Geraldine Estelle "Geri" Halliwell (born 6 August 1972) is an English pop singer-songwriter, author, actress and philanthropist. After coming to international prominence in the late 1990s as Ginger Spice, a member of the girl group, the Spice Girls, Halliwell launched her solo career in 1998 and released her album Schizophonic. Since then, she has released two more studio albums – Scream If You Wanna Go Faster and Passion – and four number one singles at the UK Singles Chart, "Mi Chico Latino", "Lift Me Up", "Bag It Up" and "It's Raining Men". In 2008, Halliwell published a book series named Ugenia Lavender. As a solo artist, Halliwell has sold 12 million records worldwide and been nominated for two Brit Awards in 2000 and 2002.
sell over one million copies worldwide,[citation needed] followed by further number ones at the UK Singles Chart "Mi Chico Latino", "Lift Me Up" and "Bag It Up". Halliwell performed "Bag It Up" during the BRIT Awards ceremony in 2000, emerging between giant inflatable legs, ripping off her shirt and walking in stiletto heels over the backs of topless pink-haired men whilst performing the song.
"Look at Me" was released to radio in the United States in late 1999, receiving limited airplay. With only a radio single, Schizophonic debuted at number forty-two on the Billboard 200 before dropping out within the next month. The album was eventually certified Gold, distributing over 500,000 copies. In 1999, she wrote an autobiography If Only, in which described her life as a Spice Girl.
On 28 June 2007, Halliwell announced she was joining her former group-mates for a concert tour "Return of the Spice Girls". Part of the setlist of the reunion tour features Halliwell performing solo, singing her cover of It's Raining Men. It was announced on 1 February that the tour would end early, on 26 February 2008.
On 12 April 2007, it was announced that Halliwell had signed a six-book deal with Macmillan Children's Books. The books follow the adventures of nine-year-old Ugenia, a character based on Halliwell, alongside her friends Bronte, Rudy and Trevor. Other characters are said by
Halliwell to be loosely based on Gordon Ramsay, George Michael,[21] Marilyn Monroe, Vincent van Gogh, Wayne Rooney and the character Justin Suarez from the TV series Ugly Betty. The character Princess Posh Vattoria, a caricature of Halliwell's bandmate Victoria Beckham, was featured in early drafts but has not appeared in the book series.
Halliwell appeared in the film Crank: High Voltage alongside friend, actor, John Damon and on the BBC 1's The One Show on 7 May 2009. On 24 May 2009, she spoke to the Speed TV reporter Peter Windsor in the pit lane just prior to the start of the 2009 Monaco Grand Prix. In interviews to promote the book series Ugenia Lavender, Halliwell said she had no plans to return to a solo musical career in the near future.
In March 2010, vocal coach and singer Carrie Grant announced on ITV1's The Alan Titchmarsh Show that Halliwell would be making a return to music. The following month, Halliwell announced through her official website that she was back in the studio and recording. In 2010, Halliwell stood in as a guest judge on The X Factor for Dannii Minogue at the Glasgow auditions. Halliwell is to release her own range of bikini's through retailer Next in January 2011. On Christmas day 2010 she played a cameo in the mockumentary Come Fly With Me.
