Thirty years after the Spice Girls burst onto the scene with one of the most iconic anthems of the ’90s, a little-known original member has recalled the moment she first heard Wannabe.
Lianne Morgan, from Cowbridge, Vale of Glamorgan, joined Victoria Beckham, Geri Halliwell, Emma Bunton and Melanie B in Touch, the group that eventually became the Spice Girls.
But Lianne was abruptly replaced by Mel C because, at 23, she was “too old against the other girls”.
After returning from a cruise ship gig, Lianne saw them singing Wannabe on Top of the Pops.
She recalled how she “got out their numbers” to congratulate them on the hit, before thinking “no, I won’t, they might not even remember me”.
Back in the ’90s, Lianne attended an audition at Nomis Studios in London and was chosen to be part of Touch with Geri Halliwell, Melanie Brown and Victoria Adams.
She said that “she fitted the bill” for what they were looking for as she was a singer and dancer “with an edge and confidence”.
“Having sang in Welsh social clubs as well as up north I was confident and could hold an audience and deal with hecklers. I could hold my own,” she added.
The mum-of-two, now aged 55, said Geri Halliwell was the first member of the band that “stood out”.
“Geri was great fun to be around and I would have definitely been closest to her, she was the most grounded one,” she said.
Morgan said Victoria Beckham was “very quiet and shy”, adding that she “did not want to sing at all, she kept on saying I am not a singer, I am a dancer.”
She also recalls Mel B being “so confident”, even as a teenager.
“She had an incredible voice and I knew she would be picked but felt she was very, very young,” said Morgan.