IN: 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 have other people under her record label?

OUT: 


IN: She was born Rosa Ponzillo on January 22, 1897, in Meriden, Connecticut, the youngest of three children. The family lived on the city's west side in a neighborhood chiefly populated by immigrants from the south of Italy, first at the corner of Lewis Avenue and Bartlett Street, then on Foster Street, where Ponselle was born, moving when she was three to Springdale Avenue. Her parents were Italian immigrants from Caiazzo, near Caserta. Ponselle had an exceptionally mature voice at an early age and, at least in her early years, sang on natural endowment with little, if any, vocal training.

Rosa Ponselle made her Metropolitan Opera debut on November 15, 1918, just a few days after the Great War had finished, as Leonora in Verdi's La forza del destino, opposite Caruso. It was her first performance on any opera stage. She was quite intimidated for being in the presence of Caruso, and in spite of an almost paralyzing case of nervousness (which she suffered from throughout her operatic career), she scored a tremendous success, both with the public and with the critics. New York Times critic James Huneker wrote: "...what a promising debut! Added to her personal attractiveness, she possesses a voice of natural beauty that may prove a gold mine; it is vocal gold, anyhow, with its luscious lower and middle tones, dark, rich and ductile, brilliant in the upper register."  In addition to Leonora, Ponselle's roles in the 1918/19 season included Santuzza in Cavalleria rusticana, Rezia in Weber's Oberon, and Carmelita in the (unsuccessful) world premiere of Joseph Carl Breil's The Legend.  In the following Met seasons, Ponselle's roles included the lead soprano roles in La Juive (opposite Caruso's Eleazar, his last new role before he died), William Tell, Ernani, Il trovatore, Aida, La Gioconda, Don Carlos, L'Africaine, L'amore dei tre re, Andrea Chenier, La vestale, and in 1927 the role that many considered her greatest achievement, the title role in Bellini's Norma. In addition to her operatic activities, which were centered at the Met, Ponselle had a lucrative concert career. A tour of the West coast included an appearance at the Lobero Theatre in Santa Barbara on March 14, 1927 in the Artist Series of the Community Arts Association's Music Branch, accompanied by pianist Stuart Ross.

What else did she perform during her early career?

OUT:
Santuzza in Cavalleria rusticana, Rezia in Weber's Oberon, and Carmelita in the (unsuccessful) world premiere of Joseph Carl Breil's The Legend.