England's Spice Girls may be considered manufactured pop, but the five-girl group had more of an impact on the music industry than their ponytailed preteen fan base realized. They were the first all-female group to debut a single at No. 1 in the U.K. (1996's "Wannabe") and later joined a select group of artists to have a No. 1 single and No. 1 album simultaneously over Christmas. The five girls — Geri "Sexy Spice" Halliwell, Melanie "Scary Spice" Brown, Victoria "Posh Spice" Adams, Melanie "Sporty Spice" Chisholm and Emma "Baby Spice" Bunton — came together after answering an ad placed by a manager. They later struck out on their own, signed to Virgin Records and took on Simon Fuller (of American Idol fame) as a manager. The group released three multiplatinum albums before splitting in 2000 to pursue solo careers.