NEWS
Spice Girls
Courtesy PhotoLONDON – Twenty-five years after they burst onto the pop scene, the Spice Girls are once again looking to take their girl-power message worldwide — this time via an expansive global rights deal with Bravado, Universal Music Group's in-house merchandise arm.
The multi-year partnership will see Bravado represent the iconic, trail-blazing girl group across merchandising, direct-to-consumer products and campaigns, touring, brand and retail licensing, and distribution.
UMG did not disclose financial terms for the deal. It marks the first time in two decades that the Spice Girls’ licensing rights across all channels have been assigned to a single partner.
Bravado owner Universal Music Group holds the global rights to the Spice Girls’ recorded music catalog, which spans three studio albums — 1996’s Spice, 1997’s Spiceworld and 2000’s Forever – and 11 singles, although it doesn’t control their publishing rights. (Matt Rowe and Richard Stannard, who co-wrote many of the band’s biggest hits, including breakthrough hit “Wannabe,” are published by Universal Music Publishing Group, however).
Later this month, Universal will release an expanded 25th anniversary edition of the Spice Girls’ debut album, Spice25, featuring previously unreleased songs, demos and mixes.
Spice Girls have sold 12.2 million albums in the U.S., according to MRC Data. Their catalog of songs has generated 842 million on-demand streams in the U.S., with over two million on-demand audio streams a week in the U.S.
Virgin Records released the Spice Girls’ debut album, Spice, in the United Kingdom on Nov. 4, 1996. It spent 15 weeks at No. 1 on the Official U.K. Albums Chart and topped the Billboard 200 the following May. To date, the album has sold more than 31 million copies worldwide, according to Universal, making it the best-selling album of all time by a female group. The album’s U.S. sales stand at 7.5 million, according to MRC Data.
"Wannabe,” the group's lone No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, spent four weeks atop the chart in 1997. (It’s one of seven top 20-charting hits for the act.)
Due out on Oct. 29, Spice25 will be sold as a two-CD set inside a hardback book, as well as color-coded cassette and vinyl versions (pink for Baby Spice, Red for Posh Spice, etc.) and an exclusive remastered Apple music edition of the original record in Dolby Atmos. A range of “Spice Girls 25” merchandise, including T-shirts, hoodies and mugs is currently on sale at the band’s official web store.
Plenty more anniversary items will, no doubt, follow. Spice Girls dolls, body spray, clothing and stationery were some of the hundreds of merch products that flooded the market during the British quintet’s late-90s peak.
A statement from Universal says the group’s five founding members — Emma Bunton, Geri Halliwell, Melanie Chisholm, Melanie Brown and Victoria Beckham — will work “hand-in-hand” with Bravado to deliver a new range of exciting product lines to retail partners around the world.
“We are so excited to be working with Bravado again, especially in this our 25th anniversary year and are looking forward to collaborating with the team,” the group says in a statement.
Richelle Parham, UMG’s president of global e-commerce and business development, said the tie-up with Bravado will bring the Spice Girls’ “iconic brand, style and empowering message to fans and stores internationally,” expanding the band’s “legacy and cultural impact for years to come.”
The breadth of rights granted to UMG “gives us the vehicle to truly celebrate their legendary status,” says Rachel Redfearn, vp A&R and brand management at Bravado.
Despite the last Spice Girls studio album coming out in 2000 (the act released a greatest hits compilation in 2007), the British group has remained a hugely popular live act. They reunited after a prolonged hiatus for a 47-date world tour in 2007-08, and performed at the 2012 Summer Olympics closing ceremony in London.
In 2019, they toured again. This time as a four-piece -- minus Victoria Beckham, who declined to participate due to her fashion business -- the group performed at 13 concerts in England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales during The Spice World 2019 Tour. The trek grossed $78.2 million and sold 697,357 tickets, according to figures reported to Billboard Boxscore.
Although no future touring plans have been announced, Brown recently revealed that last year the band began talks about performing again, before the COVID-19 pandemic brought discussions to a halt.
"I'm always pushing to have a Spice Girls reunion," Brown said on U.K. TV show Steph's Packed Lunch in September. “If it's got anything to do with me, which it will have, because I'm the driving force, I'll make sure it happens… in 2023."
NEWS
Lola Young has joined forces with Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM) to release a new T shirt for the charity’s Lifelines collection.
The shirt supports CALM’s suicide prevention work, with proceeds helping to fund vital resources such as its helpline and CALMzone mental health app.
CALM introduced the Lifelines range last year, with Fontaines D.C., Blossoms and Inhaler also contributing their own designs to the collection.
Young’s design includes the words, “There’s a flicker of light. There’s always morning after the night”, taken from her track ‘Flicker Of Light’.
“I wrote this song about realising there is hope. I have often felt like there isn’t, but there is always a reason to keep going,” Young said. “That’s even when you don’t want to get out of bed, you do, and that is amazing, and you’re still here, and you’re still alive, and if anything, that’s something to be proud of.”
CALM CEO Simon Gunning also shared his appreciation for the collaboration, saying: “We couldn’t be more grateful to Lola for supporting ‘Lifelines’ and showing just how powerful music can be as a force for good.”
Priced at £30, the T shirts come in both standard and boxy fits and are available to purchase here.
Young has regularly spoken about her experiences with mental health. She returned to performing earlier this year after calling off her 2025 tour because of exhaustion. The decision followed her collapse during a performance in New York City. During her time away, she later discussed receiving support for addiction and attending AA meetings as part of her recovery.
In an interview with NME in May, Young explained that she believes “all healing journeys are never ending”, although she is now “definitely in a much better place”. She also said she feels “excited and ready to perform and to release music”.
Reflecting on the encouragement she received after publicly discussing those challenges, Young said: “My fans inspire me in the same way I hope to inspire them. I feel like I’ve never tried to be especially honest… it just comes very naturally to me.”
“I don’t really have any other choice but to be honest, so if people connect to that, and that’s amazing.”
Several musicians have also applauded the ‘Messy’ singer for honestly addressing the pressure placed on touring performers. Lily Allen said she was “in awe” of the BRIT and Grammy winner, while Victoria Canal credited Young with bringing greater attention to the damaging impact demanding tour schedules can have on artists’ mental wellbeing.
When NME asked whether musicians were beginning to establish firmer boundaries around their health, Young replied: “I never intended it to start a movement, but I hope that it does in some way.”
