Emma Bunton life and biography

Emma Lee Bunton is an English pop singer-songwriter and TV presenter. She was a member of the 1990s girl group, the Spice Girls, in which she was known as Baby Spice as she was the youngest member. In 2010, she joined the judging panel on ITV's Dancing On Ice, although she has very little ice skating experience. She is also the host of Heart FM Saturday afternoon drive time slot.

Spice Girls (1994-2008)

She joined the Spice Girls (then still called Touch) in 1994 after the original fifth Touch member, Michelle Stephenson left the group. The group became one of the most successful musical acts of the 1990s, selling 35 million albums with studio releases Spice in 1996, Spiceworld in 1997, and Forever in 2000. Emma was called Baby Spice because she was the youngest of the group, wore her long blonde hair in pigtails, wore babydoll dresses, had an innocent smile, and had a girly girl personality. When the group appeared on the 5 October 1997 episode in the BBC television programme The O-Zone, she revealed that she had just had her ears pierced for the very first time. Their debut single "Wannabe" became the first of a string of number ones in the United Kingdom (nine in total) and reached the top position in thirty seven countries around the globe. As a songwriter, Bunton - as part of the Spice Girls - set the record for the shortest time to achieve 6 #1 UK singles, taking 1 year 5 months from Wannabe's first week at #1 to the ascent of Too Much. This outpaced Lennon/McCartney, who took 1 year 6 months (From Me to You through I Feel Fine). In 1999 she presented her own music show Emma on VH1. She had also recorded the song "(Hey You) Free Up Your Mind" for the anime film Pokémon: The First Movie. The Spice Girls stopped recording in 2000; many rumours circulated about a reunion for the group's tenth anniversary but nothing materialised until June 2007 when they reformed for The Return of the Spice Girls tour and Greatest Hits CD.

Solo career (2001-2007)

Her debut solo album entitled A Girl Like Me spawned the UK number-one hit "What Took You So Long?" as well as the top five hits "What I Am" (a cover of a 1988 song earlier recorded by Edie Brickell & New Bohemians) and "Take My Breath Away" (which has nothing to do with Berlin's 1986 hit), and the top twenty hit "We're Not Gonna Sleep Tonight". The album sold approximately 125,000 copies in the UK. Due to the disappointing sales of the project, Bunton parted with Virgin in 2002.

Bunton's second album Free Me was released in 2003 through 19 Entertainment/Universal Records. It was commercially successful and had four singles, "Free Me", "Maybe", "I'll Be There" and "Crickets Sing For Anamaria". After success in the American dance charts the album was also released in North America. The American edition included bonus remixes and a different cover to the UK edition.

In November 2006, Bunton released the official charity single for the BBC Children in Need appeal, recording a cover of Petula Clark's '60s classic "Downtown". It peaked at number three on the UK Singles Chart and was followed by her third studio album, Life in Mono, released on 4 December. The album entered the UK Albums Chart at number sixty-five, selling approximately 13,000 copies in its first week. To date, it has sold around 48.000 copies in the UK. The second single from it was "All I Need to Know", released on 12 February 2007, intended for the Valentine's Day market. Bunton shot the video around Old Street in East London, in the week before Christmas 2006. Entering the UK Singles Chart at number sixty, "All I Need to Know" became Bunton's lowest-charting single of her solo career.

Spice Girls reunion (2007-2009)

On 28 June 2007, it was announced that Bunton would be reuniting with the Spice Girls for a world tour and Greatest Hits collection release. It's been confirmed Bunton will be working with Timbaland on his new album.

Television, film and radio

In October 2006, Bunton appeared as one of the celebrity contestants in the autumn 2006 series of the popular BBC programme Strictly Come Dancing and was partnered with professional dancer Darren Bennett. Despite being the bookies' favourite, she finished in third place, and was the final female contestant to be eliminated.

Films:

1993 Thatcherworld
1997 Spice World (film)
2001 Yes You Can
2004 Pyaar Mein Twist
2005 Chocolate: Deep Dark Secrets
2009 Ant & Dec's Christmas Show

Television:

1992 EastEnders
1993 The Bill ; The Police ; To Play the King
1994 EastEnders
2000 The Norm Show ; Emma
2003 Absolutely Fabulous
2006 Neighbours
2007 Strictly Come Dancing
2008 Richard & Judy ; The X Factor ; Loose Women
2009 Eurovision: Your Country Needs You ; Let's Dance for Comic Relief
2010 Dancing On Ice ; Don't Stop Believing ; The Million Pound Drop ; GMTV With Lorraine
2011 Dancing On Ice

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