Victoria Beckham

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Victoria Beckham

Victoria Caroline Beckham (née Adams; born 17 April 1974)[2] is an English pop singer, songwriter, dancer and occasional actress turned fashion designer and businesswoman. During her rise to fame with 1990s pop sensation the Spice Girls, she was dubbed Posh Spice. Since the Spice Girls followed separate careers, Beckham has dabbled with Pop music, scoring four UK Top 10 singles. However, she has found more success as an internationally recognized and photographed style icon and socialite. Universally referred to as "Posh" a moniker first coined by the British tabloid press, she is married to English football icon David Beckham with whom she has three sons.

Career

Spice Girls

Victoria Beckham at Spice Girls concert in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Victoria Beckham (then Adams) joined the all-girl group Spice Girls, first called "Touch," in 1994, with Geri Halliwell, Emma Bunton, Melanie Brown and Melanie Chisholm. The group's first single, "Wannabe," went to number one in the UK and the U.S., and would be followed by eight other successful number one singles from their albums Spice and Spiceworld. Each member of the group received a nickname from the media; Victoria became "Posh Spice". The group was one of the most successful pop acts of the 1990s, selling over fifty-five million records worldwide.[3] After the release of their third album, Forever (UK#2), which was much less successful than their previous two albums, the Spice Girls stopped recording, leading Victoria to try to build a solo career.

In 2007, the Spice Girls reformed and announced plans for a comeback tour.[3] Beckham had previously stated that she and her former Spice colleagues were enjoying their solo careers in various fields. She said: "We're all still doing our own thing."[4] The Spice Girls embarked on a world tour in 2007, and their "Greatest Hits" album was released in early November. Filmmaker, Bob Smeaton, will direct an official documentary on the reunion. It is entitled Spice Girls: Giving You Everything and will be aired on BBC One.[5] Beckham has stated "I wanted my children to see that Mummy was a pop star. It was the last opportunity for them to stand in a crowd full of people screaming for the Spice Girls."[2]

Solo artist

In August 2000, Victoria released her first solo single: "Out Of Your Mind",[2] a collaboration with the garage act the Truesteppers and Dane Bowers. The week of release coincided with the release of "Groovejet (If This Ain't Love)" by Spiller ft. Sophie Ellis-Bextor, resulting in a chart battle dubbed 'Posh vs. Posher' by the tabloids.[6] Following a huge publicity campaign, "Out Of Your Mind" was outsold by Ellis-Bextor, and debuted at number two.[7]

Beckham signed a recording contract with her group label Virgin Records. Her true debut single as a solo artist, "Not Such An Innocent Girl", was released in September 2001.[2] Again, she faced competition in another hugely hyped chart battle, this time with Kylie Minogue's single "Can't Get You Out Of My Head". Despite a huge promotional campaign, Beckham was outsold eight to one.[8][2] In the week of release, the tabloid newspaper The Sun ran a daily progress chart covering the chart battle, but they gave up half way through the week when Minogue's success was clear. During a live performance in Birmingham, Beckham wore a fake lip ring, drawing criticism from many groups, including the British Dental Association for behaving as a poor role model.[9]. Beckham's debut album reached number 10 in the UK album chart. The album featured the song "Every Part Of Me", which was co-written by Beckham and dedicated to her son, Brooklyn, who features at the start. Brooklyn's 'part' was allegedly an off-chance recording which took place during a recording session break.

The second and final single to be released from the album was "A Mind of Its Own". The single reached number 6 in the UK and sold 56,500 copies.[10] Rumours started spreading that Beckham was soon to be dropped by her label for not charting in the top three. These were refuted at the time.[11]

A third single, "I Wish", was promoted but never materialized. The single version was a remix featuring Robbie Craig, and was performed on TV on Friday Night's All Wright. Following the announcement of Beckham's second pregnancy, the single was shelved. Beckham was then dropped from the label Virgin Records.[12]

Telstar Records signed Beckham in 2002 in a deal made with Simon Fuller's 19 Management. Beckham spent much of 2002 recording a 'pop-influenced' album, but she allegedly chose not to release it after being disappointed with the results.[13] Instead of pop, Beckham wanted to record tracks with a more RnB and hip hop influence. She began working with urban producer Damon Dash. There were some unsubstantiated rumours regarding both Dash and Beckham at the time. These plans reportedly worried Telstar and Simon Fuller, but they compromised with Beckham, allowing her to release a Dash produced track ("This Groove") alongside one of her earlier pop tracks ("Let Your Head Go") from the shelved album.

The resulting double A-side single "Let Your Head Go / This Groove" was released in the UK in late December 2003, following heavy promotion and many TV appearances across the Christmas period. The single charted at number 3 in the U.K.[2] This double A-side remains Beckham's last single release to date. She is currently the only Spice Girl never to have had a British solo number one, though she is also the only Spice Girl to have all her single/album releases go Top 10.

As another compromise, Telstar allowed Beckham to release some of her urban tracks on "The Real Beckhams" DVD. This 2003 documentary was released in January 2004, and bonus material included the videos for "Let Your Head Go" and "This Groove", as well as four previously unreleased tracks: "Resentment", "That Dude", "Me And You This Time" and "Valentine" (none of the songs had a writing credit from Beckham). "Resentment" has since been covered by Beyoncé Knowles and released on her solo album B'Day (2006).

Outside of the UK, Damon Dash had plans for Beckham in the United States, including a potential release of "Let Your Head Go / This Groove" under the name of "Posh Spice Victoria Beckham". The release was proposed for sometime between March to May 2004, but never occurred.[14] A Dash-produced track "It's That Simple" featuring M.O.P. was created only on vinyl, and received a premiere on BBC urban music radio station 1Xtra. This generated further criticism, with the feeling being that Beckham was far from convincing as an urban act.[15] Around this time, a 90-second snippet of a track called "Come Together" was released to the media, which was notable for sampling The Beatles' song of the same name.

With the UK media describing her solo music career a failure, and combined with a rumored fall-out between Dash and Fuller, remaining plans for Victoria's music career were canceled.[16] To try and salvage her music career, Beckham again began work on pop-styled tracks in 2004. It is known that she recorded a track she had written with Cathy Dennis entitled "My Love Is For Real" (not to be confused with the Paula Abdul song of the same name). Amidst the collapse of Telstar Records, the Rebecca Loos scandal and the announcement of Beckham's third pregnancy, this song was not officially released. A remix by Armand van Helden leaked and floated around the web, until August 2007, when the original mix of the song was leaked.

In November 2007, a twenty track cd was leaked, containing various songs recorded by Beckham during 2003 and 2004, including eleven tracks previously leaked before and nine new tracks, three of which are sung by a session singer rather than a final recording by Beckham herself.

Author

Her autobiography, entitled Learning to Fly,[17] was the third best-selling non-fiction title of 2001 and the total UK sales stand at more than 500,000 copies.[18] When the book was first released, it went to number 1 in the book charts after four weeks of release, sending Robbie Williams' book to second.[8] A high-profile appearance on Parkinson, watched by 9 million people, helped to promote the book.[8] The title was taken from a line in a song from the musical Fame, which Beckham enjoyed as a child. The verse goes "I'm gonna live forever, I'm gonna learn how to fly".[2]

Beckham was quoted by a Spanish journalist in 2005 as saying "I've never read a book in my life".[19] She later claimed this was a mistranslation from the original Spanish in which the interview was printed, saying she actually stated she never had time to finish reading a book because she was always running around after her children.[20]

Her second book, about fashion, was called That Extra Half an Inch: Hair, Heels and Everything In Between,[21] was published on 30 October 2006. It was co-written by Hadley Freeman, deputy fashion editor of The Guardian and a contributing editor of Vogue and includes photography by Mario Testino, Annie Leibovitz and Steven Meisel. On the Sunday Times Book Charts, the book reached number 2.

In September 2007, a paperback "handbag" sized updated version of That Extra Half an Inch was published. The book will be released to US stores in November 2007 with a number of new photographs.

Television

Beckham has shot five official reality documentaries. The first, dated January 2000,[22] is called Victoria's Secrets, a programme only shown in the UK which involved Victoria being followed by cameras while also discussing and interviewing other British celebrities. The second of the reality shows, aired in March 2002, was called Being Victoria Beckham and showed Beckham discussing her career as a solo artist, with the release of her first album, also showing her at various photo shoots and recording sessions. The third, The Real Beckhams, focused on the Beckhams' move to Madrid from London after David was signed to Real Madrid. It also featured Beckham re-launching her solo career and showed her mocking the tabloid stories she reads in the paper every day. This particular special was released on DVD in December 2003.

The fourth was called Full Length & Fabulous: The Beckhams' 2006 World Cup Party, which followed Victoria and David Beckham organising and making preparations to host a World Cup Party at a marquee in the grounds of their mansion in Hertfordshire, which aimed to raise money for their charity. The documentary also filmed the event itself, where the menu was designed especially by friend and chef Gordon Ramsay and the charity auction was hosted by Graham Norton.

To document Victoria Beckham's preparations for her family's move to America, she signed a deal with NBC for six episodes of a half-hour unscripted reality tv series. The show, called Victoria Beckham: Coming to America, aired on 16 July 2007 in America and Canada. It was savaged by the American media and critics, with The New York Post describing it as "an orgy of self-indulgence"[23] and also describing Beckham as "vapid and condescending".[24] However, it was the third-most-watched programme in its time-slot and received viewing figures of 4.9 million in America, beaten by a repeat of Wife Swap and two sitcoms.[24] Despite the originally planned six episodes, the show was cut to a one hour special only.[25] The programme aired in Britain on 17 July 2007 on ITV with 3.5 million viewers tuning in.[26] The programme was produced by Simon Fuller who will be managing her and the Spice Girls on their come-back tour, which will begin in November of 2007.[27] Despite her forays into television, Victoria has denied plans to embark upon an LA movie career.[28]

File:UglyBettyS2Ep07Cap01.JPG
Victoria Beckham as herself in the season 2 episode of Ugly Betty.

In July 2007, it was announced that Beckham was shortly to begin filming a cameo appearance playing herself in an episode of the second season of ABC's TV series Ugly Betty.[29] The episode, "A Nice Day for a Posh Wedding", aired on November 9, 2007 in the United States and on November 23 in the United Kingdom.[30]

Fashion designer

In 2004, Beckham designed a fashion line for Rock and Republic called 'VB Rocks,' consisting mainly of jeans for the high end of the market (retailing at approximately $300 in the U.S.).[2] She has also worked on a range of women's clothes including shirts and skirts. The clothing features a logo of a crown with the letters "VB". In the summer of 2004, Beckham appeared on the cover of Pop magazine in a shoot by Mert and Marcus. In September 2006, Beckham ceased working with Rock and Republic in order to launch her own Denim label of which she acts as "creative director". The new line of Beckham's jeans collection is called DVB Style.[31]

In July 2006, Beckham released a line of sunglasses, DVB Eyewear,[2] which she was seen wearing at the World Cup games. In September 2006, Intimately Beckham, a his-and-her fragrance line, was launched in association with perfume manufacturer Coty.[2] Around the same time Beckham launched her new official website dvbstyle.com which promotes her fashion work.

On 14 June 2007 Beckham launched her dVb denim collection in NYC at the high-end Saks Fifth Avenue, along with unveiling her eye-wear range in the US for the first time.

In September 2007, Beckham released Intimately Beckham Night a new range of His & Hers fragrances and her debut cosmetics line V-Sculpt was unveiled and launched in Tokyo. Around the same time, Intimately Beckham hit US stores for the first time assisted by new artwork by Terry Richardson, as of late 2007 the Intimately Beckham line has sold over £100 dollars worth of fragrances internationally.

In November 2007, the DVB Denim Holiday collection dropped in US stores.

Public Image

Fashion

In 2000, Victoria Beckham made a guest appearance on the catwalk for Maria Grachvogel.[32] Beckham has also acted as British "ambassador" for Dolce and Gabbana and walked the runway for Roberto Cavalli and was for a period exclusively dressed by him for 'red-carpet' and social events.

In February 2007 Beckham styled Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes for the 2007 Academy Awards. She also styled Katie Holmes for her March 2007 cover shoot of US Harpers Bazaar magazine of which she acted as "guest fashion editor".

In June 2007 Beckham was a judge at London's annual "Graduate Fashion Week" alongside Zandra Rhodes. On 5 June 2007, she won two British Glamour Magazine Awards: one for "Woman of the Year" and another for "Entrepreneur of the Year," which celebrated her fashion achievements.

Beckham was briefly the face of Rocawear,[2] and has produced a range of handbags and jewellery in association with the Japanese store Samantha Thavasa.

Beckham is the brand ambassador for RM by Roland Mouret. Giambattista Valli has recently named a platform heeled shoe, The Victoria after her. She features on the January 2008 cover of US ELLE magazine in a shoot by Gilles Bensimon. It has been announced that Beckham will be the new face of Marc Jacobs for Spring 2008 in a campaign shot by Juergen Teller and that she has styled Jack Nicholson for a forthcoming shoot in Parade magazine.[citation needed]

December 2007, People magazine named Victoria Beckham "Fashionista of the Year" in their year end poll.[citation needed]

Anti-fur

Victoria Beckham has voiced her anti-fur beliefs and promotes an animal friendly wardrobe filled with faux/synthetic furs. Beckham's stand against the fur industry has generated admiration from animal rights organizations, including PETA. Of PETA's anti-fur campaigns, Beckham stated that she is "supportive of its high-profile anti-fur campaigns," and pledged "never to work with fur in any of [her] own fashion collections".[33]

Personal life

Beckham was born to Anthony Adams and Jacqueline Adams. Due to the success of their family business, they provided a wealthy upbringing for Beckham and her siblings.[2] She has a younger sister, Louise, and a younger brother, Christian.[2] Beckham attended St. Mary's High School in Cheshunt and Jason Theatre School in Hoddesdon. After Beckham had watched the musical Fame, she herself decided she wanted to become famous, and it was then that her parents enrolled her at Jason Theatre School in 1980.[2] At 17, she attended Laine Theatre Arts College in Epsom, Surrey and studied dance and modelling.[2]

Victoria started dating soccer player David Beckham in 1997 after Victoria Beckham (then Adams) attended a Manchester United game,[2] prompting David to request a meeting with her.[2] The couple were then dubbed "Posh and Becks" by the media. He proposed to her on January 24 1998 in a restaurant in Alderley Edge, England. The two were married at Luttrellstown Castle, Ireland on 4 July 1999, and the wedding attracted tremendous media coverage. Beckham's teammate Gary Neville was the best man, and the couple's four month old infant son Brooklyn was the ring bearer. Most of the media were kept away from the ceremony, as the Beckhams had an exclusive deal with OK! Magazine, but the couple released photographs showing them sitting on golden thrones.[34] 437 staff were employed for the wedding reception, which was estimated to have cost £500,000.[35]

The couple have three children, Brooklyn Joseph Beckham (born 4 March 1999 in London), Romeo James Beckham (born 1 September 2002 in London), and Cruz David Beckham (born 20 February 2005 in Madrid, Spain).[36] The couple lived in the affluent village of Alderley Edge in Cheshire. After the Rebecca Loos scandal Victoria Beckham moved and joined David in Madrid, Spain.

Beckham's marriage and career as a singer have made her both the fifty-second richest woman in Britain[37] and the six hundred and nineteenth richest person in Britain with husband David, with an estimated joint wealth of £112 million.[38]

Victoria and David Beckham moved to Los Angeles, California on 12 July 2007 because David had been signed to play for the LA Galaxy soccer team. On arrival in America on 12 July 2007, the couple were met by hundreds of paparazzi and media representatives, causing a media frenzy.[39] They are now residing in a $22 million Beverly Hills mansion with 10 security guards[citation needed]. To create publicity for their move to America, the couple were photographed in their underwear for the fashion magazine, W.[39] In an interview for the magazine, Victoria Beckham said that David's supposed affair with Rebecca Loos made their relationship stronger.[39] The couple are also known for their close friendship with Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes.

In an interview in October 2007, Beckham mentioned that she had recently been "...asked to be in the Sex and the City film, which I would have loved to have done, but because I am in full-on Spice Girls rehearsal mode, unfortunately, I can't do it."[citation needed]

Discography

Albums

Singles

Year Single Album Chart positions Audio
UK IRE AUS SPA PHI
2000 "Out of Your Mind" (Truesteppers & Dane Bowers featuring Victoria Beckham) Truestepping (Truesteppers album) 2 4 27 4 5 Audio file "OutOfYourMindSample.ogg" not found
2001 "Not Such An Innocent Girl" Victoria Beckham 6 23 36 15 1 Audio file "NotSuchAnInnocentGirlSample.ogg" not found
2002 "A Mind of Its Own" 6 — — 32 — Audio file "AMindOfItsOwnSample.ogg" not found
2003 "This Groove"/"Let Your Head Go" Let Your Head Go 3 17 — — — Audio file "ThisGrooveSample.ogg" not found
Audio file "LetYourHeadGoSample.ogg" not found

See also

References

  1. ^ "Victoria Beckham". IMDb. IMDb. Retrieved on 2007-08-08.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Victoria Beckham]. People. Retrieved on 2007-12-18.
  3. ^ a b Spice Girls announce reunion tour. BBC News, 2007-07-13. Retrieved on 2007-07-14.
  4. ^ Victoria Beckham Confident In Spice Girls' Reunion. Softpedia. Retrieved on 2005-08-05.
  5. ^ New Spice Girls documentary on BBC One on 31 December. BBC Press Office. Retrieved on 2007-12-04.
  6. ^ Here One She Made Earlier.... Dooyoo. Retrieved on 2007-12-18.
  7. ^ Being a full-time mum was great, but now the limelight beckons for Sophie Ellis-Bextor. Daily Mail. Retrieved on 2007-12-18.
  8. ^ a b c Posh Spice tops book chart. BBC News. Retrieved on 2007-12-18.
  9. ^ Posh lip ring was 'fake'. BBC News, 2001-08-28. Retrieved on 2007-12-18.
  10. ^ Victoria Beckham - A Mind Of Its Own. foreverspice.com. Retrieved on 2007-12-18.
  11. ^ Beckham: 'I'm staying with label. BBC News, 2002-02-17. Retrieved on 2007-12-18.
  12. ^ Posh parts with label. BBC News, 2002-06-05. Retrieved on 2007-12-18.
  13. ^ Victoria Beckham's scrapped album leaked. Female First, 2006-09-08. Retrieved on 2007-12-18.
  14. ^ MTV News Round-Up 25/05/2004. MTV, 2004-05-25. Retrieved on 2007-12-18.
  15. ^ 1Xtra celebrates birthday presence. BBC News, 2003-08-16. Retrieved on 2007-12-18.
  16. ^ Damon Dash used Victoria Beckham. Female First. Retrieved on 2007-12-18.
  17. ^ Learning to Fly. Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved on 2007-12-18.
  18. ^ Tough-love diet book in the spotlight after plug from Victoria Beckham. The Independent. Retrieved 2007-07-15.
  19. ^ I've never read a book in my life, admits Victoria Beckham. The Independent. Retrieved on 2007-04-24
  20. ^ Beckham Reads First Chapter. SFGate.com Retrieved on 2007-04-24
  21. ^ That Extra Half an Inch: Hair, Heels and Everything In Between. Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved on 2007-12-18.
  22. ^ Release dates for Victoria's Secrets IMDB
  23. ^ Posh doc gets mauling in US. Broadcast Now. Retrieved on 2007-07-17.
  24. ^ a b Victoria Beckham show ripped, barely watched. CNN. Retrieved on 2007-07-18.
  25. ^ Beckham Special Spices up NBC on Mon. Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved on 2007-07-18.
  26. ^ Posh doc gets an unglamorous 3.5m. Broadcast Now. Retrieved on 2007-07-18.
  27. ^ Victoria Beckham to Star in NBC Reality Show. People.com. Retrieved on 2007-04-24
  28. ^ Victoria Beckham Says No Plans for LA Movie Career. ABC News. Retrieved on July 16, 2007.
  29. ^ Victoria Beckham Ugly Betty cameo confirmed. Contactmusic.com. Retrieved 2007-08-07
  30. ^ Victoria's closet: Posh gets locked up but still steals the show in Ugly Betty cameo. Daily Mail. Retrieved on 2007-12-18.
  31. ^ Victoria Beckham will launch her own denim label. Designer Denim, 2007-01-16. Retrieved on 2007-12-18.
  32. ^ Victoria is Scary Spice on catwalk. The Telegraph. Retrieved on 2007-04-24
  33. ^ Victoria Beckham says 'No' to Fur. Contact Music. Retrieved on 2007-11-07.
  34. ^ Sun pips OK! to Posh wedding photos. BBC News, 1999-07-06. Retrieved on 2006-05-25.
  35. ^ Wedded spice]. BBC News, 1999-07-05.Retrieved on 2005-12-02.
  36. ^ David, Victoria Beckham Have a Third Son. People. Retrieved on 2007-12-05.
  37. ^ Women's rich list - Victoria Beckham. The Times. Retrieved on 2007-07-15.
  38. ^ Britain's rich list - David and Victoria Beckham. The Times. Retrieved on 2007-07-05.
  39. ^ a b c Beckham-mania! Posh and David take the US by storm. Daily Mail. Retrieved on 2007-07-13

External links

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