Geraldine Estelle Horner (née Halliwell) (born 6 August 1972), is an English singer, songwriter, author, actress, and philanthropist. She rose to prominence in the 1990s as Ginger Spice, a member of the pop girl group the Spice Girls. With over 85 million records sold worldwide, the group became the best-selling female group of all time. The phrase “girl power“, regularly uttered by all five members, was most closely associated with Halliwell.[1] Her Union Jack dress from the 1997 Brit Awards also became an enduring symbol of girl power.[2][3] In 1998, Halliwell left the Spice Girls to pursue a solo career but later returned to the group when they reunited in 2007.[4]

In 1999, Halliwell launched her solo career and released her debut studio album, Schizophonic, which spawned three number one singles including “Mi Chico Latino“, “Lift Me Up“, and “Bag It Up“, while the lead single, “Look at Me“, peaked at number two. In 2001, she released her second studio album, Scream If You Wanna Go Faster; the lead single, “It’s Raining Men“, was also used on the Bridget Jones’s Diary film soundtrack, peaked at number one in the UK and went on to become the biggest hit of her career. The singles that followed, “Scream If You Wanna Go Faster” and “Calling”, reached number eight and number seven in the UK, respectively. Halliwell released her third studio album, Passion, in 2005, which included the worldwide hit “Ride It“, which was commercially successful in the rest of Europe. It peaked at number two in Russia, number four in the UK, while reaching number three in Belgium and Spain.[5]

After a few years of relative obscurity, in April 2010, Halliwell announced that she had started working on new music.[6] In 2012, she was a guest judge on the ninth series of The X Factor UK, and the following year, she was a judge on the seventh series on Australia’s Got Talent.[7] In September 2013, it was announced that Halliwell would return to the music industry in Australia with the release of her first solo single in eight years, “Half of Me“.[8] She has also established herself in the publishing industry, releasing two autobiographies including the successful book If Only, and a series of children’s novels including Ugenia Lavender.