Don’t believe the rumors… The Spice Girls will not be reuniting for the Princess Diana memorial concert next month. They are, however, preparing for a Christmas reunion tour, according to PEOPLE magazine.
A source close to the group told the publication that the popular five-woman group will be reuniting together in December to perform new material that is currently being created by Geri Halliwell, a.k.a. “Ginger Spice” and Emma “Baby Spice” Bunton.
The Spice Girls were one of the most successful female acts of the 1990s, thanks in large part to their manager Simon Fuller (the man who created “American Idol”). Now sources say it will be up to Fuller to finalize the reunion and send the group off on a worldwide tour.
Some fans had hoped the women would regroup in time for the Princess Diana show (scheduled to take place on July 1, to mark the 10th anniversary of her death), but Bunton is currently pregnant and Victoria “Posh Spice” Beckham is in the midst of a trans-continental move to California with her family.
Sources say in addition to the tour, the group plans to release a greatest hits album that will include several new songs.
All of this may come as a surprise to Spice Girls fans who may have heard Melanie “Sporty Spice” Chisholm say (as recently as March) that there was no hope for a reunion–with or without her. (Word has it that Chisholm was the last to sign on for the reunion because she was busy with her solo career.) Turns out the rumors of a possible reunion that started circulating shortly after the April baptism service for Halliwell’s 11-month-old daughter, Bluebell Madonna are proving to be true after all. According to PEOPLE, Fuller is expected to make an official announcement about the reunion sometime in the next few weeks.
One final Spice Girls related note: NBC executives say they will go ahead with the reality show they planned to air starring Victoria Beckham, though the air date will be moved to a later time. A couple of weeks ago the network decided to pull the plug on the show when Beckham cancelled her plans to fly to L.A. so she could cheer on her soccer star husband in England.