Victoria Beckham and fellow Spice Girls lead birthday tributes for Mel B
By Carla Feric, Press Association Entertainment Reporter
Victoria Beckham and her fellow Spice Girls have led the birthday tributes for their bandmate Melanie Brown.
The singer, nicknamed Mel B or Scary Spice, has been flooded with messages of goodwill as she turns 51 on Friday, with the chart-topping girl group among those joining in the celebrations.
Beckham, known as Posh Spice, posted to her nearly 40 million followers on Instagram a throwback photo of herself embracing Brown, and wrote: “Happy birthday @OfficialMelB! Kisses xxx.”
Geri Halliwell-Horner, known as Ginger Spice, also posted on social media to mark the occasion and shared a black and white throwback photo of herself with Brown, smiling alongside a lion cub.
Beneath the post, which was shared to her 1.4 million followers, she wrote: “Happy birthday Melanie! Wishing you all the birthday love.”
Melanie Chisholm joined the celebrations with a video compilation of moments of herself alongside Brown during their time in the girl group together, set to their hit single Spice Up Your Life.
The singer poked fun at her bandmate, who was born in Leeds, and said: “Birthday girl @OfficialMelB, my northern nutter.”
Chisholm, known to fans as Mel C or Sporty Spice, continued: “Love these clips, us at our happiest on stage together, still buzzing that we got to do it again recently.
“Have the best Birthday! Love you to pieces. I pray we get to do it again soon.”
Emma Bunton also paid tribute with a recent image of herself and Brown laughing together, and the star added the song Holler by the Spice Girls over the snap.
The singer and actress, or Baby Spice, said: “Happy birthday @OfficialMelB! Love you to bits. Thank you for always making me laugh out loud!”
A video tribute was also shared to the Spice Girls’ official Instagram page of a compilation of archive clips of Brown during her time in the 1990s girl band, with many shots of the star flaunting her signature leopard print look.
The caption read: “Happy birthday to our Spice Sister @OfficialMelB. Lots of love from all of us!”
Hair stylist Rory McPhee, who tied the knot with Brown during a lavish ceremony last year, also wished Brown a happy birthday with a loved-up photo of the two together.
He wrote: “Happy birthday my love. Here’s to another year with the you the love of my life and now wife.”
Brown also received birthday wishes from Magic radio host Gaby Roslin, who shared an old clip of the singer appearing on her show and wrote “happy birthday gorgeous”, followed by a kissy face emoji.
The singer shot to fame in the Spice Girls after the release of their debut single, Wannabe, in 1996 which was followed by hits including Stop, 2 Become 1, Who Do You Think You Are? and Viva Forever.
After two years at the top of the charts, Halliwell-Horner shocked the world when she left the band in 1998, citing “differences between us”, and in December 2000 the rest of the group went their separate ways, announcing an indefinite hiatus.
The Spice Girls reunited in 2012 for the closing ceremony of the London Summer Olympics and in 2019 for their Spice World tour and since then, they have been the subject of speculation about a return to the stage.
