: Melanie Brown at IMDB Melanie B Discography Always Melanie B (fansite) Sources To Catch A Fire book written by Melanie Brown [14]Spice GirlsVictoria Beckham • Melanie Brown • Emma Bunton • Melanie Chisholm • Geri HalliwellStudio alb
Melanie Janine Brown (born May 29 1975 in Leeds, West Yorkshire) (aka Melanie B) is an English pop singer best known as one of the members of the girl band the Spice Girls, one of the most successful female groups of all time. She was given the nickname "Scary Spice" by the British media, due to her outrageous attitude, manner of dress, and voluminously curly hair.
Biography
Brown is of mixed race parentage, born to English mother Andrea and Nevisian father Martin. She has a younger sister named Danielle. Growing up, both sisters faced strong racism, living in a mostly white area. She studied dance until applying for an advertisement which eventually began her music career as one-fifth of the UK girl group the Spice Girls. She embarked on a solo music career away from the Spice Girls in 1998, which although initially successful, has struggled in recent years.
Following her rise to fame, Brown had a long relationship with Icelandic Fjolnir Thorgeirsson, a short relationship with Australian singer Peter Andre. While on the Spiceworld Tour, Brown began a romatic relationship with Dutch dancer Jimmy Gulzar. They married on the 13th September 1998 [1], following which Brown was professionally known as 'Melanie G'. Their only child together, daughter Phoenix Chi, was born on the 19th February 1999 [2]. Marriage problems ensued, including allegations of abusive and inattentive behaviour by Gulzar, and by mid-1999 Brown had filed for divorce, which was finalized in January of 2000[3]. The custody battle for her daughter was highly publicised; Brown won custody, but had to pay a large alimony settlement of £1.25M to her ex husband[4]. Brown's next serious relationship was with British actor Max Beesley, from whom she split in 2002 [5]. She is now dating actor Eddie Murphy.
In 2003 she moved to Los Angeles, CA with her daughter Phoenix Chi, stating that she plans to reside there permanently.
Musical career
At the height of the Spice Girls' success, Brown was invited to work with Missy Elliot on the single I Want You Back, a song for the soundtrack of the film Why Do Fools Fall in Love. It was recorded in just one afternoon, due to Brown's busy Spice Girls schedule. The video featured Brown's then husband Jimmy Gulzar, who appeared chained and submissive to his wife. Upon its British release in September 1998, I Want You Back sold 80,000 copies in its first week alone, giving Brown her first and only solo #1 in her home country. This was confirmed on the day that the Spice Girls played their last world tour concert at Wembley Stadium in front of 52,000 fans. Ultimately the single went on to sell 218,000 copies, and became the 82nd Bestselling British Single of 1998 [6].
Following the suggestion of Jimmy Gulzar, Brown covered Cameo's 1986 hit Word Up as her next solo release. The track was notable for being produced by Timbaland. Promotion for the record was limited, due to Brown being heavily pregnant at the time with her daughter Phoenix Chi. This resulted in it flopping in the UK (peaking at #14), making it the lowest charting Spice Girls related single of the 90s [7]. The European video was a surreal animation, directed by Jimmy. Although the track was ultimately not used for Brown's solo album, it was featured on the soundtrack for Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, for which it had a separate video prepared for the US market, depicting Brown as a strange alien creature in Doctor Evil's moon base with Mini-Me (Vern Troyer).
Following the disappointing performance of Word Up , Brown stepped away from her music career for a while. Turning to television work, she hosted Pure Naughty, a weekly BBC2 magazine show focusing on black music. She also hosted the 1999 MOBO Awards with Wyclef Jean, and took part in a short film entitled Fish.
Hot - Debut Solo Album
 Album cover of Hot, Brown's first solo album. As a way of dealing with the problems of her marriage, Brown continued working on her debut solo album. She worked with producers such as Sisqo, Teddy Riley, and Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis (Janet Jackson, Prince), with whom she was also working on the Spice Girls' third album, Forever.
September 2000 saw the first single release from the album, Tell Me. The track debuted at #4 in the UK charts with about 40,000 copies sold in its first week. It ultimately sold approximately 100,000 copies, and was the 158th best seller of 2000 [8]. The album, Hot, was released one month later on October 3, but performed poorly following mediocre reviews [9]. It sold only 7,419 copies in its first week, earning it a disappointing chart position of #28, and it quickly fell out of the charts [10].
Following the release of Feels So Good, which was only a relative hit, rumours started circulating that if her next single flopped, Brown would be dropped by her record company, Virgin Records. In May, Brown performed a small set at the London G-A-Y Astoria club, her only solo gig until 2004. Eventually a third single was released in June 2001, Lullaby, a pop number dedicated to her daughter. It was accompanied by a very simple video shot in Morocco and featured Brown with Phoenix Chi. The media criticised Brown for using her child in the music video and single artwork, labelling her as Desperate Spice and insinuating that she was exploiting her child as a marketing tool. The single entered and peaked at a disappointing #13, and Virgin promptly dumped Brown from their label [11].
Non-Musical Works
From 2001 to 2004 Melanie B concentrated on a variety of non singing projects. She hosted a number of TV shows such as This Is My Moment (a talent show) and shot a documentary called Voodoo Princess which got many good reviews. She took part in smaller projects such as Top Of The Pops and The All Star Animal Awards. She has appeared in an advert for the Yorkshire tourist board in a series which included contributions from other Yorkshire-born celebrities.
In 2002 she released her autobiography, Catch A Fire, which reached #7 in the official books chart and saw her touring the UK to promote it with a run of book signings.
Acting
In her autobiography Catch A Fire Melanie talked about how she loses interest in her passions with time. She lost interest in dancing once she found music (with the Spice Girls), and after her album failed to meet expectations she found herself not interested in making another. With that she turned to acting.
Outside of SpiceWorld and 'Fish' Melanie's first real role came in the form of a British drama, Burn It. She appeared in a horror flick entitled, Lethal Dose, which was released directly to DVD in 2004.
She acted in a long run of shows as part of the cast for the Vagina Monologues which was a big success in the UK. She was in the movie The Seat Filler, co-produced by Will Smith and starring Destiny's Child star Kelly Rowland.
Return To Music:LA State of Mind
In April 2004 Brown was approached to take part in the musical Rent. She played the role of Mimi, a drug-addicted young girl, and achieved positive reviews, but not from the show's fanbase. A few weeks after Brown finished her Rent stint, she played her second and last solo gig to date in a New York club, performing some songs from the musical and showcasing some new material she had written. As the songs received positive feedback, Brown decided to release them a year later through an independent label, Amber Café.
The only single from the album, Today, saw a UK release in June 2005. Brown had stated it was just a gift to her fans, and minus a few small appearances no promotion was made. Today entered the singles chart at an extremely poor #41, selling a meagre 1,000 copies in its first week.
The album, LA State Of Mind, was released on the 27th June 2005 in two formats: as a regular CD and as a Limited Edition with a 30 minute DVD documentary detailing Brown's life in LA. The album fared even worse than its lead single, selling just 670 copies in its first week. LA State Of Mind charted at a disastrous #453, before falling down to number #1,581 the next week [12].
Rumours of a second single were fuelled by Beautiful Girl bouncing around on the UK Singles Release Schedule for a couple of months. Allegedly a video was made, but due to the huge flop of both the previous single and the album, this release never materialised. Brown was not dropped from Amber Café; both parties decided to ambicably part ways.
Future Plans
During the promotion of the LA State Of Mind project, Brown hinted in an interview that a reunion of the Spice Girls could be forthcoming for a Greatest Hits album. Rumours started circulating that the band might reunite for the upcoming Live 8 concert taking place the 2nd of July 2005 in London's Hyde Park. The girls were all approached by Sir Bob Geldof who was seriously interested in reuniting the band, but Brown was the only one who refused due to "other commitments".
It was known afterwards that Brown's "commitment" she couldn't postpone was the current writing of a new sitcom, as yet unsold.
She starred as a detective in a new teen-thriller movie called Telling Lies expected to be released fall of 2006.
Tabloids began reporting in late 2005 that Brown is carefully considering a come-back in 2006 with new music, more movie roles and TV projects. Brown has confirmed she has several projects in the works and has told fans to "watch this spice": Video.
Melanie's personal life has become of tabloid interest lately with tabloids all around the world reporting on her possibly dating/being engaged to actor Eddie Murphy. Most stories claim the pair met and within a few weeks had tattoos of each other's names. They also apparently have been inseparable running all around LA and Hollywood though only one picture has surfaced. They are supposedly planning a wedding in the next few months. None of this has been confirmed or denied by Melanie or Eddie as yet. On Oct. 17, 2006 AOLclaimed that she is in fact having a baby by Eddie or maybe even twins.[13].
Discography
Albums
| Cover
| Title
| Tracklising
| Released
| Chart Position
|
| Hot
|
- "Feels So Good" - 5:05
- "Tell Me" - 4:33
- "Hell No" - 4:18
- "Lullaby" - 3:25
- "Hotter" - 3:14
- "Step Inside" - 3:59
- "ABC 123" - 3:13
- "I Believe" - 4:00
- "I Want You Back" - 3:26
- "Pack Your Shit" - 4:20
- "Feel Me Now" - 4:58
| October 9 2000
| UK #28
|
| LA State Of Mind
|
- "Today" - 3:16
- "Stay In Bed Days" - 4:04
- "Beautiful Girl" - 3:48
- "Music Of The Night (Perdido)" - 3:48
- "If I Had My Life Again" - 4:42
- "In Too Deep" - 4:00
- "Sweet Pleasure" - 3:39
- "LA State Of Mind" - 3:43
- "Say Say Say" - 3:53
- "Bad, Bad Girl" - 3:25
- "Hold On" - 3:55
| June 27 2005
| UK #453
|
Singles
| Cover
| Title
| Tracklising
| Released
| Chart Position
|
| I Want You Back
|
- "I Want You Back (Radio Edit)" - 3:25
- "I Want You Back (Soundtrack Version)" - 3:51
- "I Want You Back (MAW Remix)" - 8:22
| September 14 1998
| UK #1
|
| Word Up
|
- "Word Up (Radio Edit)" - 3:25
- "Sophisiticated Lady" - 2:44
- "Word Up (Tim's Dance Mix)" - 5:32
- "Word Up Interactive Video"
| June 28 1999
| UK #14
|
| Tell Me
|
CD1
- "Tell Me (Radio Edit)" - 3:55
- "Tell Me (Soul Central Remix)" - 4:20
- "Tell Me (Silk's House Workout 7" Remix) - 4:05
- "Tell Me Interactive Video"
CD2
- "Tell Me (Album Version) - 4:33
- "Tell Me (Untouchables Remix) - 4:31
- "Tell Me (NDB Remix) - 5:42
| September 25 2000
| UK #4
|
| Feels So Good
|
- "Feels So Good" - 4:02
- "Feels So Good (Maurice's Feeling Good Soul Radio Mix)" - 4:09
- "Feels So Good (Blacksmith R&B Rub)" - 5:22
- "Feels So Good Interactive Video"
| February 19 2001
| UK #5
|
| Lullaby
|
- "Lullaby - 3:25
- "Lullaby (India-I Remix) - 3:49
- "Feels So Good (Maurice's On The Fly Dub) - 6:40
- "Lullaby Interactive Video"
| June 4 2001
| UK #13
|
| Today
|
CD1
- "Today (Album Version)" - 3:16
- "Bad, Bad Girl" - 3:25
CD2
- "Today (Album Version)" - 3:16
- "Music Of The Night (Perdido) - 3:48
| June 13 2005
| UK #41
|
Filmography
External links
Sources
- To Catch A Fire book written by Melanie Brown
- [14]
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This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from Wikipedia This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from Wikipedia |
