Geri Halliwell

Geri Halliwell, the vocalist previously identified as Ginger Spice, entered the world on August 6, 1972, in Watford. Prior to her music career she had worked as a topless model and served as a hostess on a Turkish game show. Responding to a newspaper advertisement for an all-female vocal ensemble in March 1994, she joined Victoria Adams, Melanie Brown and Melanie Chisholm to establish the core lineup that, once Emma Bunton was added, evolved into the Spice Girls. Widely regarded as the dominant pop sensation of the late 1990s, the group delivered successive chart-topping singles that included “Wannabe,” “Say You’ll Be There” and “2 Become 1.” As the act’s unofficial leader, Halliwell earned the Ginger Spice nickname from journalists, who frequently highlighted her garishly provocative costumes, heavy make-up and cheeky demeanor. While the Spice Girls’ popularity reached unprecedented heights, the five members appeared together in the 1997 feature film Spiceworld; nevertheless, after months of rumors, she departed the lineup in mid-1998 amid reports of intense internal conflict. Once separated from the group she cultivated an entirely different public image, favoring a simpler and more reserved appearance that aligned with her subsequent activities. In autumn 1998 she was appointed a United Nations ambassador and simultaneously championed breast-cancer awareness initiatives. Her return to recording came in mid-1999 with the single “Look at Me,” which entered the U.K. pop charts at number two; weeks afterward the album Schizophonic was issued alongside her autobiography If Only. Two years later she released Scream If You Wanna Go Faster, featuring her chart-topping reinterpretation of the disco standard “It’s Raining Men.” Before issuing her third studio album, Passion, in 2005, she produced two yoga instruction videos titled Geri Yoga and Geri Body Yoga and published the memoir Just for the Record.