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Emma Lee Bunton (born 21 January 1976) is an English pop singer, songwriter, and occasional actress. Bunton is best known for being a member of the successful '90s girl group, the Spice Girls, in which she was known as "Baby Spice" as she was the youngest member and often wore revealing "babydoll" dresses.

Nude models

Bunton was born in Finchley and grew up in Woodside Park, both in the London borough of Barnet. Her parents, Pauline, a karate instructor, and Trevor, a milkman, split up when she was eleven; she stayed with her mother. She has a younger brother, Paul James. Bunton started off at St. Theresa's Primary School in Finchley Central. Then Bunton went to the Sylvia Young Theatre School in Marylebone; in 1993 she appeared in the ITV1 police series The Bill and also auditioned (although unsuccessfully) for the role of Bianca (played by Patsy Palmer) in the BBC soap EastEnders.

 

Music sex scene

 

1996-2000: Baby Spice

She joined the Spice Girls (then still called Touch) in 1994 after the original fifth Touch member, Michelle Stephenson left the group. The group became one of the most successful musical acts of the 1990s, selling 35 million albums with studio releases Spice in 1996, Spiceworld in 1997, and Forever in 2000. She was known as Baby Spice because she often wore baby doll dresses and her blonde hair in pigtails. Their debut single "Wannabe" became the first of a string of number ones in the United Kingdom (nine in total) and reached the top position in thirty seven countries around the globe. As a songwriter, Bunton - as part of the Spice Girls - set the record for the shortest time to achieve 6 #1 UK singles, taking 1 year 5 months from Wannabe's first week at #1 to the ascent of Too Much. This outpaced Lennon/McCartney, who took 1 year 6 months (From Me to You through I Feel Fine). In 1999 she presented her own music show Emma on VH1. She had also recorded the song "(Hey You) Free Up Your Mind" for the anime film Pokemon: The First Movie. The Spice Girls stopped recording in 2000; many rumours circulated about a reunion for the group's tenth anniversary but nothing materialised until June 2007 when they reformed for a Spice Girls reunion tour and Greatest Hits CD.

 

Solo sex scene (2001-2007)

Her debut solo album entitled A Girl Like Me spawned the UK number-one hit "What Took You So Long?" as well as the top five hits "What I Am" (a cover of a 1988 song earlier recorded by Edie Brickell & New Bohemians) and "Take My Breath Away" (which has nothing to do with Berlin's 1986 hit), and the top twenty hit "We're Not Gonna Sleep Tonight". The album sold approximately 125,000 copies in the UK. Due to the disappointing sales of the project, Bunton parted with Virgin in 2002.

Bunton's second album "Free Me" when released (2003/2004) also made the UK top 10. "Free Me" was released through 19/Universal. It sold marginally better than her debut and contained four hit singles, "Free Me", "Maybe", "I'll be there" and "Crickets Sing For Anamaria". After success in the American dance charts the album was also released in North America. The American edition included bonus remixes and a different cover to the UK edition.

In November 2006, Bunton released the official charity single for the BBC Children in Need appeal, recording a cover of Petula Clark's '60s classic "Downtown". It peaked at number three on the UK Singles Chart and was followed by her third studio album, Life in Mono, released on 4 December. The album entered the UK Albums Chart at number sixty-five, selling approximately 13,000 copies in its first week. To date, it has sold more than 45,000 copies in the UK. The second single from it was "All I Need to Know", released on 12 February 2007, intended for the Valentine's Day market. Bunton shot the video around Old Street in East London, in the week before Christmas 2006. Entering the UK Singles Chart at number sixty, "All I Need to Know" became Bunton's lowest-charting single of her solo sex scene. Bunton had sold over 1 million records worldwide at that point.

It is unkown whether will she will return to music when the Spice Girls tour ends on Febuary 26th.

 

Spice Girls Reunion (2007)

On June 28, 2007, it was announced that Bunton would be reuniting with the Spice Girls for a world tour and Greatest Hits collection release.

 

Video clips and film

In October 2006, Bunton appeared as one of the celebrity contestants in the autumn 2006 series of the popular BBC programme Strictly Come Dancing and was partnered with professional dancer Darren Bennett. Despite being the bookies' favourite, she finished in third place, and was the final female contestant to be eliminated.

She has also appeared in other roles in recent years, most notably in the fifth and final season of Absolutely Fabulous playing herself in two episodes. She has also guest-presented the television programmes SM:TV Live, T4 and hosted her own show Emma for VH1. In August 2006, former Spice Girls' manager Simon Fuller announced that he was planning a television sitcom based around Bunton.

In 2005, Bunton filmed guest roles in two Bollywood films: Pyaar Mein Twist and Chocolate.

Emma had won the lead female role of The Pink Panther 2 and was supposed to be filming in Autumn 2007 for release in 2008. Bunton was tapped to replace Beyoncé Knowles as the female lead in The Pink Panther 2.. Unfortunately, Bunton was forced to drop out because of her pregnancy and her tour commitments.

Bunton has recently been seen in a high-profile television commercial for the supermarket chain Tesco. She also had a cameo role on the Australian soap opera Neighbours as herself on the episode titled "What's a Spice Girl Like You...?", aired on March 19, 2007 in Australia, and on May 25, 2007 in the UK. Bunton returned to US screens with a nationwide commercial for Prego in May 2007.

 

Free videos

Bunton has been linked with such stars as actor Nigel Harman, pop singer Justin Timberlake, and 911 lead singer Lee Brennan.

Her boyfriend of eight years is former Damage and current CherryBlackStone lead singer Jade Jones, who she lives with in Hampstead. In October 2006, there were rumours that the couple were engaged, with plans to marry in March 2007. This rumour was denied several days later.

After being diagnosed with endometriosis, a condition which can reduce fertility, Bunton and Jones announced in January 2007 that they were expecting their first child together.

On August 10, 2007, Bunton gave birth to a 7lb 15oz baby boy named Beau Lee Bunton (according to their official website, "Baby had a baby!").