Blonde, British and Beautiful, solo artist Emma Bunton has enough B’s to make any parent happy on report card day. The former Spice Girl has shown on any occasion that she’s got the good grades to make it on her own, but now she’s out there proving it to anyone who might have doubted her in the first place with a solo career that rivals any British superstar. No longer known as Baby Spice, Emma was born in 1976 in North London where she showed her desire to perform at an early age. After seeing Olivia Newton-John in “Grease” and experiencing an entire decade dominated by Madonna, Emma was set on becoming a singer. The young performer went on to attend the Sylvia Young Theater School, but because she came from a low-income household, Emma was forced to drop out after a few short months. She was later offered a scholarship by the same theater school where she finished her education.
After graduation, Emma made some extra cash as a model and commercial actress before being cast as a troubled youth in the BBC soap opera “Eastenders.” Two years later, Emma answered an ad in a trade paper looking for young female singers to form a band called Touch, but the name was shortly changed to the Spice Girls. Following a year of training under their original manager, the girls got impatient of waiting for a record deal and left for Virgin Records to sign a new contract. The Spice Girls released their first album “Spice” in 1996 and the group exploded on to the pop scene with incredible media attention that led to extensive tours and a merchandising frenzy that hadn’t occurred since the immense popularity of boy band New Kids on the Block. Several years later, Geri Halliwell led the group to new management once again before leaving the group to pursue a solo career. The other four girls shortly followed suit, but Emma was among the last to make her way into the studio. Nearly a decade since the group was first formed, Emma is now the most successful solo artist of the quintet and is ready to conquer the US all over again.
Emma Bunton on the Radio and Screen
Emma’s musical career and future is among the best of her former bandmates because of her natural voice and simple transition from girly pop star to mature artist. While with the Spice Girls, Emma appeared on all three of their albums (Spice, Spice World and Forever) and also starred in the film “Spice World” as herself. Emma’s solo career launched in 2001 with her debut release A Girl Like Me and has followed up its overseas success with her new album, Free Me.
Emma Says
On proper manners:
“Be sweet and honest always, but for God’s sake don’t eat my doughnuts!”