Wannabe

"Wannabe" is a song written and produced by the British girl group the Spice Girls, Matt Rowe and Richard "Biff" Stannard. It was released as the first single from their debut studio album, Spice, in November 1996. The song was originally mixed by Dave Way, however they were not pleased with the result, and the recording was instead mixed by Mark "Spike" Stent. A dance-pop song, its lyrics address the value of female friendship over romantic relationships. It has since became a symbol of female empowerment and the most emblematic song of the group's girl power philosophy.^[1]

"Wannabe" was heavily promoted. Its music video, directed by Johan Camitz, became a success on the British cable network the Box, which sparked press interest in the group. Subsequently, the song had intensive radio airplay across England, while the Spice Girls performed it on television and began doing interviews and photo shoots for teen magazines. Responding to the wave of interest, Virgin released the song as the Spice Girls' debut single in Japan in June 1996 and in the UK the following month, well ahead of the planned release of the Spice album. It was released to radio in the United States in January 1997.

"Wannabe" earned mixed reviews from critics, but won for Best Selling British-Written Single at the 1997 Ivor Novello Awards and for British Single of the Year at the 1997 Brit Awards. It topped the UK Singles Chart for seven weeks and received a quadruple platinum certification by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI). By the end of 1996, "Wannabe" had topped the charts in 22 nations—including the Billboard Hot 100—and by the end of 1997, it topped the charts in 37.^[2][3][4] It became the best-selling single by a girl group,^[5] and, in a 2014 study, was found to be the most recognisable pop song of the last 60 years among young English speakers.^[6][7] An EP, Wannabe 25, was released in 2021 for the single's 25th anniversary.