Known As: Mel C
Name: Melanie Jayne Chisolm
Nickname: Sporty Spice
Birthday: January 24, 1974
Place of Birth: Liverpool, England, UK
Nationality: English
Height: 5' 6"
Occupation: Singer (spice girls)

Melanie C (a.k.a. Sporty Spice) has every reason to be proud. You see, the supergroup that she belongs to -- the Spice Girls -- have collectively sold over 40 million records around the world so far. But when you're a lone Spice Girl venturing out as a solo artist, how do you follow up on this kind of success? This is exactly what Melanie has had to contend with.

The singer has always been the quietest and most enigmatic one of the group. While others made their presence felt by giving Nelson Mandela a kiss and Prince Charles a, errr, pinch, Melanie seems to prefer staying away from the limelight. Industry sources have claimed that she has the best voice in the group, but it was not until recently that she has had the chance to prove it.

And it was a good thing that the group managed to take some time off. After all, being a Spice Girl doesn't leave you with a lot of leftover free time. So Melanie seized this opportunity to relocate to Los Angeles and check into a downtown studio, where she had the chance to work with Beasties Boys' producer Rick Rubin and Madonna's collaborators Marius De Vries and William Orbit.

One of her initial fears was regarding the level of respect that she would be able to get from these notable producers -- since she hails from an all-girl group renowned for singing sugary pop songs for the masses. But Melanie was pleasantly surprised.

"The caliber of talent working with me was incredible," she said. "It's very odd being in the studio with these kind of people. What was even stranger was that they had such respect for me and for what I was trying to do -- they gave me enormous confidence in myself. It was just the best time of my entire life."