50 facts about Melanie Janine Brown known as Mel B

Mel B's 50 things from her life and career.

1. Melanie Janine Brown (born 29 May 1975), better known as Mel B or Melanie B, is an English recording artist, songwriter, dancer, actress, author, television presenter, talent competition judge and model.

2. Mel B rose to fame as a member of the girl group the Spice Girls, in which she was known as Scary Spice.

3. She is known as Mel B to distinguish her from her Spice Girls bandmate, Melanie C.

4. The Spice Girls signed to Virgin Records and in 1996 they released their debut single, "Wannabe", which hit number one in more than 30 countries and helped establish the group as a "global phenomenon". It was followed by their debut album, Spice, which has sold more than 28 million copies worldwide, becoming the best-selling album by a female group in music history. The band's second album, Spiceworld, went on to sell over 20 million copies worldwide.

5. Mel B is also known for supporting girl power and earlier global tours, which grossed an estimated $500-800 million between 1996 and 2001.

6. The Return of the Spice Girls was the band's comeback tour throughout 2007 and 2008, having grossed US$200 million and winning the Billboard 2008 Touring Award. As of July 2013, Brown's net worth is estimated to be $85 million.

7. Mel B began her solo career when she released "I Want You Back" with Missy Elliott on Virgin Records. The single charted at number one on the UK Singles Chart, followed by the release of her debut album, Hot (2000). The album also saw the release of two top 10 singles "Tell Me" and "Feels So Good". L.A.

8. L.A. State of Mind was Brown's second studio album, released in 2005 on the independent label Amber Café, which saw the release of one single, "Today" in June that year.

9. In mid-2012, Brown announced a return to her solo recording career with the release of her third studio album by signing with EMI Music Australia.

10. The first single from the album, "For Once in My Life" was released in September 2013, becoming Brown's first record to be released after eight years.

11. Since 2000, Brown has concentrated on a variety of non-singing projects.

12. Mel B became the presenter of shows such as This Is My Moment, Top of the Pops, Party in the Park and The All Star Animal Awards.

13. In September 2007, she became a contestant on the fifth season of the American dance competition, Dancing with the Stars; in which she placed runner-up overall partnered with Maksim Chmerkovskiy.

14. Mel B returned to television work becoming a judge for the Australian version of The X Factor from 2011 to 2012, replacing Kyle Sandilands and having previously been a celebrity mentor on the show in 2010.

15. In June 2012, she was a guest judge during the Manchester auditions for the ninth series of The X Factor UK, as one of the temporary replacements for Kelly Rowland; before the role eventually went to Nicole Scherzinger.

16. During this time, she became the female co-host for Dancing with the Stars Australia, in which she hosted the twelfth season alongside Daniel MacPherson.

17. However, Brown resigned from the show and did not return for the thirteenth season in 2013.

18. In February that year, she officially signed on to become one of the four judges for the variety talent show America's Got Talent, replacing Sharon Osbourne from the eighth season onwards.

19. On 1 February 2014, she was revealed to be a coach on The Voice Kids Australia, which aired in mid-2014.

20. In 2014 she appeared on The Big Fat Quiz of the Year , during the taping she had to be told to settle down by producers.

21. Many of the live audience and high profile celebrity's watching felt she marred an otherwise great show, and took to Twitter and social media to express these views.

22. Melanie Janine Brown was born in Harehills, Leeds and grew up in Burley, West Yorkshire, the daughter of Andrea (Dixon) and Martin Brown.

23. Her father is from the Caribbean island country of Saint Kitts and Nevis; while her mother is English.

24. Mel B studied performing arts at Intake High School, in Leeds, before entering the entertainment industry.

25. For a time, she worked as a dancer in the holiday resort, Blackpool, Lancashire.

26. After seeing an advertisement for an audition in a newspaper, Brown started her music career in a band known as Touch.

27. The group left the original management team and eventually teamed up with music manager Simon Fuller. In this pairing, she and the other girls became known as the Spice Girls.

28. Following an appearance in the short film Love Thy Neighbor, in September 2007, Brown joined the fifth season of the U.S. television dance competition, Dancing with the Stars with her partner Maksim Chmerkovskiy. On 27 November 2007, they took second place in the show, losing to Helio Castroneves and his partner, Julianne Hough.

29. That year, the Spice Girls re-grouped and announced plans for an reunion tour, from which they were said to have earned £10 million each (approximately $20 million). The band said that they are still enjoying doing their "own thing".

30. The group decided to release their first compilation album, Greatest Hits, in early November 2007 and the tour began on 2 December 2007. During one Spice Girls performance at London's The O2 Arena, the band's children, including Brown's children accompanied her on stage during "Mama", along with the other Spice Girls' children.

31. During the reformation filmmaker Bob Smeaton directed an official film of the tour entitled Spice Girls: Giving You Everything.

32. In April 2009, Brown joined actress and former Dancing with the Stars champion Kelly Monaco as original stars of a Las Vegas revue called Peepshow at the Las Vegas Planet Hollywood Hotel and Casino.

33. On 17 August 2009, Brown was announced as a visiting panellist on ITV1's daily lunchtime show Loose Women. She appeared for a week of shows during September 2009.

34. In January 2010, Brown was selected to replace Marissa Jaret Winokur as the new host of Oxygen's weight loss show Dance Your Ass Off.

35. In September 2010, her own reality show aired on the Style Network called Mel B: It's a Scary World.

36. In November 2010, Get Fit with Mel B, was released in North America and Europe.

37. Mel B served as a celebrity mentor on the second series of the Australian version of The X Factor during week 8 of the live shows in 2010. During the results show, she performed a duet with the remaining five acts singing "Stop" originally by the Spice Girls.

38. In April 2011, it was announced that Brown would replace Kyle Sandilands as a judge for the third series of the Australian version of The X Factor alongside Ronan Keating, Guy Sebastian and fellow new judge Natalie Bassingthwaighte (who replaced Natalie Imbruglia).

39. In February 2012, Brown was announced to replace Sonia Kruger as co-host on the Australian version of Dancing with the Stars

40. On 31 March, it was announced that Brown signed a global partnership with EMI Music Australia for the release of her third studio album.

41. On 20 February 2013, NBC had announced that Brown would be replacing Sharon Osbourne as a judge on America's Got Talent for its eighth season, alongside Howie Mandel, Howard Stern and fellow new judge Heidi Klum.

42. During her time on the program, she should frequently be a guest host for NBC's Today Show.

43. While on the Spiceworld Tour, Brown began a romantic relationship with Dutch dancer Jimmy Gulzar.

44. After she became pregnant they married in Little Marlow, Buckinghamshire, on 13 September 1998.

45. Mel B changed her stage name to Melanie G.

46. Their daughter, Phoenix Chi Gulzar, was born in Westminster, London on 19 February 1999.

47. In 2000 Brown filed for divorce.

48. Brown won custody but had to pay an alimony settlement of $2.8m to her ex-husband.

49. In 2006 Brown became the subject of tabloid stories because of her relationship with Hollywood actor Eddie Murphy, who would eventually acknowledge he was the father of Brown's then unborn second child, Angel. By early December 2006, Brown and Murphy were no longer a couple and Murphy told a journalist of the Dutch TV show RTL Boulevard at the Dreamgirls film premiere that the parentage of Brown's unborn baby could not be proven until a paternity test was performed. By 22 June 2007, a court-ordered DNA test confirmed that Murphy was the child's father. Murphy admitted paternity and indicated that he would reimburse Brown for the cost of the pregnancy and agreed to pay her over $7 million

50. In February 2007 Brown began dating film producer Stephen Belafonte. Brown and Belafonte secretly married on 6 June 2007 in Las Vegas, Nevada, and they subsequently renewed their vows with a lavish ceremony in front of their families on 8 November 2008 in Hurghada, Egypt. On 1 September 2011 Brown gave birth to her third child, daughter Madison Brown Belafonte.

Source: Wikipedia.org