Geraldine Estelle Halliwell, born in 1972 to a Spanish mother and Swedish/English father, shed her parents? Jehovah?s Witness values and began jumping up on the school desks and singing. Halliwell?s first attempt at girl-band leadership was less than successful. Her school chums weren?t as enthusiastic about Halley and the Comets as was she, but undaunted, she continued along the show business path, doing time as a model and dancer.
By 1997, Halliwell and four band-mates were the Spice Girls, wowing sold-out audiences of adoring pre-teen fans with campy, catchy pop tunes and a refreshing ?Girl Power? message. Platform-booted, Union Jack-frocked Ginger Spice was a favourite with fans. Said to be the ?driving force? behind the phenomenally successful Spice Girls, Geri Halliwell, as Ginger Spice, was on top of the glam pop scene in 1998 when she turned her back on fame and fortune for?more fame and fortune. The first album, Spice, sold 19 million copies, earning itself top spot on the list of best-selling album releases of 1997. The band?s singles and videos enjoyed wild success, and then came the movie.
That?s when Halliwell decided she ?had achieved all she could with the group? and decided to go on her own. After a celebrity turn as ?Goodwill Ambassador? for the United Nations, and time on the talk show and charity circuit, she entered the recording studio. Her career restarted in earnest with the release of the non-Spice album Schizophonic. Halliwell is a talented writer of pop tunes and fairy stories. She is, though, seldom quiet ? undeniably a talented singer and dancer with dynamic stage presence.