Pop star Melanie C has responded to accusations that Spice Girls stole their iconic “girl power” phrase from another band.
The British pop group are widely credited with popularising the mantra in the mid-Nineties, today splitting opinion over whether it helped revive the feminist movement or if it was part of a cynical marketing campaign.
However, what has been noted on several occasions is the fact that the Spice Girls did not coin the “girl power” phrase themselves.
In a new Q&A with The Guardian, Melania C, aka Sporty Spice, was asked about the fact that the British punk band Shampoo used it for their debut album, Girl Power, along with the title track, with lyrics including: “I don’t wanna be a boy / I wanna be a girl / I wanna play with knives / I wanna play with guns / I wanna smash the place up just for fun.”
“Well, I’m surprised this question doesn’t come up more often because, obviously, we are all aware that Shampoo had a single called ‘Girl Power’ way back in 1996 [it reached No 25],” Melanie C responded.
“I don’t really remember how we ended up going with it. But we loved Shampoo. We were big fans.”
A 2016 Vice article noted that “girl power” could be traced further back to the feminist punk scene in Olympia, Washington, which would become known as Riot Grrrl.
Bikini Kill singer Kathleen Hanna recalled to the publication that she first used the term “girl power” in the earlier Nineties, when she and drummer Tobi Vail were putting together the band’s second fanzine: “Tobi and I were discussing what word just felt totally wrong next to girl,” she said, “and we came up with power.”
Melanie C’s former bandmate, Geri Horner (aka Baby Spice), confirmed to Vice that she first heard “girl power” from Shampoo, rather than Bikini Kill: “I saw them and I thought, ‘Oh my god, that is so good,” she said.
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Asked if she felt she’d ripped Shampoo off, Horner responded: “I think we all get influenced. When you’re a writer, you’re looking around and absorbing life. It’s just passing the baton on.”
Asked if she regretted it, she commented: “It was a punchy term.”
The Spice Girls last reunited onstage in 2019, in a series of stadium shows with original members Horner, Melanie C, Mel B and Emma Bunton – fellow member Victoria Beckham, aka Posh Spice, did not take part.
Last month, Mel B told Hello! magazine that a 30th anniversary reunion for 2026 would not be taking place.