Victoria Beckham scuppers £10million Spice Girls reunion after calling in lawyers to block group from performing classic songs
Move has left the trio’s plans for a major arena comeback tour and potential new material in tatters
VICTORIA Beckham has scuppered plans for a £10million Spice Girls reunion tour by her old bandmates.
Posh drafted in lawyers to stop Geri Horner, Mel B and Emma Bunton performing the group’s glittering back catalogue.
It has left in tatters the trio’s plans for a major arena comeback tour and potential new material.
A source said: “The girls are devastated. It is an extremely sad way for things to end.”
Last year Victoria hinted there were serious problems in the Spice camp when she suggested she did not think Mel, Geri and Emma should refer to themselves as the Spice Girls.
When asked in an interview with Claudia Winkleman if she wished her old bandmates luck, she said: “Of course, as a new group, I do.
“I do think they should sing their own material though, because what we did in the Spice Girls was so special. If they sang Spice Girls songs I think I might be a bit sad.”
Posh holds joint writing credits on the band’s string of chart-toppers, including 2 Become 1, Say You’ll Be There and Spice Up Your Life.
A source said: “The girls are devastated. Victoria was a huge part of their lives and now she is using lawyers to block their comeback.
“Victoria is proud of her Spice Girls history but this suggests she wants to cut all links with the group which transformed her life.
“She is resorting to aggressive legal letters and it is an extremely sad way for things to end after all they have been through together.”
The Sun revealed in August last year how four of the band — minus Victoria, 42 — were planning a huge international arena tour and even a joint venture with US group The Backstreet Boys.
Pop experts said last night a reformed Spice Girls could earn £10million through ticket sales and lucrative commercial deals.
When Mel C also snubbed the reunion, the remaining three launched a website promoting themselves as Spice Girls GEM and headed into the recording studio.
A snippet of a tune called Song For Her was leaked and received a mixed reaction from fans.
A source said the release of the song was one of the main factors in Victoria’s decision to ensure the trio did not represent themselves as the original group.
The source added: “It became a concern that if the remaining members started mixing classic hits with new songs that were not up to much it would damage their legacy.
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“Victoria takes herself very seriously now and didn’t want to have an association with this project which she felt she would if they sang the classic songs and marketed themselves as the Spice Girls.
“She got lawyers involved as she has a writing credit on the hits and co-owns the companies which control the band’s legacy and finances.”
Despite her fashion empire losing £4.6million last year, Posh is still worth £250million — £508million with her husband David.
Mel C has said she believes the group should go out on a high after the 2012 London Olympics closing ceremony performance, a sentiment Victoria is thought to agree with.
But Emma Bunton defended their decision to carry on, saying: “It’s weird because we’ve done it without Geri before. It always feels weird without the others.
“But I believe the Spice Girls now is about a generation, it’s about all the people that have listened.”
Mel B had previously called Melanie and Victoria “bitches” for not taking part. And yesterday The Sun told how Geri had quit to focus on the birth of her second child.
At the height of their fame in the 1990s Scary, Baby, Ginger, Posh and Sporty sold 90million records.
Geri quit in 1998 and the remaining four called it a day in 2000.
Victoria was the driving force behind a 2007 reunion which saw them stage gigs across the world.
The five were last all together at the premiere of Spice Girls musical Viva Forever in 2012.
Victoria invited all her bandmates, except Mel B, to David’s 40th celebrations in Marrakesh, Morocco, in 2015.
SHOULD SPICE GIRLS DO TOUR?
YES
By LAURA ARMSTRONG, Sunday Showbiz Editor
AS a Spice fan who belted out Wannabe at my first disco (I was Baby Spice), I can understand why Victoria wants to protect their legacy. But I’m disappointed the girls have seen their friendships reduced to legal letters. A reunion would have been an anti-climax after their Olympics farewell. But surely the fact Posh will talk to the others only through lawyers dulls their shine more than a few reunion performances?
NO
By EMMA BRANKIN, Biz on Sunday Editor
GOING to the 2007 reunion tour fulfilled a lifelong dream to see my favourite band — and they didn’t disappoint. But Victoria and Melanie C are right. Nobody wants the Spice Girls to become S Club 3 or, heaven forbid, Blue. Victoria’s actions are harsh but if it’s stopped Geri taking on Mel C’s high notes on Say You’ll Be There, she’s been cruel to be kind for all of us. If all five one day decide to belt out a few tunes, I’ll be first in line to hear them.