Spice Girls Celebrate 30th Anniversary of Girl Power With Throwback Audition Video
Monday (March 4) was a monumental calendar flip in the history of the Spice Girls. The legendary 1990s girl group featuring Baby Spice (Emma Bunton), Ginger Spice (Geri Halliwell), Posh Spice (Victoria Beckham), Scary Spice (Mel B) and Sporty (Mel C) celebrated the 30th anniversary of their first audition for the band with a throwback video of their original try-outs.
“Today marks the 30th anniversary of the very first Spice Girls auditions!,” they wrote. “What started back in 1994 has turned into an amazing journey, way beyond anything we could have ever imagined. Thank you to our fans for your support from day one #FriendshipNeverEnds.”
The 30-second clip cued to the group’s signature 1996 debut hit “Wannabe,” features footage of the casually dressed quintet going through their choreo paces, goofing around between dances and generally laughing and having a blast as the familiar girl power chorus rings out, “friendship never ends.”
Back in the day, “Wannabe” spent four weeks at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 in early 1997, and is one of the group’s nine U.K. No. 1 singles. “Wannabe” continues to have legs, passing one billion Spotify streams in late 2023.
The group went on hiatus in 2000, returning in 2007 for a global tour and again in 2018-2019, though without Beckham, who has not participated in the Girls’ activities for more than a decade. The last time all five women shared a performance stage was at the London Olympics in 2012. Back in early January, though, Mel B teased that the Girls were planning yet another reunion this year to mark three decades of empowerment.
“I’ve been saying it forever. But now we’re actually going to be releasing some really good news in about a few weeks that involves all five of us,” she said when asked about a potential get-back on TODAY. “It’s going to be the gift that keeps on giving, without saying too much about it. I’m going to get myself into so much trouble.” At press time no official information about the Girls’ 2024 activities was available.
Check out the Spice Girls anniversary video below.
Gil Kaufman
Billboard
