Classic Christmas Number 1s: Spice Girls' 2 Become 1

There are legendary girlbands and there are iconic girlbands, and somewhere in between – or perhaps both – is the Spice Girls. A whirlwind that didn’t seem to stop for their two biggest years, Geri, Victoria, Emma, Mel B and Mel C were the pop act of the mid-Nineties nobody dare ignore.

The band's first Official Christmas Number 1, released when Spice Mania was just still in its relative infancy, 2 Become 1 is a festive chart-topper that a lot of people feel affection for, even if they weren't particularly a fan of the band.

While the group may not have had the acrobatic vocal talents of an X Factor contestant, 2 Become 1 shows off the girls' dreamy harmonies, and the sweeping strings add to the emotion, making 2 Become 1 both a tearjerker and uplifting at the same time.

While the video isn't particularly festive, shot on green screen with backdrops of a bustling, icy New York surrounding the girls, they do look suitably chilly in their key autumn-winter looks.

2 Become 1 was the Spice Girls’ third single and very first ballad. Coming quickly after the release of Say You'll Be There, 2 Become 1 shifted a whopping 462,000 copies in its first week of release and was their third straight chart-topper, staying there for three weeks.

The Christmas Number 1 sofa would prove so comfy to the Spice Girls that they'd return again and again. With Too Much (1997) and Goodbye (1998), Spice Girls were only the second act to score three consecutive seasonal chart-toppers. The other? Oh, just some boyband; you might have heard of them. (Yes, it's the Beatles. We're joking.) An extra tidbit for you: sales of Too Much are 682,000, while Goodbye stands at 896,000. See where all the Spice hits charted here.

2 Become 1 has sold an very impressive 1.14 million and was the band's second million-selling single – Wannabe's the other one, obviously.

Take it away, ladies:

Looking at the rest of the Official Singles Chart Top 40 from the week 2 Become 1 took the Christmas Number 1, Madonna was a new entry with Don't Cry For Me Argentina at 3, while Toni Braxton's Un-Break My Heart, The Prodigy's Breathe and Beautiful South's Don't Marry Her all had a spot in the Top 10. 

View the full Top 100 Official Singles Chart from this week in 1996

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