In 1999, while her superstar pop band Spice Girls were on hiatus due to the fact that two members were expecting their first children, Melanie 'Sporty Spice' Chisholm relocated to Los Angeles to work on her debut solo album, Northern Star.
In addition to being one-fifth of the world's biggest girl band, Chisholm had demonstrated her commercial potential as a solo artist the previous year by duetting with Bryan Adams on When You're Gone, which reached number 3 in the UK charts, and her record label spared no expense in underwriting what was anticipated to be one of the biggest pop albums of the year. Enter producers Rick Rubin (Beastie Boys, Slayer, The Cult, Red Hot Chili Peppers) and William Orbit (Madonna, All Saints), and a team of crack songwriters including Billy Steinberg (Heart, Pat Benatar, The Bangles) to assist Chisholm in crafting an album for the ages.
It was while working Los Angeles, that Chisholm learned from Rick Rubin that one of the world's biggest rock bands had written a song about her, and recorded it with Rubin.
