Spice Girls celebrate 30 years of ‘song that changed our lives forever’ Wannabe
By Casey Cooper-Fiske, Press Association Senior Entertainment Reporter
The former members of the Spice Girls have celebrated the 30th anniversary of their debut single Wannabe saying it “changed our lives forever”.
The 1990s pop group, made up of Victoria Beckham, Emma Bunton, Melanie Brown, Melanie Chisholm, and Geri Halliwell-Horner, rose to the top of the charts after Wannabe was released in 1996, and went on to become one of the biggest girl groups of all-time achieving nine UK number one singles.
Chisholm, who was known as Sporty Spice in the band, posted on Instagram: “30 years of girl power, happy birthday Wannabe, I love you @emmaleebunton @victoriabeckham @officialmelb @gerihalliwellhorner @biffco, and Matt Rowe (the latter two having written the song).
“The song that changed our lives forever.”
Brown, who was Scary Spice in the group, posted the song’s “zigazig ahhhh” line on Instagram and added “yippee”, while Bunton, who was known as Baby Spice, echoed Chisholm’s message and told bandmates and fans: “Love you all, thank you.”
Halliwell-Horner, who was known as Ginger Spice in the group, said in her post: “30 Years of Wannabe – thank you to my beautiful spice sisters @victoriabeckham, @officialmelb, @melaniecmusic, @emmaleebunton, and thank you to the fans for joining us.”
In an interview with the Press Association earlier this year, Chisholm said she wanted to celebrate the anniversary with her former bandmates, although she was unsure what shape that would take, describing a rumoured Netflix documentary as “one of those curious news reports you see”.
She went on to say that other ideas had been discussed, and added that the “milestone” of turning 50 had seen the band’s members “start to really appreciate everybody”, and added “we’re discussing things a lot more than we than we have done in the past”.
Chisholm said: “We’re in discussions, and we do want to mark the anniversary and, of course, we want to celebrate our incredible legacy, but it’s just finding the thing we all agree on that is the right thing to do, but I always remain very optimistic.
“We’re in such a good place as people and as friends, and I think that’s the most positive base we can be on.”
During their time together, the group also achieved two UK number one albums, and are also well known for songs such as Say You’ll Be There, 2 Become 1 and Spice Up Your Life.
