Over the weekend, Melanie “Mel C” Chisholm turned 40 years old. (Yes, really.)
And so, to celebrate the milestone, the Spice Girl decided to go big — hosting a major showcase on Saturday night called Sporty’s Forty at O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire.
The one-off celebration saw the singer-songwriter belting out a bunch of her own tunes, including “Think About It,” “Stupid Game” and “Weak” — and also a cover of Rihanna‘s “Only Girl (In The World), because why not? The Guardian seemed to enjoy the show, but the best bits obviously came when she opted to bring out a few familiar faces for some special birthday duets.
“There was another girl band in the ’90’s that defined the ’90’s and girl power and myself and the Spice Girls fookin’ love these girls!” Mel C excitedly announced.
Out came Natalie Appleton for a performance of 2000 UK #1 smash “Pure Shores” by the soon-to-be-reformed All Saints. Complete and utter ’90’s UK girl group nostalgia overload.
And then, the biggest surprise of the night: Free Me songstress and fellow Legendary Girl of Spice, Emma “Baby Spice” Bunton.
This isn’t the first time Sporty and Baby have tag-teamed in their solo years. Remember their cover of “I Know Him So Well” for Mel C’s musical theatre record (oh dear) back in 2012? In fact, it isn’t even the first time the two have tackled “2 Becomes 1” together live in recent memory.
That being said, it was an incredibly touching performance. (And how cute is Emma, still?) Watching the two repeatedly hug, smile and laugh with each other after all these years…well, no one will blame you for getting a little verklempt.
Friendship never ends, as a certain girl group once declared. Viva forever!
Can we expect Cheryl Cole and Nicola Roberts to do a duet of “Whole Lotta History” in 2024? A boy can pray.