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Mel B a Maybe for Live 8
06/21/2005 7:33 PM, E! Online
Charlie Amter
Thanks to Scary Spice, Live 8 is in danger of a girl power
deficit.
Melanie Brown, the Scary fifth of the former
international chart-topping pop group the Spice Girls, is the lone
holdout for a reunion at next month's London concert, according to
organizer Bob Geldof.
Geldolf appeared on the U.K. TV show
Richard & Judy (Britain's equivalent to Live with Regis and
Kelly) and said that Mel B. was having "difficulty going back to
something she did in the past. I'll call her during the week and if she
can't do it, she can't do it."
He said that Brown was
working on unspecified project in California.
Geldof says
if he fails to convince Scary to join the aid effort, she will not be
replaced and the other four Spices-- Victoria "Posh Spice" Beckham, Emma
"Baby Spice" Bunton, Melanie "Sporty Spice" Chisholm and Geri "Ginger
Spice" Halliwell.
"It's got to be all or nothing," Geldof
told the BBC this week.
The Spice Girls debuted in 1995,
evolving from a giddy Brit novelty act to a worldwide pop sensation.
With singles like "Wannabe" and "Say You'll Be There," their debut disc,
Spice, sold some 7.3 million copies in the U.S. alone.
They followed up with another hit album, Spiceworld,
which also was parlayed into the campy, Hard Day's Night-inspired
film, Spice World.
But things went from spicy to
downright salty in 1998, when Halliwell quit the group amid internal
tension. As a quartet, the remaining girls trotted out their third and
final disc, Forever, in 2000. The album tanked and their
subsequent solo careers fizzled.
With or without the Spice
Girls, Geldof's free Live 8 shows will feature an unprecedented lineup
of stars--including Paul McCartney, Dave Matthews Band, Stevie Wonder,
U2, Coldplay, Madonna, Mariah Carey, the Who and a reunited Pink
Floyd--performing to raise awareness of Third World problems.
Concerts will take place July 2 in London, Philadelphia,
Paris, Berlin, Rome and, as of last week, Tokyo, Johannesburg and
Toronto. On Tuesday, organizers announced that the Toronto show take
place at Park Place (formerly Molson Park) and feature Canadian acts
like the Barenaked Ladies, Bryan Adams, the Tragically Hip, Simple Plan
and, appearing via satellite from Las Vegas, Celine Dion. Native sons
Dan Aykroyd and Tom Green will host the show. Motley Crue and Deep
Purple are also on the bill.
There will be an additional
Live 8 gig in Edinburgh on July 6 featuring Annie Lennox, Dido and
Travis.
The concerts are expected to be carried live on
AOL and Viacom-owned cable stations, including MTV.
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