Melanie Janine "Mel B" Brown (born 29 May 1975)[1][2] is an English pop si… Read Full Bio ↴Melanie Janine "Mel B" Brown (born 29 May 1975)[1][2] is an English pop singer-songwriter, actress, author and television presenter. She is best known as one of the members of the girl group the Spice Girls.[3] She was given the nickname "Scary Spice" by the British media because of her outrageous, "in-your-face" attitude, thick Leeds accent, throaty laugh and manner of dress.
Early life
Brown was born in Harehills, and grew up in Burley, Leeds, West Yorkshire. She has a younger sister named Danielle who is an actress. She studied performing arts at Intake High School, in Leeds, before entering the entertainment industry. For a time she worked as a dancer in the holiday resort, Blackpool, Lancashire. After seeing an advertisement for an audition in a newspaper, Brown started her music career in a band known as Touch. The group left the original management team and eventually teamed up with music manager Simon Fuller. In this pairing, she and the other girls became known as the Spice Girls. After the group achieved worldwide success, she embarked on a solo music career in 1998. Her first solo album, Hot, produced by Virgin Records, was a moderate success, including a number one hit. However, it did not sell or chart very well. In 2005, she released a second solo album which did not attract much attention.
[edit] Musical career
[edit] 1994-2001: Scary Spice
In 1996 Brown, along with Melanie Chisholm, Geri Halliwell, Emma Bunton, and Victoria Beckham (at that time Victoria Adams), shot to fame as a member of the Spice Girls with the release of "Wannabe". The debut album, Spice, shot to number one all over the globe, including the U.S.. Mel B was called Scary Spice because of her animal print clothing, big hair, loud Leeds accent, throaty laugh, and aggressive attitude. The Spice Girls were popular in the late 1990s, selling over thirty-five million albums in just two years. They went on to become one of the best-selling girl groups of all time, selling more than fifty-five million records worldwide. They had nine UK number-one singles and two number-one albums. After a third album release, Forever (UK number-two), the members went their separate ways, and Brown developed a solo career.
Solo Artist As a solo artist Melanie B has charted up five UK Top 20 singles, including two Top 5 hits and a number 1 hit. She has sold over half a million records.
[edit] 1998-1999: Early solo work
At the height of the Spice Girls' success, Brown was invited to work with Missy Elliott on the single "I Want You Back", a song for the soundtrack of the film Why Do Fools Fall in Love. It was recorded in just one afternoon, due to Brown's busy Spice Girls schedule. The video featured Brown's then husband Jimmy Gulzar, who appeared chained and submissive to his wife. Upon its British release in September 1998, I Want You Back sold 80,000 copies in its first week alone, giving Brown her first and only solo #1 in her home country. This was confirmed on the day that the Spice Girls played their last world tour concert at Wembley Stadium in front of 52,000 fans. Ultimately the single sold 218,000 copies and became the 82nd Bestselling British Single of 1998.[4]
At the suggestion of her then-husband Jimmy Gulzar, Brown covered Cameo's 1986 hit Word Up as her next solo release. The track was notable for being produced by Timbaland. The track was already released on the soundtrack to Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me. This resulted in its flopping in the UK (peaking at #14), making it the lowest charting Spice Girls related single of the 90s.[5] The European video was a surreal animation, directed by Jimmy. A further video was shot which featured the mini me character from Austin Powers. The track was not included on Brown's UK version of her debut solo album, and speaking at the time of her album release she stated that she "didn't really like 'Word Up'".[citation needed]
Following the disappointing performance of Word Up , Brown stopped releasing records for a while, but worked quietly on tracks for her debut solo album and the third Spice Girls album. Turning to television work, she hosted Pure Naughty, a weekly BBC2 magazine show focusing on black music. She also hosted the MOBO Awards on two occasions, in 1998 with Bill Bellamy and in 1999 with Wyclef Jean, and took part in a BBC funded short film entitled Fish.
[edit] 2000-2001: Hot
As a way of dealing with the problems of her marriage, Brown continued working on her debut solo album.[citation needed] She worked with producers such as Sisqo, Teddy Riley, and Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis (Janet Jackson, Prince), with whom she was also working on the Spice Girls' third album, Forever.
In September 2000, she said that she heard the first single release from the album, "Tell Me". The track debuted at #4 in the UK charts with about 40,000 copies sold in its first week. It finally sold approximately 100,000 copies, making it the 158th "best seller" of 2000.[6] The album, Hot, was released one month later on 3 October, was not a success and garnered mediocre reviews.[7] It sold a disappointing 7,419 copies in its first week and charted at a weak #28, before quickly falling out of the charts.[8]
Following the release of "Feels So Good", rumours began that if her next single flopped she would be dropped by her record company, Virgin Records. In May, Brown performed a small set at the London G-A-Y Astoria club, her only solo gig until 2004. A source said her introduction was too long, which prompted cries of "get on with it!" from the G-A-Y patrons. A third single was released in June 2001, "Lullaby", a pop number dedicated to her daughter. It was accompanied by a very simple video shot in Morocco and featured Brown with Phoenix Chi. The media criticised Brown for using her child in the music video and single artwork, labelling her Desperate Spice and insinuating that she was exploiting her child as a marketing tool. The single entered and peaked at a disappointing #13, and Virgin duly dumped Brown from their label.[9]
[edit] 2004-2005: L.A. State of Mind
In April 2004, Brown was approached to take part in the musical Rent. She played the role of Mimi Marquez and achieved positive reviews, but not from the show's fanbase. A few weeks after Brown finished her Rent stint, she played her second and last solo gig to date in a New York club, performing some songs from the musical and showcasing some new material she had written. As the songs received positive feedback,[citation needed] Brown decided to release them a year later through an independent label, Amber Café.
The only single from the album, "Today", saw a UK release in June 2005. Brown had stated it was just a gift to her fans, and minus a few small appearances no promotion was made. "Today" entered the singles chart at #41, selling around 1,000 copies in its first week.
The album, LA State Of Mind, was released on 27 June 2005 in two formats: as a regular CD and as a Limited Edition with a 30 minute DVD documentary detailing Brown's life in LA. The album fared even worse than its lead single, selling just 670 copies in its first week and charting at #453
Rumours of a second single were fuelled by "Beautiful Girl" bouncing around on the UK Singles Release Schedule for a couple of months. Allegedly a video was made, but due to the poor sales of both the previous single and the album, this release never materialised. Brown was not dropped from Amber Café; both parties decided to amicably part ways.
[edit] 2008-present: Third studio album
Brown revealed in June 2008 that she was recording tracks for a new album she expected to have ready for release late 2008. "It's an R&B-pop kind of thing, a cross between early Pink and Destiny's Child. Urban pop. That's what I do best, where I come from, what people know me for, I've recorded four songs so far with some really great people," she said. One of the producers behind the album was Rodney Jerkins, aka Darkchild, who previously worked with Brown on the Spice Girls' final studio album, Forever,[10] as well as on Melanie's first solo album, Hot, both released in 2000. Also Scott Storch revealed he was working on Brown’s album.[11] Brown later revealed that she had completed ten tracks and would be working with Lil' Kim for the possible first single. Brown made a brief appearance on British morning show GMTV and announced that she would be releasing a fitness DVD, and then continued to say the new album was not ready yet and said the expected arrival of the album would be in 2009. A track from those recording sessions called "Whose Is It" leaked in 2008 but Melanie later said that this track won't be on the album. At the end of 2009 Melanie had 15 songs recorded but due to legal problems concerning a guy who was working with her she was not able to release them. In early 2010 Brown stated that she started to work on new tracks. As of April 2010 she has recorded 3 new songs. In the next 2 or 3 months she will concentrate on writing and recording new music.
[edit] Non-musical works
From Melanie B concentrated on a variety of non-singing projects. She hosted a number of TV shows such as This Is My Moment (a talent show) for ITV1 and shot a documentary called Voodoo Princess for Channel 4 which got many good reviews. She took part in smaller projects as a presenter such as Top of the Pops, Party in the park for the Prince's Trust and The All Star Animal Awards. She has appeared as herself in an advert for the Yorkshire tourist board in a series which included contributions from other Yorkshire-born celebrities and in the film Happy Birthday Oscar Wilde.[12]
In 2002, Brown released her hit autobiography, Catch A Fire, which reached #7 in the official books chart [citation needed] and saw her touring the UK to promote it with a run of book signings.
In her autobiography "Catch a Fire" Brown talked about how she loses interest in her passions with time. She lost interest in dancing once she found music (with the Spice Girls), and after her album failed to meet expectations she found herself not interested in making another. With that she turned to acting. Outside of SpiceWorld and 'Fish' Brown's first real role came in the form of a British drama, Burn It. She appeared in a horror film entitled, LD 50 Lethal Dose, which was released directly to DVD in 2004. She acted in a long run of shows as part of the cast for the Vagina Monologues which was a big success in the UK. She was in the movie The Seat Filler, co-produced by Will Smith and starring Destiny's Child star Kelly Rowland. Melanie also appeared as Mimi in the broadway production of Rent.
In recent years, Brown has also been seen playing herself in episodes of the comedy series Bo' Selecta and A Bear's Tail. In 2003, Brown made a cameo appearance in the music video Bo Selecta's Proper Crimbo. In late 2007, she hosted a television special for Canada's MuchMoreMusic called Your Fave Videos of the 80's.
Early life
Brown was born in Harehills, and grew up in Burley, Leeds, West Yorkshire. She has a younger sister named Danielle who is an actress. She studied performing arts at Intake High School, in Leeds, before entering the entertainment industry. For a time she worked as a dancer in the holiday resort, Blackpool, Lancashire. After seeing an advertisement for an audition in a newspaper, Brown started her music career in a band known as Touch. The group left the original management team and eventually teamed up with music manager Simon Fuller. In this pairing, she and the other girls became known as the Spice Girls. After the group achieved worldwide success, she embarked on a solo music career in 1998. Her first solo album, Hot, produced by Virgin Records, was a moderate success, including a number one hit. However, it did not sell or chart very well. In 2005, she released a second solo album which did not attract much attention.
[edit] Musical career
[edit] 1994-2001: Scary Spice
In 1996 Brown, along with Melanie Chisholm, Geri Halliwell, Emma Bunton, and Victoria Beckham (at that time Victoria Adams), shot to fame as a member of the Spice Girls with the release of "Wannabe". The debut album, Spice, shot to number one all over the globe, including the U.S.. Mel B was called Scary Spice because of her animal print clothing, big hair, loud Leeds accent, throaty laugh, and aggressive attitude. The Spice Girls were popular in the late 1990s, selling over thirty-five million albums in just two years. They went on to become one of the best-selling girl groups of all time, selling more than fifty-five million records worldwide. They had nine UK number-one singles and two number-one albums. After a third album release, Forever (UK number-two), the members went their separate ways, and Brown developed a solo career.
Solo Artist As a solo artist Melanie B has charted up five UK Top 20 singles, including two Top 5 hits and a number 1 hit. She has sold over half a million records.
[edit] 1998-1999: Early solo work
At the height of the Spice Girls' success, Brown was invited to work with Missy Elliott on the single "I Want You Back", a song for the soundtrack of the film Why Do Fools Fall in Love. It was recorded in just one afternoon, due to Brown's busy Spice Girls schedule. The video featured Brown's then husband Jimmy Gulzar, who appeared chained and submissive to his wife. Upon its British release in September 1998, I Want You Back sold 80,000 copies in its first week alone, giving Brown her first and only solo #1 in her home country. This was confirmed on the day that the Spice Girls played their last world tour concert at Wembley Stadium in front of 52,000 fans. Ultimately the single sold 218,000 copies and became the 82nd Bestselling British Single of 1998.[4]
At the suggestion of her then-husband Jimmy Gulzar, Brown covered Cameo's 1986 hit Word Up as her next solo release. The track was notable for being produced by Timbaland. The track was already released on the soundtrack to Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me. This resulted in its flopping in the UK (peaking at #14), making it the lowest charting Spice Girls related single of the 90s.[5] The European video was a surreal animation, directed by Jimmy. A further video was shot which featured the mini me character from Austin Powers. The track was not included on Brown's UK version of her debut solo album, and speaking at the time of her album release she stated that she "didn't really like 'Word Up'".[citation needed]
Following the disappointing performance of Word Up , Brown stopped releasing records for a while, but worked quietly on tracks for her debut solo album and the third Spice Girls album. Turning to television work, she hosted Pure Naughty, a weekly BBC2 magazine show focusing on black music. She also hosted the MOBO Awards on two occasions, in 1998 with Bill Bellamy and in 1999 with Wyclef Jean, and took part in a BBC funded short film entitled Fish.
[edit] 2000-2001: Hot
As a way of dealing with the problems of her marriage, Brown continued working on her debut solo album.[citation needed] She worked with producers such as Sisqo, Teddy Riley, and Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis (Janet Jackson, Prince), with whom she was also working on the Spice Girls' third album, Forever.
In September 2000, she said that she heard the first single release from the album, "Tell Me". The track debuted at #4 in the UK charts with about 40,000 copies sold in its first week. It finally sold approximately 100,000 copies, making it the 158th "best seller" of 2000.[6] The album, Hot, was released one month later on 3 October, was not a success and garnered mediocre reviews.[7] It sold a disappointing 7,419 copies in its first week and charted at a weak #28, before quickly falling out of the charts.[8]
Following the release of "Feels So Good", rumours began that if her next single flopped she would be dropped by her record company, Virgin Records. In May, Brown performed a small set at the London G-A-Y Astoria club, her only solo gig until 2004. A source said her introduction was too long, which prompted cries of "get on with it!" from the G-A-Y patrons. A third single was released in June 2001, "Lullaby", a pop number dedicated to her daughter. It was accompanied by a very simple video shot in Morocco and featured Brown with Phoenix Chi. The media criticised Brown for using her child in the music video and single artwork, labelling her Desperate Spice and insinuating that she was exploiting her child as a marketing tool. The single entered and peaked at a disappointing #13, and Virgin duly dumped Brown from their label.[9]
[edit] 2004-2005: L.A. State of Mind
In April 2004, Brown was approached to take part in the musical Rent. She played the role of Mimi Marquez and achieved positive reviews, but not from the show's fanbase. A few weeks after Brown finished her Rent stint, she played her second and last solo gig to date in a New York club, performing some songs from the musical and showcasing some new material she had written. As the songs received positive feedback,[citation needed] Brown decided to release them a year later through an independent label, Amber Café.
The only single from the album, "Today", saw a UK release in June 2005. Brown had stated it was just a gift to her fans, and minus a few small appearances no promotion was made. "Today" entered the singles chart at #41, selling around 1,000 copies in its first week.
The album, LA State Of Mind, was released on 27 June 2005 in two formats: as a regular CD and as a Limited Edition with a 30 minute DVD documentary detailing Brown's life in LA. The album fared even worse than its lead single, selling just 670 copies in its first week and charting at #453
Rumours of a second single were fuelled by "Beautiful Girl" bouncing around on the UK Singles Release Schedule for a couple of months. Allegedly a video was made, but due to the poor sales of both the previous single and the album, this release never materialised. Brown was not dropped from Amber Café; both parties decided to amicably part ways.
[edit] 2008-present: Third studio album
Brown revealed in June 2008 that she was recording tracks for a new album she expected to have ready for release late 2008. "It's an R&B-pop kind of thing, a cross between early Pink and Destiny's Child. Urban pop. That's what I do best, where I come from, what people know me for, I've recorded four songs so far with some really great people," she said. One of the producers behind the album was Rodney Jerkins, aka Darkchild, who previously worked with Brown on the Spice Girls' final studio album, Forever,[10] as well as on Melanie's first solo album, Hot, both released in 2000. Also Scott Storch revealed he was working on Brown’s album.[11] Brown later revealed that she had completed ten tracks and would be working with Lil' Kim for the possible first single. Brown made a brief appearance on British morning show GMTV and announced that she would be releasing a fitness DVD, and then continued to say the new album was not ready yet and said the expected arrival of the album would be in 2009. A track from those recording sessions called "Whose Is It" leaked in 2008 but Melanie later said that this track won't be on the album. At the end of 2009 Melanie had 15 songs recorded but due to legal problems concerning a guy who was working with her she was not able to release them. In early 2010 Brown stated that she started to work on new tracks. As of April 2010 she has recorded 3 new songs. In the next 2 or 3 months she will concentrate on writing and recording new music.
[edit] Non-musical works
From Melanie B concentrated on a variety of non-singing projects. She hosted a number of TV shows such as This Is My Moment (a talent show) for ITV1 and shot a documentary called Voodoo Princess for Channel 4 which got many good reviews. She took part in smaller projects as a presenter such as Top of the Pops, Party in the park for the Prince's Trust and The All Star Animal Awards. She has appeared as herself in an advert for the Yorkshire tourist board in a series which included contributions from other Yorkshire-born celebrities and in the film Happy Birthday Oscar Wilde.[12]
In 2002, Brown released her hit autobiography, Catch A Fire, which reached #7 in the official books chart [citation needed] and saw her touring the UK to promote it with a run of book signings.
In her autobiography "Catch a Fire" Brown talked about how she loses interest in her passions with time. She lost interest in dancing once she found music (with the Spice Girls), and after her album failed to meet expectations she found herself not interested in making another. With that she turned to acting. Outside of SpiceWorld and 'Fish' Brown's first real role came in the form of a British drama, Burn It. She appeared in a horror film entitled, LD 50 Lethal Dose, which was released directly to DVD in 2004. She acted in a long run of shows as part of the cast for the Vagina Monologues which was a big success in the UK. She was in the movie The Seat Filler, co-produced by Will Smith and starring Destiny's Child star Kelly Rowland. Melanie also appeared as Mimi in the broadway production of Rent.
In recent years, Brown has also been seen playing herself in episodes of the comedy series Bo' Selecta and A Bear's Tail. In 2003, Brown made a cameo appearance in the music video Bo Selecta's Proper Crimbo. In late 2007, she hosted a television special for Canada's MuchMoreMusic called Your Fave Videos of the 80's.
Today
Mel B. Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Something beautiful today is gonna happen
I can feel it in my bones it's gonna happen
Yeah, this feeling I'm feeling
It's incredible to me, and so strong
Don't ask me how I know, I can't explain it
It's so wonderful that I don't wanna change it
Yeah, it's so strange, it's so strange
Faith is knocking at my door once more
Today's the day that something great I know is gonna happen
Today, today, no I can't wait, I know it's got my name on
Today (something will happen today, something great will happen today)
Yeah yeah (something will happen today, something great will happen today)
It's gonna happen today (something will happen today, something great will happen today)
Something will change...
No today won't be the same as any other
There is something left for me here to discover
Maybe these dreams that we dream
Are all possible to reach, you'll see
Today's the day that something great I know is gonna happen
Today, today, no I can't wait, I know it's got my name on
Today (something will happen today, something great will happen today)
Yeah yeah (something will happen today, something great will happen today)
It's gonna happen today (something will happen today, something great will happen today)
Something will change...
(instrumental)
Today's the day that something great I know is gonna happen
Today, today, no I can't wait, I know it's got my name on
Today's the day that something great I know is gonna happen
Today, today, no I can't wait, I know it's got my name on
Today (something will happen today, something great will happen today)
Yeah yeah (something will happen today, something great will happen today)
It's gonna happen today (something will happen today, something great will happen today)
Something will change...
(make today the day something beutiful happens and go get Mel B's album please!)
I can feel it in my bones it's gonna happen
Yeah, this feeling I'm feeling
It's incredible to me, and so strong
Don't ask me how I know, I can't explain it
It's so wonderful that I don't wanna change it
Yeah, it's so strange, it's so strange
Today's the day that something great I know is gonna happen
Today, today, no I can't wait, I know it's got my name on
Today (something will happen today, something great will happen today)
Yeah yeah (something will happen today, something great will happen today)
It's gonna happen today (something will happen today, something great will happen today)
Something will change...
No today won't be the same as any other
There is something left for me here to discover
Maybe these dreams that we dream
Are all possible to reach, you'll see
Today's the day that something great I know is gonna happen
Today, today, no I can't wait, I know it's got my name on
Today (something will happen today, something great will happen today)
Yeah yeah (something will happen today, something great will happen today)
It's gonna happen today (something will happen today, something great will happen today)
Something will change...
(instrumental)
Today's the day that something great I know is gonna happen
Today, today, no I can't wait, I know it's got my name on
Today's the day that something great I know is gonna happen
Today, today, no I can't wait, I know it's got my name on
Today (something will happen today, something great will happen today)
Yeah yeah (something will happen today, something great will happen today)
It's gonna happen today (something will happen today, something great will happen today)
Something will change...
(make today the day something beutiful happens and go get Mel B's album please!)
The lyrics of Mel B.'s song "Today" convey a sense of optimism and anticipation for something positive and transformative to occur. The opening lines express a deep intuition that something beautiful is about to happen, creating a powerful and indescribable feeling within the singer. The lyrics convey a sense of faith and belief in the possibility of change, even though the exact nature of this change remains uncertain.
The song emphasizes the uniqueness and significance of the present moment, suggesting that today holds the potential for greatness and an opportunity to fulfill one's dreams. It encourages listeners to embrace the unknown and be open to the possibilities that lie ahead, rather than being confined to the predictability of everyday life. The repetition of the phrase "something will happen today, something great will happen today" reinforces the belief in the transformative power of the current day.
Overall, the lyrics of "Today" inspire a sense of hope and remind the audience to stay positive, embrace change, and remain open to the potential for extraordinary experiences in their lives.
Line by Line Meaning
Something beautiful today is gonna happen
Today is filled with the potential for something wonderful and meaningful to occur.
I can feel it in my bones it's gonna happen
I have an intuitive sense deep within me that assures me of this impending positive event.
Yeah, this feeling I'm feeling
The emotions I am experiencing right now are incredibly strong and overwhelming.
It's incredible to me, and so strong
The intensity of this feeling is astonishing and deeply impactful for me.
Don't ask me how I know, I can't explain it
Although I cannot provide a logical explanation, I have a strong certainty about what will happen today.
It's so wonderful that I don't wanna change it
The current state of joy and anticipation is so perfect that I have no desire to alter it.
Yeah, it's so strange, it's so strange
The uniqueness and unpredictability of this situation make it feel extraordinary and out of the ordinary.
Faith is knocking at my door once more
My belief and trust in the positive outcome are strongly renewed.
No today won't be the same as any other
Today will stand out and be distinct from all the other days.
There is something left for me here to discover
I believe that there are still new and exciting possibilities for me to explore and uncover.
Maybe these dreams that we dream
Perhaps the aspirations and desires we hold can become a reality.
Are all possible to reach, you'll see
I strongly believe that all our dreams can be achieved if we persevere and have faith.
Today's the day that something great I know is gonna happen
I am certain that today will mark the occurrence of a significant and remarkable event.
Today, today, no I can't wait, I know it's got my name on
I am filled with eager anticipation for this day because I feel a personal connection to the greatness that awaits.
Something will change...
A transformation or shift in circumstances is imminent.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
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AllKnowingOracle
Such an uplifting feel good jam. Should've been a Top 10 hit single. 💓
ragbforever
I always love this song!! really true fan!! a very positive song and different style! it makes my day really happy when I hear this song! I really love L.A. state of mind! a good vibe album!
lmo222
Wow! Great song to lift up your spirit!
ragbforever
still one of my fav songs of her!! soooo positive!! luv it!!
Pant-Hooting Chimp
I think this is Mel's best solo single by far. Shame the video is in such low res quality! is anyone able to release an HD version of it? I wish Mel had recorded more music like this, it really suits her. So catchy.
kate fevre
love this song, so positive, upbeat and always puts me in a great mood.
The Freaky
LA State Of Mind is my favorite Spice Solo album. It deserved to be a visual álbum
Brian
Yeah someone who can sing about something positive and happy. This song really brightens up peoples day. I'm glad she feels that she can sing about things other than sex and crap like that unlike most other artists.
Phoenix Gee
She's gorgeous! I had the biggest crash on her as a teen! What a positive uplifting song this is!
Roberto Zaleta
Had she followed this path in her life the whole Stephen drama would never have happened. I love her.