Geri Halliwell Looks Back On Spice Girls Era, Proud Of Adele’s ‘Wannabe’ Cover

By Sylvia Ogweng. Published: 12 Jul 2016 3:30 PM

Twenty years after first making a splash onto the music scene in the all-girl mega group Spice Girls, Geri Halliwell — a.k.a Ginger Spice — takes a look back at the magic behind the music with Marie Claire magazine.

“Five girls living together in a small three-bedroom house in Maidenhead, just outside London, was lots of fun, albeit at times tricky,” she admits about the group’s early days. “I was the oldest at 22 and had already experienced living away from home, so the other girls probably found me to be quite bossy.”

Halliwell, Victoria Beckham, Mel B, Melanie C and Emma Bunton debuted their smash single “Wannabe” in November of 1996, and most would agree that the rest is history. Not only would the song become the most successful single from an all-girl group, but the band would go on to sell 100 million records worldwide, and release nine number one singles in the UK (tied ABBA).

Halliwell explains how their ticket to success came about: “It didn’t take any longer than a day to write ‘Wannabe.’ Mel B came up with the ‘zig-a-zig-ahh’ line,” she revealed. “The record execs were probably a bit horrified when they saw the video. They even wanted us to shoot a separate video for the American market, but we refused. This was our video, and this was what we wanted.”

As for their iconic “Girl Power” movement, Halliwell reiterates exactly what it means to her: “Girl power, for me, was a voice for the voiceless, screamed from a megaphone and kicked out hard: Anything is possible.”

The singer also discussed one of the biggest Spice Girls cover to date, touching upon Adele’s viral performance of “Wannabe” during her incredible appearance on James Corden’s Carpool Karaoke earlier this year. “I felt so proud watching Adele on James Corden’s ‘Carpool Karaoke’…saying she loved the Spice Girls. She connected with us, she says, because we were just five ordinary girls who ‘got out,’” she shared. “We all wanted to get out, stand up and be heard, be counted and have a voice that mattered…Our message screamed it for every girl.”

She added: “The Spice Girls is bigger than one, two, three, four, or five members. It belongs to us all.”