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Spice Girls to pull plug on reunion tour
Currently in the midst of a North American tour that wraps up at the end of the month, the reunited Spice Girls have scrapped plans for subsequent shows around the world.
"Sadly the tour needs to come to an end by the end of February due to family and personal commitments for Emma, Geri, Mel B, Melanie C and Victoria," organizers said in a press release. The abrupt finale means that plans to visit Australia, China, South Africa and Argentina have been shelved.
"Due to the phenomenal demand for tickets in the UK and the US along with the touring logistics for such a massive production it was not possible to fit everything in," the press release continued. "As the girls return to normal family life and the kids go back to school they are reviewing all the options, who knows what the future might bring!"
"We've had such an amazing time over the last 3 months," the Spice Girls added in a joint statement. "It's been incredible being back together and seeing our fans again. We want to thank everyone who came to see us. It was all so mad the first time round, so we've really been able to appreciate it properly this time. There have been so many highlights and good times that we know it will be hard to be apart after [our final show in] Toronto. Really sorry if we didn't get to see you this time round. We all have other commitments in our lives now but who knows what will happen next."
Last June, the Spice Girls--who originally split up in 2001--announced plans for a world tour that launched with a handful of North American shows in December. A subsequent Dec. 15 one-off show at London's O2 Arena sold out in 38 seconds, according to organizers, and ultimately grew into a 17-night stand spread across December and January.
The robust ticket sales prompted the group to add a second stretch of North American dates that kicked off last week.
In conjunction with the tour, the Girls last month released "Spice Girls: Greatest Hits," which includes two new tracks: "Voodoo" and "Headlines (Friendship Never Ends)."
The reunion run brought Victoria "Posh" Beckham, Mel "Scary" Brown, Emma "Baby" Bunton, Melanie "Sporty" Chisholm and Geri "Ginger" Halliwell back together for the first time in six years. Halliwell left the group in 1998 and the remaining members parted ways in 2001.
"As long as our fans want us to do shows, then we'll be there for them," Bunton told Reuters last fall, but she also said at the time that things were more complicated now that most of the women have children.
