Spice Girls Reunite

Following a calculated publicity buildup, the original Girl Power group of the 1990s announced that they have agreed to reunite for 11 concerts around the world in December and January.The shows will be their first concerts since breaking up in 2001, and the first with all five of the original group since Geri "Ginger Spice" Halliwell quit to pursue a solo career in 1998. "Imagine you got divorced and you've got back together with your ex-husband," Halliwell said, explaining how she felt about the reunion. "She just appreciates the fact we've let her back in," joked Victoria "Posh Spice" Beckham. The group said the shows would be in Los Angeles on Dec. 7, Las Vegas (Dec. 8), New York (Dec. 11), London (Dec. 15), Cologne, Germany (Dec. 20), Madrid, Spain (Dec. 23), Beijing (Jan. 10), Hong Kong (Jan. 12), Sydney, Australia (Jan. 17); Cape Town, South Africa (Jan. 20) and Buenos Aires (Jan. 24).The re-united Spice Girls, Victoria Beckham, Melanie Chisholm, Geri Halliwell, Emma Bunton and Melanie Brown pose for the photographers on the grounds of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London.Halliwell and Beckham joined with Melanie "Sporty Spice" Chisholm, Emma "Baby Spice" Bunton and Melanie "Scary Spice" Brown to pose for photos and announce tour plans. "We wanted to say thank you to our fans. It just feels very right for us," Chisholm said. "Obviously it's nostalgic. But equally, if new fans want to come along, that's fantastic," Halliwell said. "I like to think our songs are universal and they are timeless."Their first single, "Wannabe," was released in 1996 and topped charts in 31 countries. They went on to sell more than 55 million records. But their last album, "Forever," released in 2000 and without Halliwell, fared poorly.