Melanie Chisholm, also known as Sporty Spice as a member of the Spice Girls, branched out from the group in 1999 to pursue a solo career. She was widely considered to be the most musically-gifted of the all-female group and made good on that sentiment by garnering her fair share of attention for her individual efforts.

Melanie C was born in Liverpool, England in 1975 and quickly developed an interest in singing and ballet. Her big break came with the Spice Girls, whom she joined after responding to an ad for the group in 1994. The British group's popularity exploded in the mid-‘90s in both the U.K. and across the pond. Melanie C released her debut solo album, Northern Star, in 1999. She showed more of her own personal musical tastes on the album, as she departed from the style she portrayed as Sporty Spice. Melanie C displayed a variety of styles on the diverse disc, from standard pop hits to message-driven punk. The album garnered her attention as a solo act and the future appeared to be bright.

Her reputation as "Indie Spice" and the cult following that was brought on by Northern Star was dulled somewhat upon the release of her 2003 effort Reason. Reason was less eclectic than her first record and was more geared toward a mainstream pop audience. This stylistic alteration may have been brought on by the less-than-stellar sales numbers that Northern Star produced, which paled in comparison to her success with the Spice Girls.

Melanie C has since started her own record label, Red Girl Records, on which she has released two more albums. Her most recent effort, 2007's This Time, exudes a maturity that isn't found on any of her previous releases. Melanie C has made it clear that she's not afraid to reinvent herself and her music as an ever-evolving artist.