"2 Become 1" is a song by the British

girl group A girl group is a music act featuring two or more women in music, female singers who generally vocal harmony, harmonize together. The term "girl group" is also used in a narrower sense in the United States to denote the wave of American female p ...

the

Spice Girls The Spice Girls are an English girl group formed in 1994, consisting of Mel B ("Scary Spice"), Melanie C ("Sporty Spice"), Emma Bunton ("Baby Spice"), Geri Halliwell ("Ginger Spice"), and Victoria Beckham ("Posh Spice"). They have sold over 10 ...

. Written by the group members, together with Matt Rowe and Richard Stannard during the group's first professional songwriting session, it was produced by Rowe and Stannard for the group's debut album, ''

Spice In the culinary arts, a spice is any seed, fruit, root, Bark (botany), bark, or other plant substance in a form primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices are distinguished from herbs, which are the leaves, flowers, or stems of pl ...

'' (1996). "2 Become 1" is an R&B-influenced

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and song of Great Britain and Ireland from the Late Middle Ages until the 19th century. They were widely used across Eur ...

that features instrumentation from a

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

, an

electronic keyboard An electronic keyboard, portable keyboard, or digital keyboard is an electronic musical instrument based on keyboard instruments. Electronic keyboards include synthesizers, digital pianos, stage pianos, electronic organs and digital audio work ...

and

string instrument In musical instrument classification, string instruments, or chordophones, are musical instruments that produce sound from vibrating strings when a performer strums, plucks, strikes or sounds the strings in varying manners. Musicians play some ...

s. The lyrics focus on the bonding of two lovers, and also address the importance of

safe sex Safe sex is sexual activity using methods or contraceptive devices (such as condoms) to reduce the risk of transmitting or acquiring sexually transmitted infections (STIs), especially HIV. "Safe sex" is also sometimes referred to as safer ...

. Its Big TV!-directed music video, which features the group performing against time-lapse footage of

Times Square Times Square is a major commercial intersection, tourist destination, entertainment hub, and Neighborhoods in New York City, neighborhood in the Midtown Manhattan section of New York City. It is formed by the junction of Broadway (Manhattan), ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, was completely shot against a blue screen at a studio in London. The backdrop was later superimposed. Released as the group's third single on 16 December 1996 by

Virgin Virginity is a social construct that denotes the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. As it is not an objective term with an operational definition, social definitions of what constitutes virginity, or the lack thereof ...

, it was generally well received by music critics and was a commercial success. It topped the UK Singles Chart for three weeks, becoming the group's third consecutive chart-topper, their second million-selling single, and their first Christmas number-one single in the United Kingdom. In July 1997, the song was released in the United States, peaking at number four on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, and receiving a

gold certification Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

(RIAA). It performed similarly internationally, peaking inside the top ten on the majority of the charts that it entered. The song was named "Song of the Year" at the 1998

ASCAP The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadc ...

London Music Awards. In 2019,

Emma Bunton Emma Lee Bunton (born 21 January 1976) is an English singer, songwriter, media personality, and actress. She rose to fame in the 1990s as a member of the Pop music, pop group the Spice Girls, in which she was nicknamed Baby Spice, reflecting the ...

covered the song, as a duet, with

Robbie Williams Robert Peter Williams (born 13 February 1974) is an English singer and songwriter. He found fame as a member of the pop group Take That from 1990 to 1995, launching a solo career in 1996. His debut studio album, ''Life thru a Lens'', was re ...

on her fourth solo album, '' My Happy Place''. In December 2024, an orchestral version by Bunton with the Budapest Scoring Orchestra was released.

Background

In December 1994, the Spice Girls persuaded their former managers—father-and-son team Bob and

Chris Herbert Chris Herbert is a British talent manager who has helped oversee the careers of the Spice Girls, Five, Stephen Gately and Hear'Say, B*Witched, The Honeyz, Ben's Brother. He is the son of talent manager Bob Herbert. Career With father Bob Herbert ...

—to set up a showcase in front of industry writers, producers and A&R men at the Nomis Studios in

Shepherd's Bush Shepherd's Bush is a suburb of West London, England, within the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham west of Charing Cross, and identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Plan. Although primarily residential in character, its ...

, London. Producer Richard Stannard was originally at the studio to meet pop star

Jason Donovan Jason Sean Donovan (born 1 June 1968) is an Australian actor and singer. He initially achieved fame in the Australian soap ''Neighbours'', playing Scott Robinson, before beginning a career in music in 1988. In the UK he has sold over 3 millio ...

, but he ended up in the showcase after hearing

Melanie Brown Melanie Janine Brown, MBE (born 29 May 1975), commonly known as Mel B or Melanie B, is an English singer, songwriter, television personality, and actress. She rose to fame in the mid 1990s as a member of the pop group the Spice Girls, in which ...

, as she went charging across the corridor. Stannard recalls:Sinclair, 2004. pp. 40–41.

More than anything, they just made me laugh. I couldn't believe I'd walked into this situation. You didn't care if they were in time with the dance steps or whether one was overweight or one wasn't as good as the others. It was something more. It just made you feel happy. Like great pop records.

Stannard stayed after everyone had left the showcase to talk to the group. He then reported back to his songwriter partner Matt Rowe that he had found the pop group of their dreams. In January 1995, Chris Herbert booked the group's first professional songwriting session with the producers at the Strongroom in Curtain Road, East London. Rowe remember feeling similarly to Stannard when he first met the group, "I love them. Immediately. ..They were like no one I'd met before, really." The session was productive as the duo seemed to get along with the group; together they discussed the songwriting process and what they wanted to do with the record. In her autobiography, Brown recalled that the duo instinctively understood their point of view and knew how to incorporate "the spirit of five loud girls into great

pop music Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom.S. Frith, W. Straw, and J. Street, eds, ''iarchive:cambridgecompani00frit, The Cambridge Companion to Pop ...

Writing and inspiration

"2 Become 1" was co-written by the Spice Girls along with partners Richard Stannard and Matthew Rowe. Stannard and Rowe also co-produced the track. After writing more

uptempo A variety of musical terms is encountered in printed scores, music reviews, and program notes. Most of the terms are Italian, in accordance with the Italian origins of many European musical conventions. Sometimes, the special musical meanings ...

dance Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

-based songs, such as "

Wannabe "Wannabe" is the debut single by the British girl group the Spice Girls, released on 26 June 1996. It was written by the Spice Girls, Matt Rowe and Richard "Biff" Stannard and produced by Rowe and Stannard for the group's debut album, ''Spice ...

", the group and the two producers decided to write a slow

. But as the group were writing the song, they realised that it was a bit too slushy, so it was decided to address the importance of

contraception Birth control, also known as contraception, anticonception, and fertility control, is the use of methods or devices to prevent pregnancy. Birth control has been used since ancient times, but effective and safe methods of birth control only be ...

with the lyrics: "Be a little bit wiser, baby. Put it on, put it on". The song was inspired by the "special relationship" that was developing between

Geri Halliwell Geraldine Estelle Halliwell-Horner (''née'' Halliwell; born 6 August 1972) is an English singer, songwriter, television personality, author, and actress. She rose to fame in the mid-1990s as a member of the pop group the Spice Girls, in which ...

and Rowe.Sinclair, 2004. pp. 42–43. Brown hinted at this development in her autobiography, commenting: "When

owe Owe is a surname or given name, a spelling variation of Ove (given name), Ove. Notable people with the name include: Given name *Owe Adamson (born 1935), Swedish cyclist and Olympic competitor *Owe Hellberg (born 1953), Swedish politician *Owe J ...

and Geri started making eyes at each other I knew what was going on, even though they denied it. I knew them both too well for it to be a secret for me." Stannard commented about the fondness between Halliwell and Rowe: "I don't want to get into the side of things. They were very close. They clicked. And I think the lyrics in '2 Become 1' came from that, especially the first verse, which they wrote together."

Spanish version

The group recorded a European Spanish version of the song, written by them, Rowe, Stannard, and N. Maño. The title was "2 Become 1" (Spanish Version), although the title is loosely translated in one line of the song, "Seremos Uno Los Dos". It was released as the eleventh track of their debut album, ''

'', in Latin America and South Africa, in a special re-edition of the album in Spain, and as one of the tracks of the "2 Become 1" maxi-single in the US. A

Spanglish Spanglish (a blend of the words "Spanish" and "English") is any language variety (such as a contact dialect, hybrid language, pidgin, or creole language) that results from conversationally combining Spanish and English. The term is mostly u ...

edit that traded verses between the English and Spanish versions was created by DJ Mike Rizzo and production director Bill Schultz for New York-based radio

WKTU WKTU (103.5 FM broadcasting, FM) is a rhythmic adult contemporary formatted radio station city of license, licensed to Lake Success, New York, a suburb of New York City. WKTU is owned by iHeartMedia and broadcasts from studios at 125 West 55th ...

Composition

"2 Become 1" is a

pop ballad A sentimental ballad is an emotional style of music that often deals with romantic and intimate relationships, and to a lesser extent, loneliness, death, war, drug abuse, politics and religion, usually in a poignant but solemn manner. Ballads ...

with R&B influences, written in the key of

F major F major is a major scale based on F, with the pitches F, G, A, B, C, D, and E. Its key signature has one flat.Music Theory'. (1950). United States: Standards and Curriculum Division, Training, Bureau of Naval Personnel. 28. Its relati ...

; it is set in the

time signature A time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, and measure signature) is an indication in music notation that specifies how many note values of a particular type fit into each measure ( bar). The time signature indicates th ...

of common time and moves at a slow tempo of 72

beats per minute Beat, beats, or beating may refer to: Common uses * Assault, inflicting physical harm or unwanted physical contact * Battery (crime), a criminal offense involving unlawful physical contact * Battery (tort), a civil wrong in common law of in ...

.Spice Girls, 2008. pp. 43–47. The song is constructed in a

verse–chorus form Verse–chorus form is a musical form going back to the 1840s, in such songs as "Oh! Susanna", " The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze", and many others. It became passé in the early 1900s, with advent of the AABA (with verse) form in the T ...

, and its instrumentation comes from a

, an

, and

s. The song opens with an

instrumental An instrumental or instrumental song is music without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through Semantic change, semantic widening, a broader sense of the word s ...

introduction Introduction, The Introduction, Intro, or The Intro may refer to: General use * Introduction (music), an opening section of a piece of music * Introduction (writing), a beginning section to a book, article or essay which states its purpose and g ...

, with a

chord progression In a musical composition, a chord progression or harmonic progression (informally chord changes, used as a plural, or simply changes) is a succession of chords. Chord progressions are the foundation of harmony in Western musical tradition from ...

of Em add₉–D/F–G–Am₇ sus₄, that is also used during the first part of the verses. The last two lines of each verse changes the progression to C–Bm₇–Am₇–D₁₁, and changes again during each chorus to G–D–C–D. It closes with a string outro that uses the chord progression F–G–B–C, which is arranged by Scottish composer Craig Armstrong. The lyrics focus on how the bonding of two lovers can become so strong that they practically become one entity, through the act of

sexual intercourse Sexual intercourse (also coitus or copulation) is a sexual activity typically involving the insertion of the Erection, erect male Human penis, penis inside the female vagina and followed by Pelvic thrust, thrusting motions for sexual pleasure ...

.Spice Girls, 1997. pp. 38–39. Apart from the sexual connotations, there is an aspirational undercurrent to the lyrics, and like many of their subsequent songs, desire is explicitly linked to ambition: "Free your mind of doubt and danger/Be for real don't be a stranger/We can achieve it/We can achieve it". Two different versions of the song, each with different lyrics, were recorded: in the album version, the two first verses are sung by

Melanie C Melanie Jayne Chisholm (born 12 January 1974), commonly known as Melanie C or Mel C, is an English singer and songwriter. She rose to fame in the mid-1990s as a member of the pop group the Spice Girls, in which she was nicknamed Sporty Spice. W ...

and

sings the pre-choruses, the next second two verses are sung by Melanie C and

, and the first and third lines of the chorus are sung by Bunton and Halliwell together, the second and fourth lines are sung by Melanie C and

Victoria Beckham Victoria Caroline, Lady Beckham (; born 17 April 1974) is an English fashion designer, singer, and television personality. She rose to prominence in the 1990s as a member of the pop group the Spice Girls, in which she was nicknamed Posh Spic ...

together and the fifth line is sung by Brown. The second line of the second verse, "Any deal that we endeavour/Boys and girls feel good together", was changed in the single version to: "Once again if we endeavour/Love will bring us back together". Halliwell sings on the album version, while Beckham sings on the single version, after Halliwell confessed that she had a hard time singing in that particular key. Bunton later stated that the lyric change was necessary after realising that the group had become LGBT icons. Despite the original lyrics still being used in album pressings of ''Spice'', due to the album not being revised since 1997, the single version appeared on the 25th anniversary reissue of the album, in place of the album version. The single version also contains slightly different vocals from the rest of the group. The single version appears in the music video and is available on the group's ''

Greatest Hits A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be creat ...

'' album, and on stage the girls always performed the single version before and after Halliwell's departure.

Release

"2 Become 1" was released in the United Kingdom on 16 December 1996, in three single versions.Sinclair, 2004. p. 297. The first one, a

maxi single A maxi single, maxi-single, or maxi CD (sometimes abbreviated to MCD or CDM) is a music single release with more than the usual two tracks of an A-side song and a B-side song. Maxi singles are often mistaken for extended plays (EPs), especial ...

that included the single version of the track, an orchestral take, the

Junior Vasquez Junior Vasquez (born Donald Gregory Mattern; August 24, 1949) is an American DJ, record producer and remixer. He has been referred to as one of the only DJs of his time to gain international attention. Career Mattern moved to New York City a ...

remix of "Wannabe", and "One of These Girls", a song written by the group with Paul Wilson and Andy Watkins—the songwriters and production duo known as

Absolute Absolute may refer to: Companies * Absolute Entertainment, a video game publisher * Absolute Radio, (formerly Virgin Radio), independent national radio station in the UK * Absolute Software Corporation, specializes in security and data risk ma ...

. The second version was the special Christmas pack, a standard

CD single A CD single is a single (music), music single in the form of a compact disc (CD). Originally the ''CD single'' standard (as defined in the Rainbow Books, Red Book) was an 8 cm (3-inch) "mini CD" (''CD3''); later on the term referred to any si ...

in a cardboard case that included a signed postcard with a Christmas message from the group. This version contained the single version, the

Dave Way Dave Way is a Grammy Award winning American producer, mixer and audio engineer based in Los Angeles, California, United States. He has worked with Fiona Apple, Sheryl Crow, Kesha, Pink, Iron And Wine, Fall Out Boy, Al Green, 21 Pilots, Yebba, Vic ...

remix, and their own version of

Leroy Anderson Leroy Anderson ( ; June 29, 1908 – May 18, 1975) was an American composer of short, Light music, light concert pieces, many of which were introduced by the Boston Pops Orchestra under the direction of Arthur Fiedler. John Williams descri ...

's "

Sleigh Ride "Sleigh Ride" is a Light music, light orchestra Standard (music), standard composed by Leroy Anderson. He formed the idea for the piece during a heat wave in July 1946, and finished it in February 1948. Its first performance was by the Boston Po ...

". The third version was a two-track

cassette single A cassette single (CS), also known by the trademark cassingle, or capitalised as the trademark Cassette Single, is a music single (music), single supplied in the form of a Compact Cassette. The cassette single was introduced in 1980 in music, 1 ...

, featuring the single version and the orchestral take of the song. The same track listing was also used for the release of the European CD single. In the United States, the single was serviced to

contemporary hit radio Contemporary hit radio (CHR, also known as contemporary hits, hit list, current hits, hit music, top 40, or pop radio) is a radio format common in many countries that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by the Top ...

on 1 July 1997. Four weeks later, on 29 July, two CD singles were issued in the US.

Reception

Critical response

The song was generally well received by music critics. Brian Grosz from Albumism described it as "a smooth R&B jam".

Stephen Thomas Erlewine Stephen Thomas Erlewine (; born June 18, 1973) is an American music critic and former senior editor for the online music database AllMusic. He is the author of multiple artist biographies and record reviews for AllMusic, as well as a freelance ...

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

called it a "perfect

adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...

confection". In a review of the group's 2007 compilation album, ''

'', Talia Kraines of

BBC Music BBC Music is the arm of the BBC responsible for the music played across its services. The current director of music is Lorna Clarke. Officially it is a part of the BBC's Radio operational division; however, its remit also includes music used i ...

called it "shimmering", adding that "only a cold heart could fail to love their first festive #1".

Larry Flick Larry Flick is an American journalist, former dance music columnist, single reviewer, and Senior Talent Editor for ''Billboard'' magazine, where he worked for 14 years. Now he produces and hosts Sirius XM radio shows. Flick started in the musi ...

of ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' magazine said that "they are surprisingly adept at weaving warm and romantic imagery over a sweet melody", adding that " veryonewill delight in the track's arrangement of soft harmonies and delicate acoustic guitar riffs".

Greg Kot Greg Kot (born March 3, 1957) is an American music journalist and author. From 1990 until 2020, Kot was the rock music critic at the ''Chicago Tribune'', where he covered popular music and reported on music-related social, political and busines ...

of the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...

'' said that their first album "is a compendium of slick secondhand urban pop encompassing ..

G-funk G-funk, short for gangsta funk, (or funk rap) is a sub-genre of gangsta rap that emerged from the West Coast scene in the early 1990s. The genre is heavily influenced by the synthesizer-heavy 1970s funk sound of Parliament-Funkadelic (aka P-F ...

synths on '

Say You'll Be There "Say You'll Be There" is a song by the English girl group Spice Girls from their debut studio album, ''Spice (album), Spice'' (1996). The Spice Girls co-wrote the song with Eliot Kennedy after the group left Heart Management in 1995. Later, Jo ...

' ..and Babyface's guitar and strings balladry on '2 Become 1'".

Digital Spy Digital Spy (DS) is a British-based entertainment, television and film website and brand and is the largest digital property at Hearst UK. Since its initial launch in 1999, Digital Spy has focused on entertainment news related to television pro ...

's Nick Levine noted that the group's slower songs were "probably their strongest suit", and thought that the song "manages to combine every element of the perfect Christmas ballad–a touch of elegance, a hint of romance, a soupcon of sexiness and a generous sprinkling of sparkle–and still finds time for a coy safe sex message". Whitney Pastorek of ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...

'' said that it is "too slow, and the lyrics appear to have been written by a safe-sex-loving unicorn", adding that "it's almost impossible to identify the individual Spice Girls by their voices here, so airbrushed are the proceedings". A reviewer from ''

Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as ''Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music We ...

'' rated the song five out of five, adding, "No turkey this as Spice Girls virtually guarantee a third chart topper and look a strong bet for the Christmas number one with a seasonally lush ballad. Anticipate much smooching 'neath the mistletoe." ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'' magazine's

Christopher John Farley Christopher John Farley (born July 28, 1966) is a Jamaican-born American journalist, columnist, and author. Early life Farley was born in Kingston, Jamaica, and grew up in New York. He is a graduate of Brockport High School and Harvard Universi ...

called it a "slumberous ballad ..

hat A hat is a Headgear, head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorpor ...

seem designed to amuse, titillate, ingratiate". In a review of the group's debut album ''Spice'', Dev Sherlock of

Yahoo! Music Radio Yahoo! Music Radio (formerly known as LAUNCHcast) was an Internet radio service. The service, which featured both an advertising supported free version and a subscription fee-based premium version, allowed users to create personalized Int ...

called it a "glossy ballad that would do

Mariah Carey Mariah Carey ( ; born March 27, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Songbird Supreme" by ''Guinness World Records'', Carey is known for her five-octave voc ...

proud".

Chart performance

"2 Become 1" was originally going to be released in the UK on 9 December 1996, but the release date was delayed to let

Dunblane Dunblane (, ) is a town in the council area of Stirling in central Scotland, and inside the historic boundaries of the county of Perthshire. It is a commuter town, with many residents making use of good transport links to much of the Central Be ...

's "

Knockin' on Heaven's Door "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" is a song by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, written for the soundtrack of the 1973 film '' Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid''. Released as a single two months after the film's premiere, it became a worldwide hit, ...

"—a tribute to the children killed at the Dunblane Primary School in Scotland—stay at the top of the UK Singles Chart. The single was released the next week, debuting at the top, becoming the group's third chart-topper and their first Christmas number-one single in the UK. It sold 209,000 copies in the first three days of release and 462,000 in the first week, becoming the fifth best-selling single of the year. "2 Become 1" sold 1.14 million copies in total, giving the Spice Girls their second and final million-selling single in the UK. Despite being released during the final two weeks of 1996, "2 Become 1" was the 5th best seller of the year and that year's fastest selling single of the year. In Ireland, "2 Become 1" was the group's second number-one single, and their first to debut at the top of the

Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is the Republic of Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA) and compiled on their behalf by the Official Charts Company. Chart rankings are ...

. It stayed at the top position for six weeks, and became their first Christmas number-one single in the country. "2 Become 1" peaked at No. 3 on the

Eurochart Hot 100 The European Hot 100 Singles was compiled by ''Billboard'' and ''Music & Media'' magazine from March 1984 until December 2010. The chart was based on national singles sales charts in 17 European countries: Austria, Belgium (two charts separately f ...

, and performed similarly across the rest of Europe, topping the singles chart in Spain, peaking inside the top ten in Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland,Hits of the World: Continued
. ''

''. 25 January 1997. Retrieved on 15 April 2015. and inside the top fifteen in Belgium and Germany. It was also commercially successful in Australia and New Zealand, peaking inside the top three on both countries. In July 1997, "2 Become 1" debuted on the Canadian ''

RPM Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or r⋅min−1) is a unit of rotational speed (or rotational frequency) for rotating machines. One revolution per minute is equivalent to hertz. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 def ...

'' 100 Hit Tracks chart at No. 87, peaked at No. 3 on its fifth week, and ended at No. 25 on the year-end chart. On the Adult Contemporary chart, it peaked at No. 4, and ended at No. 27 on the year-end chart. In the United States, the song debuted on 16 August 1997 at No. 6, reaching a peak of No. 4 in its fourth week, becoming the group's third consecutive top five in the country. The song has sold 700,000 copies in the US as of December 1997. It peaked at four on the Top 40/Mainstream chart and had crossover success, peaking at four on the

Rhythmic Top 40 The Rhythmic chart (also called Rhythmic Airplay, and previously named Rhythmic Songs, Rhythmic Top 40 and CHR/Rhythmic) is an airplay chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. The chart tracks and measures the airplay of songs played on ...

and at number eight on the

Adult Contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...

chart.

Music video

Background

The music video for "2 Become 1" was directed on 5–6 November 1996 by Big TV!, in a two-day shoot located at a studio in

Old Compton Street Old Compton Street is a road that runs east–west through Soho in the West End of London, named after Henry Compton (bishop), Henry Compton who raised funds for St Anne's Church, Soho, St Anne's Church in 1686. The area, particularly this str ...

, London. Cinematographer Stephen Keith-Roach, who worked in other music videos such as Jamiroquai's "

Virtual Insanity "Virtual Insanity" is a song by British funk and acid jazz band Jamiroquai, released on 19 August 1996 by Sony Soho Square as the second single from their third studio album, ''Travelling Without Moving'' (1996). The song was written by Jay Kay ...

" and U2's "

Discothèque A nightclub or dance club is a club that is open at night, usually for drinking, dancing and other entertainment. Nightclubs often have a bar and discotheque (usually simply known as disco) with a dance floor, laser lighting displays, and a ...

", was in charge of the photography. The shoot involved the group dressed in winter coats, wandering around the studio against a

green screen Chroma key compositing, or chroma keying, is a visual-effects and post-production technique for compositing (layering) two or more images or video streams together based on colour hues ( chroma range). The technique has been used in many fie ...

, interspersed with

close-up A close-up or closeup in filmmaking, television production A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, s ...

camera angle The camera angle marks the specific location at which the movie camera or video camera is placed to take a shot. A scene may be shot from several camera angles simultaneously. This will give a different experience and sometimes emotion. The diff ...

s, so that the backdrop could be superimposed later. To achieve the effect of the wind rippling through their hair, the group was required to

lip sync Lip sync or lip synch (pronounced , like the word ''sink'', despite the Hard and soft C, spelling of the participial forms ''synced'' and ''syncing''), short for lip synchronization, is a technical term for matching a Speech, speaking or singin ...

h the song in double time while wind machines were blowing on them.

Synopsis

The music video features the group wandering around

, with fast moving cars appearing around multi-coloured lights. They appear in various places around the city, either alone, with one other member, or as a quintet. The video is intercut with scenes of lovers experiencing moments of togetherness and closes with a deer wandering the streets. Such a scene, according to the group's first official book ''Girl Power!'', gave them a running gag all throughout the shoot—"Whenever anyone made a mistake it was, 'Oh, deer'." Sometimes, the closing scene would not be shown on television, due to the song fading out to an instrumental, which lasts for 40 seconds. In the same book,

wrote about the shoot: "I think '2 Become 1' is my favourite video. ..It was really different to the other videos–shot entirely in the studio, with high technology and loads of effects. It was really weird having to sing passionately into the camera, I was feeling a right mug in front of all those people singing 'wanna make love to ya baby'."

Live performances

The song was performed many times on television, including the '' Bravo Supershow'', ''

GMTV GMTV (an initialism for Good Morning Television), now legally known as ''ITV Breakfast, ITV Breakfast Broadcasting Limited'', was the name of the national ITV (TV network), ITV breakfast television contractor/licensee, broadcasting in the Uni ...

'', ''

Live & Kicking ''Live & Kicking'' was a British children's television series that originally aired on BBC1 from 2 October 1993 to 15 September 2001. It was the replacement for '' Going Live!'', and took many of its features from it, such as phone-ins, games, ...

'', ''

Noel's House Party ''Noel's House Party'' is a BBC light entertainment series that was hosted by Noel Edmonds. Set in a large house in the fictional village of Crinkley Bottom, leading to much innuendo, it ran from 23 November 1991 to 20 March 1999 on BBC One and ...

'', and ''

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British record chart television programme, made by the BBC and broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show. For most of its histo ...

''. In October 1997, the group performed "2 Become 1" as the eighth song of their first live concert at the

Abdi İpekçi Arena Abdi İpekçi Arena, formerly known as Abdi İpekçi Sports Complex, was a multi-purpose indoor arena located in the Zeytinburnu district of Istanbul, Turkey, situated just outside the ancient city walls, in Yedikule. History Designed in 197 ...

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

, Turkey. The performance was broadcast on Showtime in a pay-per-view event titled ''Spice Girls in Concert Wild!'', and was later included in the VHS and DVD release ''

Girl Power! Live in Istanbul Girl Power! Live in Istanbul was a two-night concert by English girl group the Spice Girls. The concerts, which were organized by Pepsi as part of the group's sponsorship deal, were performed at the Abdi İpekçi Arena in Istanbul, Turkey on 12 a ...

''. The group was scheduled to perform the song on the semi-final of the fifth season of the British television show ''

Strictly Come Dancing ''Strictly Come Dancing'' (commonly referred to as ''Strictly'') is a British dance contest show in which celebrities partner with professional dancers to compete in mainly Ballroom dance, ballroom and Latin dance, Latin dance. Each couple is ...

'', on 16 December, but it was postponed to the finale, 22 December, as Emma sprained her ankle badly and was not able to perform. The Spice Girls have performed the song on their four tours, the

Spiceworld Tour The Spiceworld Tour (also known as Spice Girls in Concert and the Girl Power Tour '98) was the debut concert tour by English girl group the Spice Girls. It was launched in support of their first two studio albums, ''Spice'' (1996) and '' Spicewor ...

, the Christmas in Spiceworld Tour, the Return of the Spice Girls Tour and the

Spice World - 2019 Tour In the culinary arts, a spice is any seed, fruit, root, Bark (botany), bark, or other plant substance in a form primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices are distinguished from herbs, which are the leaves, flowers, or stems of pl ...

. After Halliwell's departure in 1998, Bunton sang the first and third lines of the chorus alone during the Spiceworld Tour, but in the Christmas in Spiceworld Tour Beckham replaced Halliwell during the first and third lines of the chorus along with Bunton, while Brown replaced Beckham during the second and fourth lines of the chorus along with Melanie C. The performance at the Spiceworld Tour's final concert can be found on the video: '' Spice Girls Live at Wembley Stadium'', filmed in London, on 20 September 1998. For the Return of the Spice Girls Tour, the group performed it during the second segment of the show. After the " Too Much" performance, each of the girls emerged from a cocoon of oversized swan wings and danced around a set of barber's poles while singing the song. For the Girls return without Beckham for

, Halliwell sang a mixture of her and Beckham's original lines – "Any deal that we endeavour/Love will bring us back together...". This was the first time Halliwell had sung a solo live on the track since the ''Spice'' debut album.

Cover versions

"2 Become 1" has been covered both in albums and live performances: *In 1998, The Countdown Singers recorded a

sound-alike A sound-alike is a sound recording, recording intended to imitate the sound of a popular record, the style of a popular recording artist, or a current musical trend; the term also refers to the artists who perform on such recordings. In the voice ...

version of the song for their album ''Today's Love Songs''. *

Lester Bowie Lester Bowie (October 11, 1941 – November 8, 1999) was an American jazz trumpet player and composer. He was a member of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians and co-founded the Art Ensemble of Chicago. Biography Born in th ...

's Brass Fantasy did an

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

cover for the 1999 album '' The Odyssey of Funk & Popular Music''. *American guitarist

Paul Gilbert Paul Brandon Gilbert (born November 6, 1966) is an American hard rock and heavy metal music, heavy metal guitarist. He is the co-founder of the band Mr. Big (American band), Mr. Big, and was also a member of Racer X (band), Racer X, with whom he ...

covered the song for his fourth album, ''

Alligator Farm A crocodile farm or alligator farm is an establishment for breeding and raising of crocodilians in order to produce crocodile and alligator meat, leather from crocodile and alligator skin, and other goods. Many species of both alligators a ...

''. *Wildside recorded a

remake for the 1997 album ''Mega Hits Dance Party, Vol. 1'', which was later included on the 2005 album ''Let's Hear It for the 90's, Vol. 1''. *Filipino bossa nova singer Sitti Navarro recorded a cover of the song for her second album, '' My Bossa Nova''. *During her solo career,

has performed live covers of the song on television programmes such as '' CD:UK'' and '' Popworld'', and it was also included as part of her set list for the ''Pepsi Silver Clef Concert''. She performed the song as a duet twice with her former bandmate

on 9 November 2013 as part of the Oxford Street Lights Switch on and on 11 January 2014 for Sporty's Forty at 02 Shepherd's Bush Empire. *

Olly Alexander Oliver Alexander Thornton (born 15 July 1990) is an English singer, actor and List of LGBTQ rights activists, LGBTQ activist who rose to prominence as the lead singer of the English pop band Years & Years, who achieved two No. 1 albums on the U ...

of the band Years & Years performed the song with special guest Melanie C at a charity event at London's Union Chapel. *In December 2016, Melanie C performed the song with former bandmate

at the latter's New Year's Eve party concert. She also performed the song on her own for a live session on

BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the List of most-listened-to radio programs, most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 14 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the sta ...

in January 2017. *In 2019, Bunton covered the song, as a duet, with

on her fourth solo album, '' My Happy Place''. In October 2021,

Chris Martin Christopher Anthony John Martin (born 2 March 1977) is an English singer, songwriter, musician and producer. He is best known as the vocalist, pianist and co-founder of the rock band Coldplay. Born in Exeter, Martin went to University Colleg ...

Coldplay Coldplay are a British Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1997. They consist of vocalist and pianist Chris Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman, drummer and percussionist Will Champion, and manager Phil Harvey (band m ...

performed a duet of the song with Melanie C at the

Hollywood Bowl The Hollywood Bowl is an amphitheatre and Urban park, public park in the Hollywood Hills of Los Angeles, California. It was named one of the 10 best live music venues in the United States by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine in 2018 and was listed on ...

for the

Audacy Audacy, previously known as Radio.com, is a free broadcast and Internet radio Computing platform, platform developed by the namesake company Audacy, Inc. (formerly known as Entercom). The Audacy platform functions as a Recommender system, mus ...

8th Annual "We Can Survive" concert. *On 20 December 2024, Emma Bunton released an solo, orchestral version of "2 Become 1"; the single was created with the Budapest Scoring Orchestra. Bunton performed the single on the Christmas special of BBC's ''

'', which aired on 25 December 2024.

Formats and track listings

* UK CD1; Australian, Brazilian, European, and South African CD # "2 Become 1" – 4:05 # "2 Become 1" – 4:05 # "One of These Girls" – 3:33 # "

" – 5:57 * UK CD2 # "2 Become 1" – 4:05 # "2 Become 1" – 4:01 # "

" – 3:18 * European and French 2-track CD # "2 Become 1" – 4:05 # "2 Become 1" – 4:05 * Japanese CD # "2 Become 1" – 4:05 # "2 Become 1" – 4:05 # "One of These Girls" – 3:33 # "Sleigh Ride" – 3:18 * US CD1 # "2 Become 1" – 4:05 # "One of These Girls" – 3:33 * US CD2 # "2 Become 1" – 4:05 # "2 Become 1" – 4:01 # "One of These Girls" – 3:33 # "2 Become 1" – 4:05 # "2 Become 1" – 4:05 * Spanish 12-inch vinyl single :A1. "2 Become 1" – 4:05 :A2. "2 Become 1" – 4:05 :B1. "Wannabe" – 5:57 :B2. "One of These Girls" – 3:33 * UK 12-inch vinyl single :A1. "2 Become 1" – 4:01 :B1. "Wannabe" – 5:57 :B2. "Wannabe" – 6:36 * Digital EP # "2 Become 1" – 4:05 # "2 Become 1" – 4:05 # "One of These Girls" – 3:33 # "Wannabe" – 5:57 # "2 Become 1" – 4:01 # "Sleigh Ride" – 3:18

Credits and personnel

* Spice Girls – lyrics, vocals * Matt Rowe – lyrics, producer, keyboards and programming * Richard Stannard – lyrics, producer, keyboards and programming * Andy Bradfield – additional production and

audio mixing Audio mixing is the process by which multiple sounds are combined into one or more audio channels. In the process, a source's volume level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated or enhanced. This practical, aest ...

* Adrian Bushby –

recording engineer An audio engineer (also known as a sound engineer or recording engineer) helps to produce a recording or a live performance, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalization, dynamics processing and audio effects, mixing, reproducti ...

* Patrick McGovern – assistant * Pete Davis, Paul Waller and Statik – additional programming * Greg Lester – guitar * Craig Armstrong –

string arrangement The string section of an orchestra is composed of bowed instruments belonging to the violin family. It normally consists of first and second violins, violas, cellos, and double basses. It is the most numerous group in the standard orchestra. In ...

* Isobel Griffiths – orchestral contractor * Perry Montague-Masson – orchestral leader *

Mark "Spike" Stent Mark "Spike" Stent (born 3 August 1965) is an English record producer and mixing engineer who has worked with many international artists including Madonna, Marshmello, U2, Beyoncé, Björk, Depeche Mode, Echo & the Bunnymen, Grimes, Ed Sheeran, ...

– audio mixing *

– remixing * Published by Windswept Pacific Music Ltd. and PolyGram Music Publishing Ltd.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications and sales

Release history

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * {{Authority control 1995 songs 1996 singles 1997 singles 1990s ballads Christmas number-one singles in the United Kingdom Irish Singles Chart number-one singles Music videos directed by Big T.V. Music videos shot in London Number-one singles in Scotland Number-one singles in Spain Pop ballads Song recordings produced by Richard Stannard (songwriter) Songs written by Emma Bunton Songs written by Geri Halliwell Songs written by Matt Rowe (songwriter) Songs written by Mel B Songs written by Melanie C Songs written by Richard Stannard (songwriter) Songs written by Victoria Beckham Spice Girls songs UK singles chart number-one singles Virgin Records singles