The world-famous Sporty Spice, singer Melanie Chisholm was born January 12, 1975, in Liverpool, England; a onetime session vocalist and ballet dancer, in March of 1994 she answered an advertisement for an all-girl vocal group, and with fellow applicants Geri Halliwell, Victoria Adams, and Melanie Brown formed the nucleus of what later (with the addition of fifth member Emma Bunton) became the Spice Girls. The biggest pop phenomenon of the late '90s, the Spice Girls enjoyed a series of chart-topping singles like "Wannabe," "Say You'll Be There," and "2 Become 1"; as the tracksuit-clad Sporty Spice, Mel C (as Chisholm was commonly known) was widely considered the most musically talented Spice Girl, and in the fall of 1999 she made her solo debut with Northern Star. I Turn to You followed a year later. Arriving in 2003, Reason was a mainstream pop album, while 2005's Beautiful Intentions was a more rocking affair and the first album to be released on Melanie C's own label, Red Girl Records. In early 2007, two new singles -- "The Moment You Believe" and a cover version of "I Want Candy" -- announced the coming of her fourth full-length, This Time. Her 2011 effort, The Sea, was an ambitious album featuring songs co-written with the likes of Starsailor's James Walsh, Guy Chambers, and Spice/Spiceworld producer Richard Stannard. Melanie C supported The Sea with a tour that was subsequently documented on a home video release, and then, in the fall of 2012, she returned with her sixth album, Stages, a collection of covers of show tunes. Prior to its release, she reunited with the Spice Girls for a rousing performance at the closing ceremonies of the 2012 Summer Olympics. During 2014, she became a judge on Asia's Got Talent, a television show that ran through 2015 and was eventually picked up for a second season in 2016. Back in the U.K., she appeared on the game show Bring the Noise in 2015. Melanie C returned to pop music in the autumn of 2016 with Version of Me, which was preceded by the single "Anymore." ~ Jason Ankeny