Melanie B.

Pop singer and television personality Melanie B. (aka Scary Spice) is best known as a member of the '90s all-girl pop group The Spice Girls. Born Melanie Janine Brown in Leeds, England, in 1975, Brown was interested in performing from a young age and attended the Intake High School Arts College in Leeds. After school she worked for a time as a dancer before auditioning for the group that would eventually become The Spice Girls. Joining the dance-pop group in 1994, Brown was soon dubbed "Scary Spice" by the media -- who nicknamed all the members of The Spice Girls -- due to her high-energy, brash stage persona. In 1998, Brown scored a solo number one hit with the single "I Want You Back," recorded with rapper/producer Missy Elliot for the soundtrack to the film Why Do Fools Fall in Love. She followed up the track with a cover of the Cameo funk classic "Word Up" for the soundtrack to Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me. Around this time, Brown also began appearing as a television presenter for various shows, including several awards programs as well as the BBC2 music magazine Pure Naughty.

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