House of Fraser is a British premium department store group with over 60 stores across the United Kingdom and Ireland. It was established in Glasgow, Scotland in 1849 as Arthur and Fraser. Although established in Glasgow House of Fraser's largest store is now located in Belfast, Northern Ireland. By 1891 it was known as Fraser & Sons. The company grew steadily during the early 20th century, but after the Second World War, a large number of acquisitions would transform the company into a national chain. Between 1936 and 1985 over seventy companies, not including their subsidiaries, were acquired.^[1] In 1948, the company was first listed on the London Stock Exchange, and eventually was included in the FTSE 100 Index before the company was acquired by Icelandic investor Baugur in 2006.

The company's acquisitions have included numerous household names, some of which are no longer used as part of the company's long-term strategy of re-branding its stores under the House of Fraser name. Over the years House of Fraser has purchased a number of famous stores, such as Army & Navy, Beatties, Dickins & Jones, Jenners, Howells, Kendals, Rackhams, Binns and Harrods of Knightsbridge (which is now owned privately). D H Evans' Oxford Street store in London was rebranded as House of Fraser in 2001 and became the chain's flagship store.

The group has been subject to many attempted takeovers by other companies, such as Boots and Lonrho, but it was the acquisition by Baugur in 2006 that brought the ownership of House of Fraser to the public's attention, and the resulting changes in its ownership, including shareholding by Lloyds Banking Group.^[2]

History[link]

House of Fraser on Briggate in Leeds.

House of Fraser in Belfast.

The early years[link]

The Company was founded by Hugh Fraser and James Arthur in 1849 as a small drapery shop on the corner of Argyle Street and Buchanan Street in Glasgow, Scotland trading as Arthur and Fraser. It was like Fraser's house.^[1]

Hugh Fraser had been apprenticed to Stewart & McDonald Ltd, a Glasgow drapery warehouse where he rose to the position of warehouse manager and from where he brought many of initial customers.^[1]

James Arthur also owned a retail drapery business in Paisley, near Glasgow: he appointed a manager to oversee the Paisley business while he focused on his new business.^[1]

The Company established a wholesale trade in adjoining premises in Argyle Street. In 1856 the wholesale business moved to a larger site in Miller Street, Glasgow and started to trade under the name Arthur & Co. The retail side of the business expanded into the vacant buildings left by the wholesale side.^[1]

During the late 1850s and early 1860s the retail business was run by a professional manager – first Thomas Kirkpatrick and then Alexander McLaren.^[1] In 1865 the partnership between the partners was dissolved and Fraser assumed control of the retail business leaving Arthur with the wholesale business. In 1865 Alexander McLaren joined the retail business and the name was changed to Fraser & McLaren.^[1]

Fraser & Sons[link]

When the first Hugh Fraser died in 1873, his three eldest sons, James, John and Hugh, acquired stakes in the business. James and John Fraser were initially directors in the business and employed Alexander McLaren and later John Towers to manage it for them. In 1891 Hugh also joined the partnership which by then was called Fraser & Sons.^[1]

In 1879 the current flagship store on Oxford Street in London was opened by Dan Harries Evans, a 23 year old from Whitemill in Carmarthenshire, Wales who had previously been apprenticed to a draper in Forest hamlet near Merthyr Tydfil, Wales. He moved to London in 1878 to set up his own business in Westminster Bridge Road. The store traded under the D H Evans name until 2001.^[1]

By 1900 Hugh Fraser II was in charge: he incorporated the business as Fraser & Sons Ltd in 1909 and introduced the famous stag’s head.^[1]

After Hugh Fraser II died in 1927, his son Hugh Fraser III, an accountant, became Chairman of the business.^[1] He opened new departments, enlarged the tearoom, opened a restaurant and also began to look at possible acquisitions.^[1] In 1936 he purchased Arnott & Co Ltd and its neighbour Robert Simpson & Sons Ltd in nearby Argyle Street, merging the companies to help improve trade.^[1] In 1948 the Company, now named House of Fraser, was first listed on the London Stock Exchange.^[1]

1950s to 1970s[link]

In 1951 the Company purchased McDonalds Ltd, and with it a branch in Harrogate. Fraser then purchased the Scottish Drapery Corporation in 1952, followed by the Sunderland based Binns group of stores in 1953.^[1]

Fraser sold the property sites to insurance companies, leasing them back for long terms at advantageous rates. This enabled the release of capital for the purchase of new premises and the modernisation of existing stores. In 1957 the Kensington store group of John Barker & Co Ltd was acquired and in 1959 Harrods^[1] and Dickins & Jones^[3] also joined the Group.

Sir Hugh Fraser succeeded his father as Chairman of the company when his father died in 1966.^[1] Sir Hugh resumed the expansion of the company in 1969 with the takeover of J. J. Allen Ltd, a Bournemouth based group.^[1]

During the 1970s the House of Fraser Group acquired more companies including: T. Baird & Sons Ltd of Scotland, Switzer & Co. Ltd, Dublin, Ireland and E. Dingle & Co. Ltd, Chiesmans Ltd, Hide & Co and the Army & Navy Stores in southern England, as well as a number of independent stores, totalling over fifty stores during the decade.^[1] In 1973 it was considering merging with the British pharmacy company Boots, and was even subject to a written answer in the House of Commons.^[4] The government decided to ban the proposed merger in 1974.^[5]

1980s and 1990s[link]

In 1981 Prof. Roland Smith succeeded Sir Hugh Fraser as chairman. A takeover bid by Lonrho was referred to the Monopolies and Mergers Commission and declared to be contrary to the public interest.^[1] Four new stores opened between 1980 and 1984.^[1] which included D H Evans in Wood Green, North London, in 1980, Dickins & Jones in Milton Keynes, in 1981, Frasers in Perth in April 1984 and Dickins & Jones in Epsom, Surrey, in May 1984.

The company, by then House of Fraser plc, diversified into sports goods under the name of Astral Sports and Leisure (subsequently sold to Sears plc owned Olympus Sport division) and into funerals with Wylie & Lochhead. It also launched the YOU range of cosmetics and jewellery shops and in 1985 acquired Turnbull & Asser Holdings Ltd, shirt makers of Jermyn Street, London and Kurt Geiger Holdings Ltd, shoe retailers.^[1] Other developments during the 1980s included the introduction of "Lifestyle" merchandise ranges and a huge investment in store refurbishment nationwide. In 1983 the Company introduced the Frasercard, valid at all stores and administered from a central computing facility in Swindon.^[1]

In 1985 the Al Fayed family bought the business for £615 million. The Al Fayeds supported the continuing expansion of the company and replaced the stag's head logo with a stag leaping from a green triangle with shop signs of this period using a double layered san serif typeface.^[1][6] In 1988, a five year strategic business plan was announced which saw a rationalisation of stores. Small branches were to be relinquished and replaced with larger units.

In September 1990, two new department stores were opened, a House of Fraser in the Meadowhall Shopping Centre in Sheffield, and Schofields in Leeds. In 1991, a new House of Fraser store was opened at the Lakeside Shopping Centre in West Thurrock, Essex.

In 1994, before House of Fraser plc was relisted on the London Stock Exchange, Harrods was moved out of the group so that it could remain under the private ownership of the Al Fayed family.^[1] John Coleman, who was appointed chief executive of the House of Fraser Group in 1996, launched the Linea brand in 1997 and Platinum and Fraser the following year.^[1] The House of Fraser logo was revised in 1996 with the leaping stag now going over an "F" shadow and shop signs using a serif typeface.^[6] There were many store closures in this period which included the closure or selling off of branches in locations including Sheffield (House of Fraser), Newcastle (Binns), Sunderland (Binns), Bradford (Rackhams) and Leeds (Schofields which had closed only six years after opening although House of Fraser continued to have a presence with their Rackhams (now House of Fraser store) in the city) with the loss of around 1,000 jobs.^[7]

House of Fraser set up BL Fraser, a 50–50 joint venture with the British Land Company, in 1999 to buy 15 House of Fraser stores that would continue to be operated by House of Fraser. The company added to its private-label brands in 2000 with House of Fraser womenswear, The Collection menswear, and a Linea Home line.^[1]

2000s to present[link]

In 2003, Tom Hunter put forward a hostile bid for the group, with the possible intention to merge with Allders, another department store he had shareholdings in.^[8] In addition there was a large reduction in the number of House of Fraser stores in Scotland which included the sell off or closure of branches in Aberdeen (Frasers), Dundee (Arnotts), Inverness (Frasers), Paisley (Arnotts) and Perth (Frasers).

2005 was a significant year of growth for House of Fraser with the acquisition of the four Jenners department stores in April for £46m,^[9] and Beatties, a mainly Midlands based department store chain of 12 sites, for £69.4m in the summer of 2005.^[10] In addition to buying companies, House of Fraser continued its own development programme and opened several more stores including its first store outside the UK in Dundrum Town Centre, Dublin, Ireland.^[11]

In 2006, the company consolidated its portfolio by closing the 135-year-old Barkers business in Kensington High Street on 2 January 2006.^[12] and on 14 January 2006, closed its Dickins & Jones store in London's Regent Street,^[13] as well as its Birmingham Beatties store in January 2006.^[14]

In February 2006 the group announced that it had received a preliminary bid approach valuing it at £300 million,^[15] but the bidder, private equity firm Apax, later withdrew.^[16] In May 2006 House of Fraser confirmed a takeover approach from the Icelandic investor Baugur: they acquired the Company for £351.4 million in August 2006.^[17] As part of the Baugur takeover all brand names for their stores, including the Beatties branches, will be replaced with the House of Fraser name with the exception of Jenners with the stag logo axed and a new san serif typeface used on shop signs.^[18]

In September 2007 House of Fraser launched its online store.,^[19] and made the national news by ceasing to sell pate de foie gras.^[20]

The company had three major openings in 2008, including its first store in Northern Ireland in the newly built Victoria Square Centre, Belfast in March. At 200,000 sq ft (19,000 m²) it was the largest store that House of Fraser had opened (as opposed to taken over) in the UK.^[21] On 25 September 2008 the company opened a 170,000 sq ft (16,000 m²) store in the Cabot Circus development in Bristol,^[22] and a branch in Westfield London, a new 70,000 sq ft (6,500 m²) store, on 30 October 2008.^[23] From Christmas 2008, House of Fraser co-operated with Regency Kitchens in supplying kitchens of the Sheraton range with a trial in its Birmingham branch.

Corporate governance and social responsibility[link]

House of Fraser is a principal subsidiary by Highland Group Holdings Limited, 35% owned by Landsbanki.^[24] One of its former directors, Jon Asgeir Jóhannesson, is currently being investigated for fraud and is fighting allegations that he may have diverted US$2bn (£1.4bn) from collapsed Icelandic bank Glitnir.^[25]

There was an allegation of a racist advertising campaign in 2007 resulting in House of Fraser having to pull one of its adverts with the now infamous slogan "black is back, white is right".^[26][27]

In 2002, House of Fraser settled an undisclosed amount for the use of illegal software.^[28]

Operations[link]

House of Fraser is the third largest group of traditional department stores in the UK with over 60 stores, sited in a mixture of town and city centre and regional shopping centre locations. Three House of Fraser Outlet stores in the town centres of Doncaster, Swindon and Leicester offer reduced price clearance and special purchase items in a discount department store environment.

House of Fraser launched its House of Fraser.com 'buy & collect' concept shop in October 2011 with its first location in Aberdeen^[29] and a second location opened in Liverpool November 2011. These much smaller shop units display their range via a series of touch screens.

Department stores[link]

All stores now trade under the 'House of Fraser' name, except where stated otherwise.

England[link]

• Altrincham (formerly Rackhams; opened 1978)
• Aylesbury (formerly Beatties; acquired 2005)
• Bath (formerly Jollys / Jolly & Son; acquired 1971)
• Birkenhead, Beatties (formerly Allansons; acquired 2005)
• Birmingham (formerly Rackhams; acquired 1959)
• Bluewater (opened 1999)
• Bournemouth (formerly Dingles and originally Brights; acquired 1969)
• Bristol (opened 2008)
• Burton upon Trent, Beatties (acquired 2005)
• Camberley (formerly Army & Navy and originally William Harvey; acquired 1976)
• Carlisle (formerly Binns and originally Robinson Brothers; acquired 1953)
• Cheltenham, Cavendish House (acquired 1969)
• Chichester (formerly Army & Navy and originally J D Morant; acquired 1976)
• Cirencester (formerly Rackhams and originally Frederick Boulton; acquired 1975)
• Croydon (opened 2004)
• Darlington, Binns (formerly Arthur Sanders; acquired 1953)
• Epsom (formerly Dickins & Jones; opened 1984)
• Exeter (formerly Dingles and originally Colsons; acquired 1975)
• Gateshead, MetroCentre (opened 1986)
• Grimsby (formerly Binns and originally Guy & Smith; acquired 1969)
• Guildford (formerly Army & Navy and originally William Harvey; acquired 1976)
• High Wycombe (opened 2008)
• Huddersfield (formerly Beatties; acquired 2005)
• Hull (formerly Hammonds; acquired 1972)
• King William Street, London (opened 2003)
• Leamington Spa (formerly Rackhams, prior to that Army & Navy and originally Burgis & Colbourne; acquired 1976)
• Leeds (formerly Rackhams, prior to that the temporary premises of Schofields and originally the Leeds branch of Woolworths; acquired 1988)
• Lincoln (formerly Binns and originally Mawer & Collingham; acquired 1980)
• Maidstone (opened 2005)
• Manchester (formerly Kendals / Kendal Milne & Co.; acquired 1959)
• Middlesbrough (formerly Binns and originally Thomas Jones; acquired 1953)
• Milton Keynes (formerly Dickins & Jones; opened 1981)
• Northampton (formerly Beatties; acquired 2005)
• Norwich (opened 2005)
• Nottingham (opened 1997)
• Oxford Street, London (formerly D H Evans; acquired 1959)
• Plymouth (formerly Dingles / E Dingle & Co.; acquired 1971)
• Reading (opened 1999)
• Richmond upon Thames (formerly Dickins & Jones and originally Gosling & Sons; acquired 1957)
• Sheffield, Meadowhall (opened 1990)
• Shrewsbury (formerly Rackhams and originally Joseph Della Porta; acquired 1975)
• Skipton, Rackhams (formerly Brown Muff and originally Amblers; acquired 1977)
• Solihull (formerly Beatties; acquired 2005)
• Sutton Coldfield (formerly Beatties; acquired 2005)
• Telford (formerly Beatties; acquired 2005)
• Victoria Street, London (formerly Army & Navy / Army & Navy Stores; acquired 1976)
• Westfield London (opened 2008)
• West Thurrock, Lakeside (opened 1991)
• Wolverhampton, Beatties (acquired 2005)
• Worcester (formerly Beatties; acquired 2005)

Northern Ireland[link]

• Belfast (opened 2008)

Scotland[link]

• Edinburgh, Frasers (formerly Binns and originally Robert Maule & Son; acquired 1953)
• Edinburgh, Jenners (acquired 2005)
• Glasgow, Frasers (formerly McDonalds Wylie & Lochhead and originally McDonalds and Wylie & Lochhead; acquired 1951 and 1957 respectively)
• Loch Lomond Shores, Jenners (acquired 2005)

Wales[link]

• Cardiff (formerly Howells / James Howell & Co.; acquired 1972)
• Cwmbran (formerly David Evans; acquired 1978)

Ireland[link]

• Dundrum (opened 2005)

House of Fraser Outlet stores[link]

• Doncaster (formerly Binns, prior to that the Doncaster branch of Owen Owen and originally Verity & Sons; acquired 1975)
• Leicester (formerly Rackhams; opened 1991)
• Swindon (formerly House of Fraser; opened 1996)

House of Fraser.com stores[link]

• Aberdeen (opened 2011)^[30]
• Liverpool (opened 2011)^[31]

Defunct brands[link]

Former branches[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• House of Fraser archive project, University of Glasgow
• House of Fraser Archive

Melanie Brown
Background information
Birth name	Melanie Janine Brown
Also known as	Melanie B, Mel B, Scary Spice
Born	(1975-05-29) 29 May 1975 (age 37) Harehills, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England
Origin	Leeds, England
Genres	Pop, R&B, hip hop
Occupations	Singer-songwriter, actress, television presenter, author
Years active	1994–present
Labels	EMI, Virgin, Amber Café
Associated acts	Spice Girls
Website	melaniebrown.com

Melanie Janine Brown (born May 29, 1975)^[1][2] is a British R&B and pop recording artist, songwriter, dancer, actress, author, television presenter and model. Born and raised in Harehills, Leeds, United Kindgom. Brown rose to fame when she became a member of British girl group, the Spice Girls, which she was famously known as "Scary Spice" in the group. Brown has been signed to a number of record labels during her career including Virgin Records, Independent record label, Amber Café and her latest record deal EMI Music, which she signed in 2012.

The Spice Girls signed to Virgin Records and released their debut single, "Wannabe", which hit number-one in more than 30 countries and helped establish the group as a "global phenomenon". Followed by their debut album, Spice, which sold more than 28 million copies worldwide,^[3][4] becoming the best-selling album by a female group in music history. They have sold over 75 million records worldwide, making them the biggest selling female group in history.^[5] The band's second debut album, Spiceworld went onto sell over 20 million records world wide.^[6] Forever selling 5 million records world wide.^[7] They have sold over 75 million records worldwide, making them the biggest selling female group in history and also one of the Best selling music artists in the world.^[8] Brown is also known for supporting Girl Power and their global grosses estimated at $500–800 million between 1996 and 1998.^[9] Return of the Spice Girls was the band's comeback turn and said to have grossed US$100 million and won the Billboard 2008 Touring Award.

Brown began her solo career when she released "I Want You Back" with Missy Elliott. The single charted at number-one on the UK Singles Chart, followed by the release of debut album, Hot—the album also saw release of top ten singles "Tell Me" and "Feel So Good". L.A. State of Mind was Brown's second studio album, which saw release in 2005 and saw the release of only one single—"Today". Brown will return to music in 2012, with EMI Music. Brown returned to television in 2011 when she joined the judging panel of the Australian version of The X Factor where she sat alongside, Ronan Keating, Guy Sebastian and Natalie Bassingthwaighte. She later became the co-host of the Australian version of Dancing with the Stars. It was later announced that Brown would appear as a guest judge on the UK's version of The X Factor after a replacement for Kelly Rowland had not been found.

Early life[link]

Brown was born in Harehills, Leeds, England, to an English mother, Andrea, and a black Nevisian father, Martin,^[10] and grew up in Burley, Leeds, West Yorkshire. She has a younger sister named Danielle^[10] who is an actress. She studied performing arts at Intake High School, in Leeds, before entering the entertainment industry.^[11] For a time, she worked as a dancer in the holiday resort, Blackpool, Lancashire.^[12] After seeing an advertisement for an audition in a newspaper, Brown started her music career in a band known as Touch. 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.

Musical career[link]

1994—99, 2007—08: Spice Girls era[link]

Brown, along with Melanie Chisholm, Geri Halliwell, Emma Bunton, and Victoria Adams responded to an advertisement in The Stage magazine.^[13] Around about 400 women who answered the ad went to Dance Works studios. At Brown's audition she sang "Greatest Love of All".^[14] Brown, Chisholm (who did not attend), Adams, and a few others got a callback. The group felt insecure about the lack of a contract and was frustrated by the direction in which Heart Management was steering them. In October 1994, armed with a catalogue of demos and dance routines, the group began touring management agencies. They persuaded Bob Herbert to set up a showcase performance for the group in front of industry writers, producers and A&R men in December 1994 at the Nomis Studios in Shepherds Bush where they received an "overwhelmingly positive" reaction.^[15]

Melanie Brown performing in 2007 with the Spice Girls

Due to the large interest in the group, the Herberts quickly set about creating a binding contract for the group. Encouraged by the reaction they had received at the Nomis showcase, all five members delayed signing contracts on the legal advice from, amongst others, Adams's father Anthony Adams. In March 1995, because of the group's frustration at their management's unwillingness to listen to their visions and ideas, they parted with Heart Management. The group began a relationship with Simon Fuller of 19 Entertainment and finally signed with him in March 1995. During the summer of that year the group toured record labels in London and Los Angeles with Fuller and finally signed a deal with Virgin Records in September 1995. From this point on, up to the summer of 1996, the group continued to write and record tracks for their debut album while extensively touring the west coast of the United States, where they had signed a publishing deal with Windswept Pacific. On 7 June 1996, the Spice Girls released their debut single "Wannabe" in the United Kingdom. In the weeks leading up to the release, the video for "Wannabe", got a trial airing on The Box music channel. The video was an instant hit, and was played 502 times a week. After the video was released, the Spice Girls had their first live TV slot on broadcast on LWT's Surprise Surprise.^[16] The song proved to be a global hit, reaching number 1 in 29 countries.^[17] and becoming the biggest-selling single by an all-female group of all time.^[18] It was followed by nine further number one singles from their albums Spice, Spiceworld and Forever.^[19] Each member of the group received a nickname from the media. Brown was named "Scary Spice".^[20][21]

The group is currently the Best selling girl group of all time selling 75 million^[22] Which also makes the group one the best selling artists music artists^[23] After the release of their third album, Forever (UK number 2), which was far less successful than their previous two albums, the Spice Girls stopped recording and the members to begin their solo careers.^[23] In 2007, the Spice Girls re-grouped and announced planns for an reunion tour,^[23] from which they were said to have earned £10 million each (approximately $20 million).^[24] The band said that they are still enjoying doing their "own thing".^[25] The group decided to release thier first Compilation albums their "Greatest Hits" album was released in early November 2007 and the tour began on 2 December 2007. During one Spice Girls performance at London's The O2 Arena, the bands children, including Brown's children accompanied her on stage during "Mama", along with the other Spice Girls' children.^[26] During the reformation Film maker Bob Smeaton directed an official film of the tour entitled Spice Girls: Giving You Everything.^[27] As well as their sell-out tour, the Spice Girls were contracted to appear in Tesco advertisements, for which they were paid £1 million each.^[28]

[edit] 2000—05: Solo career, Hot and L.A. State of Mind

Melanie B at the Who Sexiest People Party 2011.

Before the split of the Spice Girls, Brown went onto release music with Virgin Records, the label who she was signed to when a member of the Spice Girls. "I Want You Back" was released as the first offical single from the album, which charted at number-one on the UK Singles Chart and also had success around the globe. The song was recorded for the soundtrack of the film Why Do Fools Fall in Love. The single sold 218,000 copies and became the 82nd Bestselling British Single of 1998.^[29] While recording the album, Brown worked with producers such as Sisqo, Teddy Riley, and Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis (Janet Jackson, Prince), with whom she was also working on the Spice Girls' third album, Forever.^[30] Brown's debut album, Hot was released in November 2000, a month before the Spice Girls final album, Forever was released.^[31] At the suggestion of her then-husband Jimmy Gulzar, Brown covered Cameo's 1986 hit "Word Up" as her next solo release.^[30] The track was already released on the soundtrack to Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me. The song charted poorly, peaking at fourteen on the UK Singles Chart making it the lowest-charting Spice Girls-related single of the 90s.^[32] Turning to television work, she hosted Pure Naughty, a weekly BBC2 magazine show focusing on black music.^[30] She also hosted the MOBO Awards on two occasions, in 1998 with Bill Bellamy and in 1999 with Wyclef Jean, and took part in a BBC-funded short film entitled Fish.^[30]

The third single from the album, "Tell Me", which debuted at No. 4 in the UK charts with about 40,000 copies sold in its first week.^[30] It sold approximately 100,000 copies, making it the 158th "best seller" of 2000.^[33] A fourth single was released in February 2001, "Feels So Good" which peaked at No. 5, followed by a fifth single, "Lullaby", a pop number dedicated to her daughter.^[30] It was accompanied by a video shot in Morocco and featured Brown with Phoenix Chi. The media criticised Brown for using her child in the music video and single artwork, labelling her Desperate Spice and insinuating that she was exploiting her child as a marketing tool.^[30] The single entered and peaked at #13. The album was not a success and garnered mediocre reviews,^[34] selling a disappointing 7,419 copies in its first week and charting at a weak #28, before quickly falling out of the charts,^[35] leading to Virgin dumping Brown from their label.^[36]

In April 2004, Brown was approached to take part in the musical Rent in the role of Mimi Marquez. A few weeks after Brown finished her Rent stint, she played her second gig, performing some songs from the musical and showcasing some new material she had written.^[30] Brown decided to release them a year later through an independent label, Amber Café.^[37] The only single from the album, "Today", saw a UK release in June 2005. "Today" entered the singles chart at #41, selling around 1,000 copies in its first week.^[38] The album, LA State Of Mind, was released on 27 June 2005 in two formats: as a regular CD and as a Limited Edition with a 30 minute DVD documentary detailing Brown's life in Los Angeles.^[39] In a scathing review, Allmusic stated that this album was one of the worst pop albums of the decade.^[40] The album was also released with a bonus DVD featuring an in-depth documentary filmed and directed by Mark McConnell.^[41] One of the producers which had worked with Brown's album was Rodney Jerkins, aka Darkchild, who previously worked with Brown while in the Spice Girls.^[42]

[edit] 2011—present: The X Factor and Third studio album

Melanie B at the Paris Hilton: Marquee The Star Sydney 2012

In 2011, Brown returned to the spotlight and joined the judging panel of the Australian version of The X Factor, for its third series which began airing in September 2011 on the Seven Network where she joined Ronan Keating, Guy Sebastian and Natalie Bassingthwaighte on the judging panel. Brown had previously served as a celebrity mentor on its second season during week 8 back in 2010.^[43] In February 2012, Brown was also announced to replace Sonia Kruger as co-host on the Australian version of Dancing with the Stars.^[44] It was announced on 24 February that Brown was planning on releasing the second season of "It's a Scary World" in summer 2012. Brown also revealed that the Spice Girls will be having some projects later in the year dealing with the musical. ^[44] On 31 March 2012 it was announced that Brown signed a global record deal with EMI Records for the release of her third studio album. Currently recording new material to be released in late 2012, Brown had this to share about the signing, “I’m overly excited to finally announce this amazing global partnership deal back home with EMI Music. I know I have mentioned doing music in the past but for legal reasons I was not in a position to release any new music. For my fans, I am happy and proud to say my music WILL be heard this year and that is for sure a promise I’m over the moon to say the least. Love me or hate me, scary spice is back, hahahaha!!!”^[45] After Kelly Rowland left the UK's version of The X Factor it was confirmed that Brown was in the running to take over the judging role, however Brown revealed that she would not be leaving the Australian version ans she would just feature as a guest judge.^[46]

Non-musical works[link]

From 2000, Brown concentrated on a variety of non-singing projects. She hosted a number of TV shows such as This Is My Moment (a talent show) for ITV1 and shot a documentary called Voodoo Princess for Channel 4.^[47] She took part in smaller projects as a presenter such as Top of the Pops, Party in the park for the Prince's Trust and The All Star Animal Awards.^[31] She has appeared as herself in an advert for the Yorkshire tourist board in a series which included contributions from other Yorkshire-born celebrities, and in the film Happy Birthday Oscar Wilde.^[48]

Mel B is 2012

In 2002, Brown released her autobiography, Catch A Fire, which reached No. 7 in the official books chart,^[11]and saw her touring the UK to promote it with a run of book signings . Outside of SpiceWorld and 'Fish', Brown's first movie role came in the form of a British drama, Burn It.^[11] She appeared in a horror film entitled, LD 50 Lethal Dose, which was released directly to DVD in 2005.^[49] She acted in a long run of shows as part of the cast for the Vagina Monologues. She was in the movie The Seat Filler, co-produced by Will Smith and starring Destiny's Child star Kelly Rowland. Brown also appeared as Mimi in the broadway production of Rent.^[11] Brown played herself in episodes of the comedy series Bo' Selecta and A Bear's Tail. In 2003, Brown made a cameo appearance in the music video Bo Selecta's Proper Crimbo. In 2005 she had a leading role in the thriller Telling Lies, released to DVD the following year.^[50]

Following an appearance in the short film Love Thy Neighbor,^[51] in September 2007, Brown joined the fifth season of the U.S. television hit Dancing with the Stars with her partner Maksim Chmerkovskiy. On 27 November 2007, in the season finale, although they had a perfect score on their final dance, they took second place in the show.^[52] In late 2007, she hosted a television special for Canada's MuchMoreMusic called Your Fave Videos of the 80's.^{[citation needed]}. In June 2008 she hosted, with Joey Fatone, the show The singing office broadcast by American cable TV network TLC 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.^[53] On 17 August 2009, Brown was announced as a visiting panellist on ITV1's daily lunchtime show Loose Women, having been interviewed on the programme in the past. She appeared for a week of shows during September 2009.^[54] In September 2009, Brown took part in the filming of ITV1 series Seven Days on the Breadline during which she spent part of a week staying with a family living in poverty in Leeds, British.^[55] Subsequently Brown wrote an article in the tabloid paper The Mail on Sunday, titled 'My Week in Apathy City.'^[56] 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.^[11] In September 2010, her own reality show aired on the Style Network called Mel B: It's a Scary World.^[11] In November 2010, Get Fit with Mel B, a fitness program, was released in North America and Europe.^[57] On 7 November 2010, Brown became the celebrity mentor for the eight week of the Australian version of The X Factor. During the results show she performed a duet with the remaining five acts singing "Stop" originally by the Spice Girls.

Personal life[link]

While on the Spiceworld Tour, Brown began a romantic relationship with Dutch dancer Jimmy Gulzar. After she became pregnant, they married in Little Marlow, Buckinghamshire, on 13 September 1998.^[58] Mel B changed her stage name to Melanie G. Their daughter, Phoenix Chi Gulzar, was born in Westminster, London, on 19 February 1999.^[59] In 2000, Brown filed for divorce, which was finalised later that year.^[60] The custody battle for her daughter was highly publicised. Gulzar claimed Mel's breast implants and adultery were the reason for their split.^[61] Brown won custody, but had to pay an alimony settlement of £1.25m to her ex-husband.^[62] While living in the US, she had relationships with women, according to the Daily Mail.^[63] In 2006, Brown became the subject of tabloid stories on the basis of her relationship with Hollywood actor Eddie Murphy. On 17 October 2006 AOL claimed that Brown was having a baby with Murphy.^[64] In early December 2006, news came that 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 has been performed.^[65][66] Brown gave birth to daughter Angel Iris Murphy Brown on Eddie Murphy's 46th birthday, 3 April 2007.^[67] On 22 June 2007, People reported the results of a court-ordered DNA test, confirming through Brown's publicist that Murphy was indeed the father of Brown's baby. Murphy then admitted paternity and indicated that he would reimburse Brown for the cost of the pregnancy.^[68]

In February 2007, Brown began dating long term friend and movie producer Stephen Belafonte.^[69] Brown and Belafonte secretly married on 6 June 2007 in Las Vegas, Nevada,^[70] and they subsequently renewed their vows with a lavish ceremony in front of their friends and families on 8 November 2008 in Hurghada, Egypt. On 1 September 2011, Brown gave birth to her third child, a daughter named Madison Brown Belafonte.^[71][72]

Discography[link]

• 2000: Hot
• 2005: L.A. State of Mind

Filmography[link]

Acting[link]

• 1993 Coronation Street – Amy Nelson (Supporting artist) (Uncredited)
• 1997 Spice World – Scary Spice
• 1998 Creche Landing – TV movie (Voice)
• 2000 Fish
• 2003 Burn It – Claire (TV series – season 1 only)
• 2003 LD:50- Lethal Dose – Louise
• 2004 The Seat Filler – Sandie
• 2005 Telling Lies – Maggie Thomas
• 2006 Love Thy Neighbor – Lonnie
• 2011 Secret Diary of A Call Girl - Sylvia Burke

Herself[link]

References[link]

Bibliography[link]

• Brown, Melanie. (2002). Catch a Fire: The Autobiography. Headline Book Publishing. ISBN 978-0755310630

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Melanie B

• Official website
• Melanie Brown at the Internet Movie Database
• Mel B.: It's a Scary World