First a brief history of the legendary
British girl group, the Spice Girls. Formed by audition in 1994, the quintet of
Mel B, Mel C, Emma Bunton, Geri Halliwell, and Victoria Adams broke into the
big time two years later with hit 1996 singles “Wannabe,” “Say You’ll Be There”
and “2 Become 1,” which form the nucleus of their debut album “Spice.” Their
popularity surge was compared to the Beatles, and the group was hailed as
bastions of “Girl Power” and Cool Britannia until the 1998 departure of Geri,
which led to the Spice Girls going on hiatus until reunions in the 2000s and
on.
For Spice Girls fans who felt
that Geri pursuing a solo career led to the group’s technical dissolution, what
she said last Saturday might be a welcome balm. BBC reports that on June 15, the final concert night of the
UK-Ireland 2019 Spice World tour, the girls took time to make some statements
to the crowd at Wembley Stadium, ranging from greetings to a teaser by Mel B
about a Spice Girls concert tour in Australia next year. The now aged 46 Geri Halliwell-Horner
however gave an apology for departing the group in 1998, a pronouncement that
stirred the audience.
‘I was being a brat’ - Geri apologises for leaving the Spice Girls (in a way that connected with me, at least, more than ever) #spicegirls #spice #geri #icanbeabrattoo pic.twitter.com/0UPnshgC6F— Jamie Tabberer (@jamietabberer) June 15, 2019
Stating that she had something
she wanted to tell her band-mates and fans for a long time, and with Mel B and
C and Emma standing at her sides, Geri said, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry I left.
I was just being a brat. It is so good to be back with the girls that I
love." While the original official line that “Ginger” Spice gave when it
happened in 1998 was that she had become exhausted and was looking for a break,
when interviewed for the 2007 Spice Girl reunion documentary “Giving You Everything,”
Geri noted that her decision was born out of a growing emotional distance with
her companions.
Geri embarked on a brief solo
career starting in 1999 and lasting into the mid-2000s, at which point she
settled down to become a mother and writer of children’s books up until she was
called to the first Spice Girls reunion tour. The last time the group was able
to perform with a whole roster was during their set at the closing ceremony of
the 2012 London Summer Olympics. Subsequent reunion concerts with Geri involved
tended to have one or two other band members absent.
Other heartwarming moments in the
final Spice World 2019 concert at Wembley included an encore performance of “Mama,”
with the Spice Girls’ parents and their own children present in a full-circle
serenade. Emma Bunton also broke down earlier while singing “Viva Forever” due
to the tour coming to an end.
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