Mel B the biography

Melanie Brown, Singer, - Biography, Mel B, Scary Spice,

Birth name Melanie Janine Brown
Also known as Mel B, Scary Spice, Melanie G, Mel G
Born May 29, 1975, Leeds, West Yorkshire, Britain,

Height 5 foot 5 ( 1.65 m )

Melanie Janine Brown ( aka Mel B ) is a pop singer & songwriter turned actress & television personality 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 because of her outrageous, "in-your-face" attitude, her manner of dress (which often consisted of leopard-print outfits) & her voluminously curly hair.

Biography
Brown is of mixed race parentage, born to a white English mother Andrea & a black Nevisian father Martin. She has a younger sister named Danielle. She studied performing arts at the now famous Intake High School in her home city of Leeds, before entering the entertainment industry. She gained work as a dancer in Blackpool & successfully auditioned for an all-girl group. Brown saw an advertisement for an audition in The Stage, a newspaper for actors, singers & dancers. After an audition for Heart Management (Chris & Bob Herbert), Brown started her music career in a band known as Touch. The group left the original management team & eventually teamed up with music manager Simon Fuller. Here, she & the other girls were launched on the world as the Spice Girls. After worldwide success in the group she embarked on a solo music career in 1998. After initial success, including a No.1 hit, her first solo album led to her parting company with Virgin Records. In 2005 she released a further album which was barely promoted, as her life was based in L.A. where she is pursuing an acting career.

Musical career
At the height of the Spice Girls' success, Brown was invited to work with Missy Elliott 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 & 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 & 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 sold 218,000 copies & became the 82nd Bestselling British Single of 1998.

At the suggestion of her then-husband Jimmy Gulzar, Brown covered Cameo's 1986 hit Word Up as her next solo release. The track was notable for being produced by Timbaland. The track was already released on the soundtrack to Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me. This resulted in its flopping in the UK (peaking at #14), making it the lowest charting Spice Girls related single of the 90s. The European video was a surreal animation, directed by Jimmy. A further video was shot which featured the mini me character from Austin Powers. The track was not included on Brown's UK version of her debut solo album, & speaking at the time of her album release she stated that she "didn't really like 'Word Up'".

Following the disappointing performance of Word Up , Brown stopped releasing records for a while, but worked quietly on tracks for her debut solo album & the third Spice Girls album. Turning to television work, she hosted Pure Naughty, a weekly BBC2 magazine show focusing on black music. She also hosted the MOBO Awards on two occasions, in 1998 with Bill Bellamy & in 1999 with Wyclef Jean, & took part in a BBC funded 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, & Jimmy Jam & 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 finally sold approximately 100,000 copies, making it the 158th "best seller" of 2000. The album, Hot, was released one month later on October 3, was not a success & garnered mediocre reviews. It sold a disappointing 7,419 copies in its first week & charted at a weak #28, before quickly falling out of the charts.

Following the release of Feels So Good, rumours began that if her next single flopped she 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. 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 & featured Brown with Phoenix Chi. The media criticised Brown for using her child in the music video & single artwork, labelling her Desperate Spice & insinuating that she was exploiting her child as a marketing tool. The single entered & peaked at a disappointing #13, & Virgin duly dumped Brown from their label.

LA State Of Mind - Second Solo Album
In April 2004, Brown was approached to take part in the musical Rent. She played the role of Mimi, a drug-addicted young girl, & achieved positive reviews, but not from the show's fanbase. A few weeks after Brown finished her Rent stint, she played her second & last solo gig to date in a New York club, performing some songs from the musical & 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, & minus a few small appearances no promotion was made. Today entered the singles chart at #41, selling around 1,000 copies in its first week.

Her second album, LA State Of Mind, was released on the 27th June 2005 in two formats: as a regular CD & 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 #453.

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 poor sales of both the previous single & the album, this release never materialised. Brown was not dropped from Amber Café; both parties decided to amicably part ways.

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) for ITV1 & shot a documentary called Voodoo Princess for Channel 4 which got many good reviews. She took part in smaller projects as a presenter such as Top of the Pops, Party in the park for the Prince's Trust & The All Star Animal Awards. She has appeared as herself in an advert for the Yorkshire tourist board in a series which included contributions from other Yorkshire-born celebrities & in the film Happy Birthday Oscar Wilde

In 2002, Brown released her hit autobiography, Catch A Fire, which reached #7 in the official books chart & 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), & after her album failed to meet expectations she found herself not interested in making another. With that she turned to acting. Outside of SpiceWorld & '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 & starring Destiny's Child star Kelly Rowland. Melanie also appeared as Mimi in the broadway production of Rent (musical).

In recent years, Brown has also been seen playing herself in episodes of the comedy series Bo' Selecta & A Bear's Tail. In 2003, Brown made a cameo appearance in the music video Bo Selecta's Proper Crimbo.

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 on 2nd 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 the teen-thriller Telling Lies which was expected to be released in 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 & TV projects. Brown has confirmed she has several projects in the works & has told fans to "watch this space".

Brown has recently filmed a small role in a Short Film Love thy neighbour opposite Alex Dimitriades.

In May 2007, Brown gave her first interview in a number of years to Extra reporter Terri Seymour.

Personal life
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, following which Brown was professionally known as 'Melanie G'. Their only child together, daughter Phoenix Chi, was born on the 19th February 1999. Marriage problems ensued, including allegations of abusive & inattentive behaviour by Gulzar, & the marriage collapsed by the end of 1999. In 2000 Brown filed for divorce, which was finalized later that year. 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. Brown's next serious relationship was with British actor Max Beesley, from whom she split in 2002. In 2003 she moved to Los Angeles, CA with her daughter Phoenix Chi, stating that she plans to reside there permanently.

In 2006, Brown became the subject of many tabloid stories, on the basis of her relationship with Hollywood actor Eddie Murphy. Unconfirmed stories quickly came that the pair had tattoos of each others' names, were planning a wedding, & had introduced each other to their respective families. On October 17, 2006 AOL claimed that Brown was in fact having a baby by Murphy.

Brown was quoted as saying: "We're in love & get on really well. All the children have met & get on too - it's like a great big happy family. I can't wait to spend Christmas with him & I can't wait to have this baby."

In early December 2006, news came that Brown & Murphy were no longer a couple, & Murphy told a journalist of the Dutch TV show RTL Boulevard at the Dreamgirls film premiere that the parentage of Brown's unborn baby cannot be proven until a paternity test has been performed. As Murphy told a reporter, "I don't know whose child that is until it comes out & has a blood test. You shouldn't jump to conclusions, sir." Brown, however, says she's quite certain that Murphy is indeed the father.

Brown gave birth to a baby girl, Angel Iris Murphy Brown, on April 3, 2007, which incidentally is also Murphy's birthday. Murphy is listed as the father on the birth certificate despite the ongoing paternity battle.

In April 2007, Brown's friend Christa Parker revealed in British magazine Closer that she & Brown had had a sexual relationship, & also that Brown had a two year relationship with a film executive named Christine. At the time Brown said, "people can call me lesbian, bisexual or heterosexual, but I know who's in my bed & that's it - I have huge libido & a great sex life." Parker said that Brown was still in love with Eddie Murphy & would welcome him back.

Discography

Albums
Cover Title Released Chart Position
Hot October 9 2000 UK #28
LA State Of Mind June 27 2005 UK #453

Singles
Cover Title Released Chart Position
I Want You Back September 14 1998 UK #1
Word Up June 28 1999 UK #14
Tell Me September 25 2000 UK #4
Feels So Good February 19 2001 UK #5
Lullaby June 4 2001 UK #13
Today June 13 2005 UK #41

Filmography
1993 Coronation Street - "Bettabuys Check-Out Worker" (Uncredited)
1997 Spice World - As Herself
2000 Fish
2001 This is My Moment - Talent Show Host
2002 Voodoo Princess - Documentary Presenter
2003 Burn It - "Claire" (TV Series - Season 1 Only)
2003 LD:50- Lethal Dose - "Louise"
2003 Bo' Selecta - As Herself
2004 The Seat Filler - "Sandie"
2005 Telling Lies - "Maggie Thomas"
2005 A Bear's Tail - As Herself
2005 Avid Merrion's Xxxmas Special - As Herself (in faux Cribs interview)
2006 Love Thy neighbor- As Lonnie

This site was written in May 2007

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