Melanie C Embraces Sporty Spice With ‘Sweat’ — SkimNews
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- Melanie C released her ninth studio album, Sweat, in May and finished her U.S. tour with good ticket sales and what she called “incredible” responses, including audiences singing the new songs.
- Melanie C brought her solo act to cities she had not visited since the Spice Girls’ 2007 reunion tour, including stops that were her first solo performances in more than two decades, and said the enduring fan support moved her deeply.
- Sweat reaches back to Melanie’s teenage Nineties rave-scene roots, follows the solo-artist turn of her self-titled album and draws on her move from Spice Girls member to DJ, which she began in 2018.
- Melanie C said the end of her long-term relationship with former manager Joe Marshall fueled “Flick of the Wrist” and “Good for Nothing,” while “Drum Machine” centers on falling in love with her husband, Chris Dingwall.
- Sweat’s title video samples Diana Ross’s “Work That Body” and shows Melanie exercising with resistance bands, a spin bike and spandex, fully inhabiting the Sporty Spice persona.
- Spice Girls staged their fourth reunion tour in 2019 without Victoria Beckham; Melanie C said rehearsing to perform as Sporty Spice brought the role back, and she now feels the Spice Girl is always within her. She remains noncommittal on a fifth reunion but would most want to sing “Wannabe” or “Spice Up Your Life.”
Why it matters: Longtime Spice Girls fans gain a new album and performances in cities Melanie C had not played as a solo artist in more than two decades. The May release of Sweat also turns her 2019 reconciliation with Sporty Spice into a current solo identity, reinforced by crowds singing the new material.
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