Melanie Jayne Chisholm (born January 12, 1974 in Liverpool), also known as Melanie C or Mel C, is a singer and successful English female artist. She has co-written eleven chart topping singles. In the early years of her singing career she was one fifth of the hugely successful English girl group the Spice Girls. Since then she has released three solo albums and many hit singles.
Chisholm, along with Melanie Brown, Geri Halliwell, Emma Bunton, and Victoria Beckham, shot to fame in 1996 with the release of " Wannabe" (in which she was shown performing a backflip on one of the tables). Often to be found in a tracksuit and with her hair in a ponytail, Chisholm earned the nickname "Sporty Spice" from Top of the Pops magazine (all of the group were given humorous nicknames in a small piece titled "Spice Rack").
The Spice Girls dominated the late 1990s, selling over forty million albums in just two years. From the early days, Melanie was widely considered the most musically capable of the group.
Chisholm took her first steps in establishing a solo identity in late 1998 by duetting with Canadian rocker Bryan Adams on the massively successful song "When You're Gone". Though it never topped the charts (UK #3), 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, the rocky "Goin' Down" (UK #4) was chosen as the first single from the album. Though it failed to make a huge impact in the charts or do much for album sales, the single and its video showed the world a different side to Melanie Chisholm.
