 "On the Horizon" #14 UK
  • 2003 "Let's Love" Japan Promo Single
  • 2003 "Melt/Yeh Yeh Yeh" #27 UK
  • 2005 "Next Best Superstar" #10 UK
  • 2005 "Better Alone" #81 AU; (not eligible for chart in UK — see Beautiful Intentions)
  • 2005 "First Day of My Life" #3 GER (Germany, Austria, and Switzerland Only) [Theme of German Telenovela "Julia"] [www.melaniec.de]

This content from Wikipedia is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Melanie Chisholm