Spice Girls: The Story of the World's Greatest Girl Band

by Sean Smith

From the moment they burst into our lives, the Spice Girls have inspired millions around the world.


Emma, Geri, Melanie C, Mel B and Victoria were adored and admired in equal measure. Their determination, fierce independence and Girl Power philosophy have motivated generation after generation of young women.


Sunday Times bestselling biographer Sean Smith reveals what life was really like for the fab five, before and after they found fame – the ups and downs, personal conflicts, break-ups and controversies, health issues and trials of parenthood. Baby, Ginger, Sporty, Scary and Posh  have always been so much more than their iconic image.


They conquered a male dominated music industry, raised twelve children between them while, over the years, their reunion tours have led to renewed outpourings of affection and excitement: the story of five ordinary women achieving extraordinary things is as wonderfully resonant and powerful as ever.

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography, Music, Audiobook

320 pages, Paperback

Published November 14, 2019

About the author

Sean Smith is the UK’s leading celebrity biographer and the author of the number one bestseller Cheryl, as well as bestselling books about Tom Jones, Robbie Williams and Kate Middleton.

His books about the most famous people of our times has been translated throughout the world. His subjects include Adele, Kim Kardashian, Gary Barlow, Kylie Minogue, Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears, Victoria Beckham, Jennifer Aniston and J.K. Rowling. The film Magic Beyond Words: The J.K. Rowling Story was based on his biography of the Harry Potter author.

Described by the Independent as a ‘fearless chronicler’, he specialises in meticulous research, going ‘on the road’ to find the real person behind the star image.

Reviews

[Mia Anti · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book reads like the author just copy pasted the Wikipedia article of each girl. It has no heart.

[Sondra · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm a fan of the Spice Girls, but not a huge fan of this book. It's style just seems too rushed and gossipy. I spotted some factual errors. For example Emma's birthday is wrong, some songs are placed on wrong albums etc. Minor details maybe, but makes you question what else is wrong.

A lot of attention is given to the early days of the Spice Girls, time before fame. That is a justified point of view, because it seems that most of the book's background research is focused on those early years. The Spice Girls heyday gets a lot less attention and is dealt in a few chapters. The years after focus a lot on who dated whom and how much money some thing or another cost. Their tours barely get a mention, except for detailing on who was willing and when for a comeback. I would have been interested to read how the actual touring was. The Return of The Spice Girls tour in 2007-2008 is dealt a bit more than the others but quite superficially without much detail.

Nevertheless, I'm happy that a book is written about them after a long pause. It's been 10+ years when I read David Sinclair's Wannabe: How The Spice Girls Reinvented Pop Fame. If my memory serves me right, that book was quite insightful. I'll consider giving a go at Sinclair's Spice Girls Revisited as well, even though that one is 12 years old and can't cover as much as Smith's book could have. The significance of the Spice Girls is often overlooked, but there are millions of young women who adored the Spice Girls when they were growing up. I'm happy that the band gets recognition in form of a book, even if I'm not completely satisfied with the end result.

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Book Club: Caellum's Selection

Generally what I expected from an "unauthorised celebrity memoir". There were a few intriguing stories and some ridiculous additions (Spice Stars) but it failed to hold my attention for long periods of time. I enjoyed the nostalgia it bought, but that was about it really.

[Karolina · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fun to be reminded of the cultural icons that brought Girl Power, and then go back to listen to all the Spice Girls songs.

[Michael McEvoy · Rating 3 out of 5]

An easy, lighthearted read, with plenty of nostalgia.

[Flavio Güell · Rating 5 out of 5]

My rating for this book has nothing to do with its literary style. I graded it solely on the joy it caused me. It's a beautiful and rewarding trip around nostalgia lane: full of heartwarming memories about one of the girl bands I loved the most when I was a teenager. I loved all the nerdy details only true fans can remember. A must read as well to understand the energy that shaped the late 90s.

[Mr Pink Ink · Rating 4 out of 5]

Many thanks to Jonathan Ball Publishers for #Gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I was a #SpiceBoy through and through; I mean, I spent a truckload of money on their CD's and mountains of merch, official and otherwise, and I knew all the lyrics to all their songs... Now, many years later, I was happily reminded about those days and my love for them flared briefly again, thanks to this book by Sean Smith.

Written in a way that is easily readable by people of all ages, this story covers from the time they were each just girls wanting to be famous, to the idea and execution of the Spice Girls, their rise to fame and their eventual parting of ways.

This book is filled with details about the girls, the band, and the people behind it all - including photo plates, tons of fun facts and an excellent layout - this is a definite must-read for any Spice Girls fan.

Spice up YOUR life!

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

This seemed very "I read the Spice Girls' biographies so you don't have to;" though it was informative enough, some parts seemed very glossed over, and there was nothing personal about this book. I liked that nearly half the book was about their formation and early years, but then it felt like the heyday of Girl Power was only given a couple chapters, with the rest of the book devoted to their post-Spice Girls endeavors. I was hoping for something a little more insightful instead of a fleshed-out Wikipedia article, but it still delivered on the nostalgia - plus I got to talk about the Spice Girls at work (where I read 95% of this haha.)

[Louise Nguyen · Rating 3 out of 5]

An easy read which took me on a trip down memory lane. It remains quite high level throughout and I felt as though the story rushed over/lacked detail in certain parts.

[Leah Rehman · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love the spice girls but this book just felt like a lot of the stories were pulled out of the girls’ individual autobiographies

[Liv · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great fun. Kind of like reading a Wikipedia page though: short sentences, very simplistic, a little general in places. Not much about cited sources though and the author definitely lets some personal opinions leak in. But overall, a nostalgic and light read that was a nice stroll down memory lane. The Spotify spice girls playlist is now going.

[Alex Dean · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed this more on a second read.

[Emmie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to love this because this band was notably one of my favourites growing up. There's no heart in this book, it's just full of drabble and like the author just went onto Wikipedia and pasted the information. I hope I can find a better book about them in the future that's more enjoyable.

[Mindbait]

I thought the Spice Girls would have an interesting story behind them, and something from a 'bestselling author' must surely be readable.

The story was indeed an interesting one. For a theoretically manufactured band, the girls took their future very much in their own hands and (slightly brutally) cast aside the men who had been creating them. They became worldwide stars, struggled with eating disorders, mental illness, and paparazzi intrusion, and managed to individually get through it all.

The writing wasn't really that great, unfortunately. It read like a cross between a gossip column and some super-fan who is desperate to defend the girls and imply a familiarity with them. There don't appear to have been any interviews conducted specifically for the book, it's all been taken from the Girls' own autobiographies, old interviews and even news/tabloid stories. Some of it is seemingly even just speculation. The book weirdly finishes with an astrology reading for each Girl then a group reading

The book was released around the time the Spice Girls carried out a reunion, which makes me wonder if Smith's bestseller status is more canny business timing than solid writing skill.

[Nikos Dunno · Rating 3 out of 5]

I never imagined that I would rate anything related to the spice girls (my favourite band of all time) so low, but this unofficial biography of the band started with the most tedious descriptions and mentions of the most trivial information about the band members and the people that were close to them. Do we really need to know what drink teenager Mel B drank on her first date? Behind this there's a clear fan who boasts about their immense knowledge as well as the thorough research they conducted before writing this book. It was because of that, that I nearly gasped when "If you can't dance" was mentioned as a song belonging to their second album. Surely any one of the millions of people who purchased their CDs could tell you it is the closer track to their first album Spice. Luckily half way through and as the text covers their most successful phase, the book becomes more interesting and better written. Amongst the other unnecessary bits though, I couldn't fathom the inclusion of a lengthy analysis of their astrological charts. This one is definitely for the fans and even then it might be a bit of a challenge to enjoy from start to finish.

[Katja · Rating 4 out of 5]

Spice Girls forever!
Fairly compact story of Spice Girls from the childhoods of each girl to the reunion tour of four of them in 2019 but comprehensive enough so reader gets a good look on each of the members and their incredible success. The most expansive bit was the period the band was brought together and they trained and tried to break it in the music business. The actual period as Spice Girls was told in quite a rapid-fire way, at least it felt so, but then again, it actually wasn't such a long period anyway, the girls reached and did so much in such a short time. Their lives after Spice Girls proper is covered quite extensively but not getting very deep into the matters, so it's a bit listacle-like.
It's a good book on Spice Girls story whether you were/are a fan like me or are not and want to know what the fuss was a about.

[Jenna Vidal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Much like Baby Spice's strawberry Chuppa Chups, this was pleasant, sweet and nostalgic!

I picked this book up out of a bargain bin at a newsagency. I thought it might be a bit of fun and nostalgia. It totally met my expectations! It was not the most insightful biography and also contained nothing that I could not have found reading articles online, but I completely enjoyed my 30 or so minutes a night for a week of cuddling up in bed and reading about what the Spice Girls were up to next. I also loved finding out what the girls had been up to in the last 15 years. (over 50% of the book is post 1998).

Read this for a bit of fun and you will not be dissapointed. If you only like gritty stuff, give it a miss.

[Chloe Bragança · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall very well presented and interesting; worth reading if you’re a Spice Girls fan!
Two reasons for docking off one star:
The astrology section at the end comes across as a gossip-column magazine rather than a serious biography; it ruins the style and flow of the book.
I noticed that ‘Stop’ was misnamed as ‘Stop Right Now’ and several other readers have pointed out other small factual errors which I didn’t really pick up on because I’m not a hardcore fan but I’m sure they were there.
Only minor issues but overall very enjoyable!

[Jess👢 · Rating 2 out of 5]

I did rather enjoy reading this book out of the love that I have for the spice girls but I suppose that I didn’t find out much that I already didn’t know. I didn’t know much about the death threats victoria faced, I knew they had had happened but I didn’t know about the red dot saga at the brits which was quite intriguing. It seems as though there are flaws to some of the information regarding music releases. It’s interesting for someone who doesn’t know much about the spice girls but I wouldn’t say this was anything major.

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I haven't read many biographies but this one could've been better. The writing style was rather dry and seemed a bit surface level. Reading about their individual lives before they became the Spice Girls was interesting enough, but then the book just glossed over when they were at the height of their fame. It definitely brought back some memories and nostalgic feelings for me, but it didn't give me the level of detail that I was looking for.

[Anastasia Yates · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this book, as I grew up with spice girls impersonating baby spice in school shows, such a nostalgia to read about their journeys from nothing to fame. One star off just because it felt a little rushed, hoped there were slightly more details about their lives and relationships

[Rachel Louise Mutton · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was hard read

[Piper Winchester · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good thing I was told about the misinformation before I started this.
As enjoyable as it was to relive the childhood Idols.

[Jenna Proctor · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed it. Easy to read. I found out lots of things I didn't know about the girls.

[Sarah Stocks · Rating 3 out of 5]

Whilst not in too much depth, I enjoyed reminiscing about the spice girls and where they are today. I listened to this on audio.

[Rosanna Mariotti · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good and understanding how they came together

[Mandy Laksa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some super cringe worthy parts written by this guy

[Hassan Yousaf · Rating 2 out of 5]

Big fan of the group but a lot of inaccuracies

[Lhay · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great summary of how the band was formed and what the girls did individually before and after the Spice Girls. The actual band stuff was quite briefly told but then again it included some fun facts about the making of the music videos and such.

It seems like the author had done solid research on the girls because he reffered to interviews of girls's own memoirs often. He also staydd objective and told how band members or music producers recalled some events differently. That was a good thing!

Although the book included everything from Mel B's messy relationships and suicide attempts to Mel C's depression the author managed to write about them in a non-flashy and tabloid sort of way which I really appreciated. I think there was only one moment where I thought "hmm".

I'm not sure why but I feel like the author favoured Geri. Maybe It's just because she was my least favourite of them or something.

It was eye-opening to read about the girls I idolized as a little girl. I was so small that I only knew their music but nothing about their ilves or the gossip about them. While reading I had to stop occasionally and watch the music videos the author was reffering to. Now knowing more about the girls and their ilves at the time of filming the music videos I looked at them in fresh eyes. They felt more relatable now.

Another thing that really struck out was how ambitious all of them were as young girls. It's inspiring. Also inspiring is that even though they went though hard times before the band they succeeded. So there's hope for everyone lol.

Now I'm going to watch "Stop" the music video and see if I can spot Mel B's and Victoria's pregnancy bellys as the author suggested.

--------
The golden rules of girl power
as defined by Spice Girls:

☆Be positive
Be strong
☆Don't let anyone put you down
☆Be in control of your own life and your destiny
☆Support your girlfriends and let them support you too
☆Say what on your mind
☆Approach life with attitude
☆Don't let anyone tell you can never do something because you're a girl
☆Have fun

[Zoë · Rating 4 out of 5]

As someone who grew up on a diet of Spice Girls and Girl Power but was too young to know the actual story of who these women were and how they found their feet in the music world and beyond- this was a very interesting read.