The Spice Girls' 'Wannabe' is 30 years old: what has become of all of them after all this time?

BarcelonaThere is an entire generation that if you say to them "If you wanna be my lover" they will automatically and inevitably answer "you gotta get with my friends". And this is thanks to the Spice Girls, who this week celebrated thirty years since they turned the world upside down with their triumphant appearance: a single called Wannabe. They were the dose of modernity that pop needed at the time. A group of empowered friends –when no one used this adjective yet– singing an ode to friendship and to putting a stop to sexism. All this in a dance-pop format and with a whole associated British aesthetic that was then synonymous with fresh exoticism.

The formula caught on and, even today, those of us who fell into their net back then can recite the entire lyrics of this hit despite the fact that, due to our age, we now have to make certain efforts to remember PINs and passwords for apps we use every day. Wannabe, one of the great anthems of contemporary pop, achieved extraordinary figures worldwide. It was number 1 in 37 countries, making it one of the most successful singles in pop history, and it was the best-selling single in the history of a girl group with around 7 million copies sold worldwide. All this without mentioning the music video, iconic from start to finish, made with a laborious single continuous shot with choreography on the stairs, Mel B's flying kick and Mel C's acrobatic somersault as toppings.

The song was the prelude to an album that would come a few months later called Spice. There they inoculated us with the poison of Girl Power that still today, fortunately, emerges in us, accompanied by some essential readings we have been doing. A poison that was nothing more than feminism in an accessible version. Accessible but not light, as there is nothing more subversive than taking the message to the furthest corner. That debut album came out when Victoria Adams – now Beckham –, Mel B., Emma Bunton, Geri Halliwell – now Horner – and Mel C. were known all over the world. Say you'll be there, 2 become 1, Mama or Who do you think you are went on to build the musical empire of young women between 20 and 23 years old who met when they answered a casting call and who, even before calling themselves Spice Girls – in 1994 they were called Touch – ditched the men who had brought them together to have more control of the group and ended up, already represented by Simon Fuller, signing with Virgin Records.

When they hadn't even had two years of success and were in the middle of a global tour, Geri Halliwell announced she was leaving and the Spice Girls became a quartet, which is how they remained until the year 2000, when the group went on hiatus. There was never any announcement of a separation until 2007, when they all reappeared in our lives to star in the tour The return of Spice Girls. Because they never use euphemisms. At the end of that tour, Victoria embarked on her solo path away from music forever more to position herself in the minds of the gays and girls of the world as a fashion designer, something she has finally achieved. It has been 14 years since we last saw the five of them together. It was at the closing ceremony of the London Olympic Games, when Victoria broke her own rule and joined her bandmates at the London Stadium to sing the Wannabe that concerns us today and also Spice up your life. But if all this has been their journey together, what has happened individually in their lives since they appeared on our radios compulsively three decades ago?

Victoria Beckham

She continued with the group until everyone's fright pushed her to release music solo. I'm not such an innocent girl (2001) is her single that has been most successful over the years. The prior fame was so great that her first album, eponymous, did not go badly, but singing was not what she did best and although she prepared a second one, she never wanted to release it. She herself has admitted on occasion that in performances they would turn off her microphone so as not to cause major problems. She is the only member of the group who, as a solo artist, has surpassed her previous level of celebrity. And she hedged her bets... When Geri had not yet left the group, Victoria was already engaged to one of the most handsome and media-friendly football players of all time, David Beckham. The rest is history. Four children together, realities, advertising campaigns, a fight with Ana Obregón, hating the eldest son's wife, marrying in purple and launching a fashion firm recognized by experts and laypeople in the sector have made her a global icon uninterruptedly since Wannabe.

Geri Halliwell

Leaving the first one served as a springboard for her to do more business in music, where she did well in the early days. She released three albums and her most successful hit was Mi chico latino, because she continued to be the hottest Spice even as a solo artist. Her version of It's raining men was also a success, with which some of us discovered the hit by the Wather Girls. Few remember that she was Robbie Williams' girlfriend one summer. In 2006, she had a daughter named Bluebell Madonna with film director Sacha Gervasi. The girl carries her surname because when she was born, her parents were no longer a couple. In 2015, she married the head of the Red Bull Racing team, Christian Horner, from a good family and very well connected in the United Kingdom. In 2016, Montague George Hector was born, their only child together. Despite the initial tensions, the relationship with her bandmates is now completely re-established.

Mel B.

With two solo albums and moving closer to R&B, Mel B did not have as much luck in music as some of her bandmates. In 1998, she married dancer Jimmy Gulzar, who worked for the Spice Girls. They had a daughter, Phoenix Chi Gulzar, and divorced in 2000. Six years later, Angel Iris Murphy Brown was born, the daughter of the singer and Eddie Murphy, who did not recognize her at first. A paternity test had to be done to achieve it. The case was sensational given the fame of both parents. Subsequently, she married American producer and director Stephen Belafonte, with whom she had Madison, her third and last daughter. She was married to Belafonte from 2007 to 2017. The divorce was very acrimonious, with accusations of abuse from her and a restraining order accepted by a judge. The artist explained that he had threatened to publicly release intimate videos of the couple. At that time, she also claimed to have been practically ruined.

Her stint as a judge on The X Factor brought her back to fame for new generations. Currently, Mel B is married to hairdresser Rory McPhee. She has had conflicts with her bandmates. Only Emma and Mel C. attended her 50th birthday party, and she has been kicked out of the WhatsApp group a few times because she reveals things that are discussed there. She was invited to Victoria's 50th birthday, but in the photos that emerged, the distance between her and the rest was very noticeable, as expressed by the non-verbal communication in the images. It was so much so that it became news inside and outside the United Kingdom.

Mel C.

She is the spice with the most solo albums, with a total of nine. Of the first one, Northern star, she sold four million copies. Never be the same again reached number 1 in the UK and is one of her most remembered hits. Few remember that before Geri, she was the one who had a relationship with Robbie Williams, the golden boy of that era. She became a mother in 2009 to a girl named Scarlett Starr, daughter of a real estate entrepreneur named Thomas Starr. Pigeonholed as the sporty spice, she suffered a lot of pressure regarding her physique and, over the years, has explained that she had to overcome an eating disorder.

Emma Bunton

The spice girl baby released a total of four solo albums. Each had less impact than the previous one. The melodic pop-rock song What took you so long? was her most notable hit. In 2001, it was number 1 in the United Kingdom. The music video, slightly inspired by Shania Twain's That don't impress me much, served to give her a more adult image than she had always had. Always on the sidelines of controversy, her personal life has always been accompanied by singer Jade Jones, with whom she started in 1998 and with whom she is still. They have two children: Beau Lee Jones and Tate Lee Jones. Beyond the tax dispute over the income from the 2019 Spice Girls tour, the most controversial gossip of her journey as an artist was the rumor that linked her to the group's manager, Simon Fuller, who is 15 years older than her. It remained just a rumor.