When It Truly Was a Spice World

How much did the Spice Girls dominate popular music in the United Kingdom from 1996-1998?  Well, their first six singles all went to number one, their seventh single went to number two, and their next two singles both went to number one.  If you’re counting at home, that’s nine singles on the charts, with eight going to number one and one going to number two.  Pretty remarkable performance, eh?  (And, by the way, their tenth single, released in 2000, would also top the charts.)

While the five-woman vocal group would not reach those levels of success in the United States, the Spice Girls did hit the top 20 in the U.S. with seven of those nine singles.  The first three hit the top five, and only one — their very first single – went to number one.  That song, “Wannabe,” rose to the top spot on Billboard‘s Hot 100 chart exactly 15 years ago today, and it would stay there for a total of four weeks.

In addition to the song’s success in the U.K. and the U.S., “Wannabe” rose to the top of the pop charts in numerous countries and regions throughout the world.  As international megahit songs go, “Wannabe” clearly fits the bill, meaning that 15 years ago right now, it truly was, as the group’s film that would be released in late 1997/early 1998 declared, a “spice world.”