Melanie Jayne Chisholm (born January 12, 1974) is a singer and successful British female artist. She has co-written eleven chart topping singles. In the early years of her singing career she was one fifth of the girl group the Spice Girls. Since then she has released three solo albums and many hit singles.

Chisholm, along with Melanie Brown, Geri Halliwell, Emma Bunton, and Victoria Beckham, shot to fame in 1996 with the release of "Wannabe" (in which she was shown performing a backflip on one of the tables). The Spice Girls dominated the late 1990s, selling over forty million albums in just two years. As the tracksuit-clad Sporty Spice, Chisholm was widely considered the most musically talented Spice Girl.

Chisholm took her first steps at creating a solo career in 1998 by duetting with Canadian rocker Bryan Adams on the massively successful song "When You're Gone". Though it never topped the charts in the UK, it went on to become the eighty-second best-selling single of the 1990s.

She followed the duet with the critically acclaimed album Northern Star in 1999. Eager to distance herself from her "Sporty" image, "Goin' Down" was chosen as the first single from the album. Though it failed to make a huge impact in the charts or help album sales, the single showed the world that Chisholm was not just a back-flipping girl in a track suit.

The title track "Northern Star" was chosen as the follow up single and was a surprise hit. With its simple, yet beautiful video the single sold in excess of 195,000 copies, but did little for album sales.

Finally, in March of 2000, Melanie had her first break as a solo artist. A remixed version of "Never Be the Same Again" featuring Lisa "Left-Eye" Lopes was chosen as the album's third single and became Chisholm's first solo number one. It was co-written and produced by Rhett Lawrence. It went on to sell over 400,000 copies and helped bring Northern Star back into the top ten.

Capitalising on her new found success, Chisholm released a remix of "I Turn to You" and earned herself another number-one single. "I Turn to You" eventually climbed to the top of the Billboard Dance Charts in America, and was featured in the film Bend It Like Beckham.

Northern Star was reissued with the "Never Be the Same Again" and "I Turn to You" remixes, and eventually peaked at number four on the UK album charts.

"If That Were Me" was chosen as the fifth and last single, but only made a modest impact on the charts entering at number eighteen. The single followed the release of Mel B's solo album Hot and the Spice Girls' Forever, and as a result received little promotion. Northern Star is certified triple platinum in the U.K., selling over 900,000 copies, platinum in Europe, and has sold 3,000,000 copies worldwide, making it the best-selling solo Spice Girl album to date.

"Reason" was Melanie C's second solo-album as the follow up to her highly critically acclaimed and commercial success "Northern Star". Released in March of 2003, "Reason" was preceded by the single "Here It Comes Again". Released on the 24th of February, "Here It Comes" again reached #7 on the UK singles chart after a mid-week position of #5. The album reached #5 but quickly fell off the charts.

Various singles were released around the world including the Gregg Alexander (former frontman of "The New Radicals") penned "On The Horizon" (UK #14), the Japanese exclusive "Let's Love" and the final single, a double A-side "Yeh Yeh Yeh / Melt" (#27).

Although the album was not a commercial success, the album proved popular among fans, and many critics agreed that Melanie was well on her way to establishing herself as a household name.

Virgin and Melanie C parted ways after the release of "Yeh Yeh Yeh / Melt" in late 2003, and Melanie went on to set-up her own record company, "Red Girl Records" which would play a part in her success in mainland Europe with her 3rd solo release, "Beautiful Intentions".

Chisholm spent much of 2004 working on new material and setting up her own record company, Red Girl Records, so named because of her reknowned fanaticism for Liverpool and her favourite players like Steve McManaman. Having written several tracks very quickly, Chisholm took her work on the road to preview it with the fans, and in April 2005 Beautiful Intentions was released. The album got good reviews, many claiming it is her best work yet. "Next Best Superstar" was chosen for the first single and was released simultaneously in the UK, Europe, and Australia. The single did relatively well, peaking at number ten in the UK, selling around 20,000 copies. Now, without major-label backing, everything she is doing is run and funded by her.

In 2005, Chisholm announced that the second single, "Better Alone", would only be available for purchase from iTunes and her official online shop. It would not be sold in ordinary shops for undisclosed reasons, and so would not be eligible for entry to the charts.

Later, in August 2005, Chisholm and her management decided to release the single "First Day of My Life" (written by Guy Chambers and Enrique Iglesias). The song was not on Beautiful Intentions; however, it was included on a special edition of the album released only in Germany, Switzerland, and Austria, where it is the theme song of the telenovela Julia. "First Day of My Life" reached the top of the charts of the three countries it was released in, managing to stay ahead of other acts such as Robbie Williams and Sugababes. This single has already become one of the biggest hits of 2005 in parts of Europe. Beautiful Intentions has been certified Gold (100,000) in Germany.

It was rumoured in October 2005 that Beautiful Intentions would get a U.S. release within the following months, most likely in Spring 2006. This announcement followed the digital release of Chisholm's second album, Reason, to U.S. iTunes in the same week.