Geri Halliwell

Geri Halliwell
Geri Halliwell
	;
Background information
Birth name	Geraldine Estelle Halliwell
Also known as	'Ginger Spice', 'Ginger', 'Trixie Firecracker', 'Betty Bogbuster', 'G'
Born	6 August 1972 (age 51); Watford, Hertfordshire, England, United Kingdom
Genre	Pop, dance-pop, pop-rock
Occupations	Singer, songwriter, actress, author, philanthropist
Instrument	Vocals
Years active	1994–present
Labels	Virgin (1996–1998) ; EMI (1999–2003) ; Innocent (2004–2005)
Associated acts	Spice Girls
Website	Official Website

Geraldine 'Geri' Estelle Halliwell-Horner (born 6 August 1972, Watford, UK), also known as 'Ginger Spice' (in the pop group the Spice Girls) is an English pop singer, songwriter, television personality, writer, and actress.

Biography[]

1970s[]

Early Life[]

Geri was born at Watford General Hospital (in Watford, Hertfordshire, England, United Kingdom) to Laurence Francis Halliwell (b. 1922; d. 1993), who was of English and Irish/Swedish descent, and his wife, Ana María Halliwell (née Hidalgo), from Huesca, Spain. For a brief time, Geri's mother wanted to bring her up as a Jehovah's Witness.

1980s[]

Education[]

Halliwell took her A-Levels at Camden School for Girls, obtaining an A-level in English at the A-grade standard, having taken her GCSEs at Watford Girls Grammar School.

Pre-Spice Career[]

Before starting her music career, Halliwell had worked as a nightclub dancer in Mallorca, Spain, and as a silent presenter on the Turkish version of Let's Make a Deal. At the age of 19, she appeared as a "Page 3 Girl"—posing nude in glamour shots—in The Sun. Following the Spice Girls' rise to fame, the same nude photos of Halliwell were later republished in a number of international publications, including the American editions of Playboy and Penthouse, in 1996.

1990s[]

The Spice Girls[]

In the 1990s, Halliwell would eventually find international fame as one of the five founding members of the girl group the Spice Girls, in which she would be dubbed "Ginger Spice" by Top of the Pops magazine in 1996, on account of her red hair and sassy, assertive attitude. She, along with fellow group member Melanie Brown ("Scary Spice"), later became known for wearing flashy and outrageous stage costumes, including high platform sneakers and combat boots, often garnering extensive publicity.

Geri's personality and "leadership" role in the group was compared to that of John Lennon during his early Beatles days.

On 30 May 1998, Halliwell quit the Spice Girls towards the end of their Spiceworld Tour's sold-out European leg, allegedly due to depression and differences between the group. It would later be stated by Halliwell that she had wished to speak at a breast cancer awareness event, as she herself had had a benign cyst removed surgically in her late teens, and the cause was important to her; she claimed her group mates and the Spice Girls' team prevented her from attending, something she felt clashed with the group's staunchly feminist views. The Spice Girls had performed on television recently as a quartet, minus Halliwell, on Top of the Pops, claiming Halliwell was "not feeling well" and wishing her a speedy recovery. The first official televised announcement to the media was made the following day, by her attorney, on 31 May. Her actions sparked controversy, as the Spice Girls were due to embark on the sold-out North American leg of their tour, which they ultimately completed as a four-piece group without her. Her public statement, passed through her solicitor Julian Turton (and spokesman for the remaining four members, Alan Edwards), stated:

"This is a message to the fans. Sadly, I would like to confirm I have left the Spice Girls; this is because of differences between us. I am sure that the group will continue to be successful, and I wish them all the best. I have no immediate plans and I wish to apologise to all the fans and to thank them and everyone who's been there.

Lots of love, Geri. PS: I will be back."

Although she had already left the group, the Spice Girls released the single "Viva Forever", along with an accompanying animated music video, the final video as a group to feature Halliwell's likeness. The single was the group's last UK number-one hit as a quintet. After Geri's departure, the Spice Girls co-wrote several songs regarding the split, which were included on their subsequent third album, Forever (2000), namely the #1 single "Goodbye" and "Let Love Lead the Way".

Politics[]

In the run-up to the 1997 UK General Election, Halliwell declared:

"I saw a lot of what Mrs Thatcher did. She was definitely the original Spice Girl rising from the greengrocer's daughter to Prime Minister."

Halliwell claimed that her political background was deeply-rooted in support for the Conservative Party, that Thatcher was the pioneer of Girl Power, and a "spiritual sixth member" of the Spice Girls. She had also claimed, in 1996, that Tony Blair was "not a safe pair of hands for the economy".

Schizophonic[]

Shortly after leaving the Spice Girls, Halliwell appeared in a 90-minute documentary titled Geri for Channel 4, produced by Molly Dineen. There had also been a change in Halliwell's outward appearance, as seen in her fit figure and her change of hair colour from ginger to blonde.

Halliwell released her debut album following her split from the Spice Girls, Schizophonic (1999), which was a global success, spawning three UK number-one singles: the Broadway-jazz inspired "Look at Me", the lighthearted "Lift Me Up", and the Spanish-flavoured "Mi Chico Latino".

UNFPA[]

In 1999, after having left the Spice Girls, Halliwell became a representative for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). As a goodwill ambassador, she toured the Philippines on a fact-finding trip, visiting with staff and clients of family-planning clinics, women's groups in underserved areas, as well as college students.

2000s[]

Scream If You Wanna Go Faster[]

In 2001 Halliwell followed-up Schizophonic with her sophomore album, Scream If You Wanna Go Faster. The record included a cover version of The Weather Girls' 1983 hit, It's Raining Men. The song was added to the album at the last minute, as another song, "Feels Like Sex", had already been slated as the lead single. The singles that followed, the title track and "Calling", reached #8 and #7, respectively, in the United Kingdom. Scream If You Wanna Go Faster was not officially marketed or released in the United States.

Politics[]

By the 2001 General Election, Halliwell had suddenly switched her support to Tony Blair and the Labour Party, making a cameo appearance in one of their party election broadcasts.

Branching Out[]

In 2002, Geri was featured alongside Pete Waterman and Louis Walsh (a former Spice Girls backup dancer) as a judge on the television series Popstars: The rivals which spawned the successful group Girls Aloud. The following year, she released her second autobiography, Just for the Record, detailing her rise to fame and her turbulent celebrity lifestyle. She has also released two Yoga DVDs with her yoga teacher Katy Appleton, Geri Yoga and Geri Body Yoga. In the US, Halliwell has also appeared as a judge on the reality programme All American Girl and as a guest reporter on celebrity-based series Extra. She has also made appearances in the television series Sex and the City and in the 2004 film Fat Slags, based on characters from Viz Magazine. In 2004, Halliwell appeared on channel Five as one of the hosts of the Party in the Park event for The Prince's Trust, the presenter and main performer of the Tickled Pink Girls' night in Live! event and an appearance in a documentary There's Something About Geri.

Passion[]

In late 2004, Geri again made a return to music with the single Ride It, which reached number four in the United Kingdom and number one on the dance charts. However several months passed with no material surfacing due to Geri being unhappy with the setlist of her album Passion and released another single Desire, which both proved to be unsuccessful. Halliwell's recording contract with EMI was subsequently not renewed, and in recent interviews Halliwell has stated that she is not interested in recording another album at the moment and was content with writing children's books and being a mother.

After her album Passion was a failure, Halliwell fired her managers, the married team Paul and Katie Conroy in October 2005, and went to Los Angeles to work on unnamed projects. Soon after, she was photographed by the paparazzi, having put on weight and looking exhausted. The tabloids reported that Halliwell was pregnant, which was subsequently confirmed. Sacha Gervasi is reported to be the child's father, but Halliwell has never publicly confirmed that. On 7 March 2006, Hello! magazine published an interview with Geri:

"It is tacky to kiss and tell, I would never deprive a child of the right to know its father."

Bluebell[]

On 14 May 2006, Halliwell gave birth to her daughter, Bluebell Madonna, by caesarean section at London's Portland Hospital with her sister by her side. Explaining her name choice, she said:

"What really clinched it for me was my mother telling me that the bluebell is increasingly rare – so it's a precious flower, which seems just right for my daughter."

Her daughter's middle name came from two of Halliwell's heroines, the Virgin Madonna and pop singer Madonna. During her pregnancy Halliwell studied Kabbalah. On 23 April 2007, all of The Spice Girls except Melanie Brown attended the christening of Geri's daughter, with Victoria Beckham, Emma Bunton and George Michael's partner Kenny Goss serving as godparents.

Return of the Spice Girls[]

In 2007 Geri Halliwell returned to The Spice Girls for their tour "The Return of the Spice Girls". This would be the last time that The Spice Girls would tour as a quintet. This was the final tour to feature Victoria Beckham and Mel C.

On the Spice Girls reunion tour of 2007–08, Geri met dancer Ivan "Flipz" Velez. They dated for six months before breaking up in November 2008. According to the Sun, she became engaged to Italian multimillionaire Fabrizio Politi in January 2009 after only a month together. However, the couple broke up in March 2009. She has been dating aristocrat Henry Beckwith since March 2009.

Ugenia Lavender[]

On 12 April 2007, it was announced that Halliwell had signed a six-book deal with Macmillan Children's Books. The books follow the adventures of nine-year-old Ugenia, a character based on Halliwell, alongside her friends Bronte, Rudy and Trevor.

She went on to do more TV appearances as well as starring in film Crank: High Voltage.

Geri temporarily gave up singing and continues to write books.

2010s[]

New Album[]

In March 2010, the vocal coach and singer Carrie Grant announced on ITV1's The Alan Titchmarsh Show that Halliwell would be making a return to music. The following month Halliwell announced through her official website that she was back in the studio and recording. Her fourth album was released as a greatest hits album.

The X-Factor[]

Main Article: The X-Factor

It was revealed in May 2010 that Geri would be the replacement for Danii Minogue instead of Melanie Brown.

2012 Brief Spice Girls Reunion[]

In 2012 The Spice Girls performed as a quintet one last time for the closing ceremonies for the 2012 Olympic Games. This would be the last performance to feature Victoria Beckham and Mel C.

Spice Girls 20th Anniversary[]

In 2016 Mel B, Emma Bunton, and Geri Halliwell reunited as The Spice Girls for the 20th anniversary of "Wannabe". A new album and tour are expected in 2017. Victoria Beckham and Mel C opted to not be part of the reunion to focus on their own careers.