It all started in unglamorous Watford, England, when Geraldine Estelle Halliwell, born in 1972 (sceptical industry journalists have moved the date back as far as 1962) 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.” Classmates remember that the gregarious teen “only wanted to have a laugh,” and that she was “really nice.” They also claim, in interviews, that the future “Girl Power” gal was “cheeky to the teachers” and all mention, without fail, that she was flat-chested (not a feature she carried into her future).

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 (as well as the struggling performers’ requisite aerobics instructing and waitressing).

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. (Halliwell later sold that famous ensemble, raising ,150,000 for a children’s cancer care organization) . 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.

Spice World (1997) was nominated for a handful of Blockbuster Entertainment Awards (as well as an unfortunate handful of Razzies), and was followed with a number of concert footage and day-in-the-life documentary releases: there was Spice Power (1997), Spice Exposed (1997), One Hour of Girl Power (1997), Spice World: The Game (1998) and Spice Girls In Concert: Wild! (1998). Instantly recognized by even those who didn’t like the music, it was simply impossible to be more famous.

That’s when Halliwell decided she “had achieved all she could with the group.” The eldest Spice Girl decided that what she really, really wanted was to go on her own (and not to “zigazig-ha” at all – unless that’s what the lyric “zigazig-ha” means).

The Spice Girls have gone on without Halliwell, and Halliwell has gone on without them. 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.