MEDIA RELEASE COURTESY OF: BLOOD BROTHERS

Following Melanie C’s Olivier-Award nomination for Best Actress in a Musical, Blood Brothers last week played to the best-ever London figures in its 21-year West End run.

Melanie C received 5 Star reviews across the board when she joined the cast of the smash hit musical last October, including critical acclaim from The Daily Telegraph’s Charles Spencer, Fiona Mountford from the Evening Standard and Tim Walker of The Sunday Telegraph.

Melanie C, the chart-topping star of the biggest girl band of all time – The Spice Girls – made her theatrical debut in Blood Brothers on Monday 26 October 2009 and in doing so marked the first by a Spice Girl in a West End musical.

Liverpool born Melanie stars as Mrs Johnstone in Willy Russell’s legendary West End smash hit, following in the footsteps of Barbara Dickson, Kiki Dee, Carole King and Helen Reddy in taking on the iconic role.

Melanie won universal acclaim as one fifth of the Spice Girls, the group who captured the imagination of the world with their brand of girl power and brilliantly infectious pop music. The Spice Girls led the way for future girl bands like Girls Aloud, Atomic Kitten and the Pussycat Dolls – with Melanie’s trademark kicks and searing vocals at the fore of their unprecedented success.

As a solo artist, Melanie has gone on to have the most successful musical career of the quintet, having released four albums, earned nominations for BRIT and ECHO Awards and charted at the top of Billboard Dance Chart in America.

Melanie holds the position for most UK No 1 singles by a female co-writer. She is third after Lennon and McCartney for the most UK No 1 singles by a British co-writer and is the only female to reach the UK No 1 spot as part of a quintet, quartet, duo and as a solo artist