Wannabe

This was the Spice Girls first single. It was a huge and immediate hit, as their message of "Girl Power" and quirky personalities went along with the catchy beat and intrigued audiences around the world. The song was written by Richard "Biff" Stannard and his musical collaborator Matt Rowe with assistance from the group members, who all received writers credits. Stannard had written the song "Steam" for a boy band called East 17, and after a chance encounter with Mel B., he was invited to write some songs for the Spice Girls, which was honing their act. Over the course of 10 days, he and Rowe wrote both "Wannabe" and the group's eventual third single, "2 Become 1." Stannard said that pretty much every waking hour of those 10 days was spent working on the songs; he explained to Pink News: "We wrote 'Wannabe' quite quickly, but it took ages to get it to sound right. I remember waking up on the studio floor with this post-it from Matt saying, 'Press play.' We'd finally got it. So it was luck and hard work."

The Spice Girls were formed as a female alternative to boy bands, which were big at the time in the UK. They spent years developing their act and cultivating their image; by the time this song was released, they had already made many media appearances and were ready for the big time. When "Wannabe" was released in the UK on July 8, 1996, it blew past even the loftiest of expectations, reaching #1 on July 27, where it stayed for seven weeks. Global domination followed - in January 1997 the song was released in the US and in February it went to #1. It topped the charts in at least 10 other countries, including Australia, Canada, Israel, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland.

Worldwide, this is the best-selling single by an all-female group.