Jan. 12: Melanie C of the Spice Girls - AKA Melanie Chisholm - is 37 years-old today.

Born Melanie Jayne Chisholm in Whiston, Merseyside "Mel C" is best known as one of the five members of the girl group Spice Girls, in which she was nicknamed "Sporty Spice." Performing as Melanie C as a solo artist, she released four albums, earned nominations for a BRIT and ECHO Awards and charted at the top of Billboard Dance Chart in the U.S. in late 2000.

She has sold more than 10 million records as a solo artist and holds the third position for most United Kingdom number-ones by a female artist.

-----

Chisholm attended Fairfield High School where she studied singing and dancing. After leaving school at age 15, Chisholm studied for a diploma course in dance, singing, drama and musical theatre at the Doreen Bird College of Performing Arts in Sidcup, Kent.

In the early to mid 1990s Chisholm made several appearances in television commercials and music videos while trying to pursue her music career. During college, she replied to an ad in The Stage by Chris and Bob Herbert, who were looking to form a new girl group, later to become the Spice Girls. She left college just short of completing her three-year course and gained teaching qualifications in Tap and Modern Theatre Dance with the ISTD.

(Continued below video and Amazon portals ...)

(Press album cover for direct link to the entire Amazon Website):

-----

In 1994, she joined the Spice Girls (then called Touch) after the original fifth Touch member, Lianne Morgan had to leave the group. In 1996, Chisholm, along with Melanie Brown, Geri Halliwell, Emma Bunton, and Victoria Beckham -Adams, shot to fame with the release of "Wannabe." Because Mel C usually wore a tracksuit with her hair in a ponytail and sporting the attitude of a tomboy, she was called Sporty Spice.

After a third album release, Forever (UK #2), the members went their separate ways, and Chisholm developed a successful solo career.

In late 1998 Chisholm recorded the song "When You're Gone" with Canadian rocker Bryan Adams, and her debut album Northern Star was released in 1999. The single off the album, "Never Be the Same Again." featuring TLC member the late Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes, became her first UK number-one single as a solo artist. It was also a number-one single in the Netherlands, a Top Five hit in Germany and #2 in Australia.

Another single from Northern Star, a dance remix of "I Turn to You," earned herself a second number-one single in both the UK and the Netherlands. "I Turn to You" reached #2 in Germany, #11 in Australia and eventually climbed to the top of the Billboard dance chart in the U.S.

Northern Star is certified three times platinum in the United Kingdom, platinum in Germany, gold in Brazil and gold in Australia.

Chisholm released her second studio album, Reason, in March 2003. The lead single from Reason, "Here It Comes Again,"peaked at number seven in the UK.

In 1997, Chisholm's feature film debut came in Spiceworld The Movie playing herself alongside her bandmates. In 2000, Chisholm played herself in an episode of The Norm Show while promoting her girl band's third studio album Forever.

She revealed in an interview with Nylon Magazine in December 2009, that she is pursuing a serious acting career in film. In 2009, after having her first child, Chisholm signed to perform the role of Mrs Johnstone in the musical Blood Brothers by Willy Russell in London's West End'. She performed role for 6 months, commencing November 2009. She was nominated for the Best Actress in a Musical category at the 2010 Laurence Olivier Awards.

Melanie reprises the role for a limited 2 week engagement at the Liverpool Empire Theatre in November 2010.

####