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Melanie Chisholm

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Melanie Chisholm, known as Melanie C or Mel C, is an English singer and songwriter. She was born in 1974 in Whiston and grew up in Widnes. After auditions she became one of the five Spice Girls, in which she was called Sporty Spice. With the group she sold more than a hundred million records.

Music and breakthrough

As early as 1998 she made When You're Gone with Bryan Adams, which reached number three in England. Her first solo album, Northern Star (1999), produced two number 1 hits: Never Be the Same Again and I Turn to You. The album sold about four million copies worldwide.

Influence

After leaving Virgin she started a label of her own in 2004, Red Girl Records, on which she funded and released her records herself. In this way, among others, Beautiful Intentions (2005), This Time (2007), The Sea (2011), Version of Me (2016) and Melanie C (2020) appeared. Her ninth album, Sweat, reached number 3 in England in May 2026: her highest position as a solo artist and the highest of all the Spice Girls. In 2009 she appeared in the West End musical Blood Brothers, which earned her a nomination for a Laurence Olivier Award, and in 2022 her memoir Who I Am appeared. Chisholm is thus an example of a group member who, after the hype, built a long, independent career with a label of her own as its base.

Listening

Listening tip. Listen in Never Be the Same Again to the calm R&B beat and the rap verse by Lisa 'Left Eye' Lopes of TLC. Notice the contrast between Chisholm's soft, high singing and the fast, dry rap.

Discography

Studio albums

In School of Rock

The chapters, maps and magazine stories of School of Rock are currently available in Dutch only.

Categories: Artists