Spice Girls rule out Mandela charity show appearance
Tuesday, 29 Apr 2008 13:52
Spice Girls unlikely to appear at Nelson Mandela charity concert
The Spice Girls are unlikely to appear at a charity concert in honour of Nelson Mandela's 90th birthday, according to band member Melanie Brown.
The Girl Power group had been thought likely to appear at the Hyde Park gig along with acts such as Amy Winehouse and Leona Lewis due to having met the former South African leader at the height of their fame during the 90s.
But speaking to BBC Radio 1's Newsbeat programme, Brown said the five-piece's lengthy world tour probably represented the last occasion they would perform together.
"I did hear about that and we're all big fans of Nelson Mandela but I don't think we're going to be doing that," she said.
"I know we all have a lot of stuff going on. I know that I'm here working probably until the end of the year. But I know I don't have a break."
She added: "But he's a great guy. I can't believe he's 90."
The Wannabe stars earned millions from their recent series of concerts which saw them stage a residency at London's O2 Arena as well as performing in North America, Spain and Germany, though originally-planned shows in Beijing, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Sydney, Cape Town and Buenos Aires were cancelled due to "personal and family commitments".
"The tour wasn't an abrupt end at all because we only started off to do ten shows and it just escalated," Brown explained.
"There were more and more demands from here, there and everywhere. Our tour went on pretty long considering what we actually started out for it to be. But it was brilliant. We all had so much fun. It was great."
Petitions for a commemorative DVD of the shows have sprung up on social networking sites such as Facebook and Bebo since the end of the tour.