Geri Halliwell

Geraldine Estelle "Geri" Halliwell (born 6 August 1972) is a British pop singer-songwriter, clothes designer, author and actress. Halliwell came to international prominence in the late 1990s as  Ginger Spice, a member of  girl group the  Spice Girls. She reportedly amassed a $30 million fortune during her last two years in the group.  Halliwell launched her solo career in 1999, releasing her  album  Schizophonic. She has since released two more studio albums –  Scream If You Wanna Go Faster and  Passion – as well as four singles that reached number one on the  UK Singles Chart: " Mi Chico Latino", " Lift Me Up", " Bag It Up" and " It's Raining Men". In 2008 Halliwell published a book series named  Ugenia Lavender.  As a solo artist, Halliwell has sold 12 million records worldwide, and been nominated for four Brit Awards (in 2000 and 2002). In July 2011, Halliwell announced she has been working on a fourth studio album, and would be making a return to music in 2013. <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Digital_Spy_4-0" style="line-height:1em;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">[ <span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.1875px;">Halliwell reunited, once again, with the Spice Girls to perform a medley of their Number one hits, " Wannabe<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.1875px;">" and " Spice Up Your Life<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.1875px;">" at the  2012 Summer Olympics closing ceremony<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.1875px;"> in August 2012.

Early life
<p style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;"> Halliwell was born at Watford General Hospital to Laurence Francis Halliwell (1922–1993),   who was of  English  and  Swedish  descent, and his wife Ana María (née Hidalgo), who is a Spaniard  from  Huesca. Halliwell grew up on a  council estate  in  North Watford. She was educated at the  Watford Grammar School for Girls.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">Before starting her music career, Halliwell had worked as a nightclub dancer in Majorca, a presenter on the Turkish version of Let's Make a Deal and as a glamour model. Following her rise to fame with the Spice Girls, nude photos of Halliwell were re-published in a number of magazines in 1992 and 1995 including Playboy and Penthouse.

Personal and media life
<p style="line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">On 14 May 2006 Halliwell gave birth to her daughter, Bluebell Madonna Halliwell, by caesarean section at London's Portland Hospital.Sacha Gervasi is reported to be the child's father, but this is unconfirmed by Halliwell.Victoria Beckham and Emma Bunton are Bluebell's godmothers.Halliwell is a supporter of Watford Football Club. She has attended the Alpha course at Holy Trinity Brompton in London.

[edit] Charity work
<p style="line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">In 1999 Halliwell became a representative for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). In 2000 Halliwell appeared in the two part documentary series Geri's World Walkabout for the BBC, which followed her work with the UN and other travels. Halliwell picked up further UN work in 2006, by visiting Zambia from 14–16 November, to promote greater international awareness of the urgent need to reduce maternal death and halt the spread of HIV/AIDS.

[edit] Political affiliations
<p style="line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">In the run-up to the 1997 UK General Election, Halliwell declared: "I saw a lot of what Mrs Thatcher did. She was definitely the original Spice Girl rising from the greengrocer's daughter to Prime Minister." For this, Lauren Laverne called her "Tory scum". She claimed that her background was deeply-rooted in support for the Conservative Party and that Thatcher was the pioneer of 'Girl Power' and the spiritual sixth member of the Spice Girls. She claimed in 1996 that Tony Blair was "not a safe pair of hands for the economy".By the 2001 General Election Halliwell had switched her support to Tony Blair and the Labour Party, making a cameo appearance in one of their party election broadcasts.