Official Charts Flashback 1999: Geri Halliwell – Look At Me

It’s 15 years since Ginger turned into Solo Spice and released her very first single since quitting the Spice Girls.

For a whirlwind two years, the Spice Girls were the biggest pop phenomenon in the world. They seemed untouchable, unstoppable, unbreakable. And yet, the world gasped (well, lots of people were quite shocked) when, seemingly out of nowhere, Geri Halliwell aka Ginger Spice said she was leaving the girls behind in May 1998. Friendship never ends, eh?

Uncharacteristically for the brashest Spice Girl, Geri took a bit of time to lick her wounds, holidaying with George Michael and being filmed for a warts and all documentary. But the following year she was back in business with her very first solo single, backed by a huge publicity campaign.

The song was not the expected hatchet job on her former Spice sisters – Geri kept the focus clearly on herself, with a tale of feeling empowered and not caring about her critics, with the odd Spice reference thrown in for good measure. It was a triumphant return for Geri – and succeeded in getting her the attention she was after.

Look At Me was strongly tipped to be a Number 1 and it very nearly was. Boyzone had other ideas, however, and their new release You Needed Me pipped Geri to the post, beating Look At Me by only 700 copies.

Look At Me sold 140,000 copies in its first week alone, and went on to shift 320,000 in total. It was the first of eight Top 10 hits for Geri, including four consecutive Number 1s: Mi Chico Latino, Lift Me Up, Bag It Up and It’s Raining Men. In fact, Geri currently holds the chart record for most Number 1 hits by a British female solo artist.

Of course, it wasn’t all over for the Spice Girls. Geri reunited with Mel B, Mel C, Emma Bunton and Victoria Beckham for a world tour in 2007.

Geri’s last Top 40 hit was Desire, which peaked at Number 22 in 2005. She returned to the Top 40 once with the Spice Girls in 2007, when Headlines (Friendship Never Ends) reached Number 11. Since then, it’s been all quiet on the Geri front musically in Britain, though she has enjoyed presenting stints on UK X Factor and Australia’s Got Talent.

Look At Me is Geri’s fourth bestselling single. Her top seller is her cover of Weather Girls’ It’s Raining Men, which hit Number 1 in 2001 and has sold 440,000 copies. 

Take a look at Geri on fine form in It's Raining Men before we peruse the rest of the Top 5 from this week in 1999.

1: Boyzone – You Needed Me

So Boyzone disappointed Geri at the final hurdle by just 700 copies, but it was their last time at the top. You Needed Me was their sixth and final Number 1, and sold 355,000 copies.

3: Shania Twain – That Don’t Impress Me Much

Shania shot to fame in 1998 with heartfelt ballad You’re Still The One, so it was a bit of a surprise when she got her sass on – not to mention a leopard-print cape – and delivered near-fatal withering putdowns to pretty much every loser she’d ever met. A staple on girls’ nights out, along with follow-up Man! I Feel Like A Woman, That Don’t Impress Me Much sold a whopping 840,000 copies and peaked right here at Number 3.

4: Backstreet Boys – I Want It That Way

Down three after one week at the top was Backstreet Boys’ first and only Number 1. The band had 16 Top 10 hits between 1996 and 2005, with I Want It That Way shifting 520,000 copies. All those boyband parody videos you’ve seen over the years? This is pretty much the mothership…

5: TLC – No Scrubs

“No, I don’t want your number and, no, I don’t wanna give you mine.” It was a non-mover for three of pop’s toughest girls. Check out No Scrubs’ own Flashback for all the TLC stats you can handle. 

See the full Top 40 from this week in 1999.