Cosmo Girl-Febuary 2000
The Spice Girls may have made her a superstar, but this Sporty diva always
wanted to be more than just one of the Girls.
By Dylan Siegler
You might think Melanie Chisholm (that's Sporty Spice" to you) has it all
- major talent, famous friends, and an endless supply of cool clothes. But
after five years as part of the tightest knit girl group on the planet,
Melanie felt the urge to step into the spotlight solo. One day, she was
cruising around London in her little BMW Z3 when she heard her former
Spice pal Geri (Ginger) Halliwell's debut single on the radio for the
first time. "Something just clicked," says Melanie. "Geri was going in a
direction I wanted to go - yet I didn't want to leave the group." So she
hatched a plan: Ditch London for sunny Los Angeles for a few months to
work on her first solo album, Northern Star. Spice of Life Wee, she pulled
it off! And Melanie has put her very own punk-rock spin on traditional
girl-power pop. "I guess now you can call me Indie Spice," she says.
Melanie has always wanted to be a singing star. As a kid, she'd ham it up
when she was home alone, elting out Madonna tunes into her pretend
microphone (the remote control!) and prancing around her living room like
she was in her own private music video. She confesses that she still bops
around her apartment having private karaoke moments. "My mom caught me
doing it!" Melanie says. "She just laughed. I was so embarrassed!" But
performing solo without the safety of the Spice Girls was a big personal
risk for super-shy Melanie. Sure, she puts on a good show for millions of
devoted Spice fans, and she wears a gold tooth that just screams "Look at
me!" But Melanie swears that when she's offstage, she can't bear to call
attention to herself. Case in point: On her first day of high school, she
banged her knee on her desk right at the beginning of class and got a
really bad cut. "I should have raised my hand to ask the teacher if I
could leave to see the nurse," she says. "But I was so shy, I just sat
there with my knee bleeding the whole time!"
Even now, though she could probably have her pick of hot guys (for the
record, Melanie says she likes 'em tall, dark, and handsome: "Someone to
give you a big hug and protect you"), she still gets all sweaty and
tongue-tied when she's face to face with a major babe. "I just got
interviewed the other day by this guy I thought was really nice looking,"
she says. "I turned completely red and got so nervous I could barely
speak. I just had to remind myself, 'Breathe!'"
Tears and Cheers-Melanie's so emotional, you could call her Sensitive
Spice - she'll cry at the drop of a hat. "If I'm over tired or I have PMS,
I'll cry," she says. Even some of her more personal songs bring tears to
her eyes. "The song 'Angel On My Shoulder' is dedicated to my step grandma
and grandfather, who both died of cancer. Every time I sing it, I
cry."Other tear jerkers? Soap operas and sad movies.But after she has had
a good cry, Melanie's not one to wallow in misery.The one thing that
always cheers her up? "Nikes! I own 200 pairs," she says. An endless
supply of sneaks may be a perk of superstardom, but Melanie doesn't take
fame for granted, especially since she almost wasn't a Spice Girl.(The
group's creators had already picked their five songsters. When one girl
left,Melanie stepped into her shoes..er,sneakers.) Now that she's had a
taste of independence, Melanie and the girls are tighter than ever (and
planning to release an album later this year). "I'm really lucky to have
such close friends," she says. "But we're close in different ways.
Whenever I'm feeling down, Emma's always more reassuring. Victoria is the
logical one, and Melanie G's always like 'Come on, girl, get yourself
together!'" But what about Geri? Does Melanie have
any lingering feelings of competitiveness? "We're still friends," she
says. "But her success made me realize that I needed to make my life
happen on my terms."
Go get 'em, Indie Spice!.