The group’s closeness had an obvious appeal
for their younger fans (Rex)Yet the most extraordinary thing about the Spice Girls is not the lightning flash of their success but its
peculiar longevity. A side-by-side comparison of international tour dates of the South Korean boy band
phenomenon BTS to Spice World tour stops in the same period this year reveals that BTS out-grossed the
Spice Girls by less than 1 per cent, earning $78.9m (£65m) to their $78.2m. This despite the fact that Spice
World is the Spice Girls’ second reunion tour since 2008, and did not include the participation of the
individual who is currently its most high-profile member (Victoria Beckham), and confined its stops to the
British archipelago. BTS, for comparison, is by any reasonable standard the most popular musical group in
the world. It is a testament to the Spice Girls’ good strategy and good fortune that their key demographic
was young enough to receive an allowance when they launched – and that this relaunch is likely to find that
same demographic midcareer with a modest disposable income.
The Spice Girls’ heyday was a simpler time, in terms of record industry economics – Geri Horner (then
Geri Halliwell) announced her departure from the group almost a year to the day before Napster went
online. But out of the gate, the Spice Girls’ arsenal included a weapon even more powerful than warehouses
full of gleaming compact discs. It carried them to the top of the charts; it is stuck like glue in the
subconscious of millions. It was a branding coup known as “girl power”.
“We’re all about putting forward positive ideas for girls and letting them see that they don’t have to
conform to what people expect of them,” Emma Bunton (Baby) declared in a 1996 interview with the
Glasgow Evening Times, shortly before the Spice Girls’ US debut. Another thing the group was “all about”,
per Bunton, was “understanding that period in life”.
Spice Girls were never meant to pass as kids; their skill was depicting a young girl’s idea of adulthood