Melanie Jayne Chisholm was born in Whiston, Lancashire, as the only child in the family. She later moved to Widnes, Cheshire, at a young age. Her parents married on 12 January 1971 and separated in 1978, when young Chisholm was four-and-a-half years old. Her father, Alan Chisholm, worked as a fitter at the Otis Elevator Company.

Chisholm's music is generally pop and rock. She also released an album of show tunes.  Chisholm has received co-writing credits for most of the songs recorded with Spice Girls and her solo efforts. The main concept of the Spice Girl albums centred on the idea of Girl Power, embodying a feminist image, as both Madonna and Bananarama had employed before, and every track deals with different aspects of this notion. Other central themes in the writing of the group were the union, solidarity, friendship, independence, love, loss of virginity, sex, contraception, the relationship with parents during adolescence, vulnerability and fame. Many of these themes were carried out even during her solo career, but with a more mature writing, intense style and in some songs a more raw and direct language. Added to these were social issues such as homelessness, and introspective themes. Having co-written 11 UK number 1s, more than any other female artist, she remains the only female performer to top the charts as a solo artist, as part of a duo, quartet and quintet. With 12 UK Number 1 singles, including the charity single as part of the Justice Collective, she is the second female artist - and the first British female artist - with the most singles at number 1 in the UK, and with a total of 14 songs that have risen to number 1 in Britain (including the double A-sides), Chisolm is the first artist with most number 1 songs in the UK ranking history.  On 1 January 2004, Virgin Records dismissed Chisholm after the conflict in previous years about the direction in her solo career. In April 2004, she founded her own label, Red Girl Records, to record and release her own projects. All of Chisolm's activities are decided upon and funded by herself, alongside her business partner and manager, Nancy Phillips. The name was inspired by the colours of the football Liverpool F.C., which Chisholm is supporter.

did she play any instruments?