Chris Herbert (born 22 February 1971 in
Hillingdon,
Middlesex) is a British talent manager who has helped oversee the careers of the
Spice Girls
The Spice Girls are a British girl group formed in 1994, consisting of Melanie Brown, also known as Mel B ("Scary Spice"); Melanie Chisholm, or Melanie C ("Sporty Spice"); Emma Bunton ("Baby Spice"); Geri Halliwell ("Ginger Spice"); and Vict ...
,
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 a music talent manager the young Chris Herbert grew up in music industry orientated environment that had a large influence on his eventual career direction. At the age of twenty-one Herbert approached his father for advice and assistance in setting up his own talent management company.
Safe Corporation was founded as an independent music management company in March 1994. The first project the pair worked on was the creation of an all-girl pop group to cater to what he had identified as a potentially massive untapped market.
Spice Girls
By mid-1994, the Herberts and Chic Murphy had auditioned 600 applicants, and whittled the line-up down to
Melanie Brown,
Geri Halliwell,
Victoria Adams, Lianne Morgan (replaced by
Melanie C
Melanie Jayne Chisholm (12 January 1974 - 25 December 2022), better known as Melanie C or Mel C, is an English singer-songwriter and media personality. She is best known as one of the five members of the Spice Girls, during which time she was ni ...
) and
Michelle Stephenson
Michelle Stephenson (born 3 January 1977) is a British pop singer and television presenter. At the age of 17, she was briefly a member of the girl group that would go on to become the Spice Girls.
Touch (Spice Girls)
Alongside Melanie Brown, ...
(replaced by
Emma Bunton).
After a large amount of development in studios, the final group line-up felt insecure about the lack of a contract and frustrated by the direction in which Heart Management was steering them. Chris Herbert set up a showcase performance for the group in front of industry writers, producers and
A&R men in December 1994 at the Nomis Studios in
Shepherd's Bush
Shepherd's Bush is a district 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, i ...
.
Due to the large interest in the group, the Herberts quickly set about creating a binding contract for the group, but all five members delayed signing on legal advice. In March 1995, because of the group's frustration at their management, due to the lengthy development period, they parted from the Herbert's Heart Management.
After signing an agreement with
Simon Fuller of
19 Entertainment
19 Entertainment is a producer of entertainment properties for television with a focus on music. Founded by Simon Fuller in London in 1985, the company co-produced ''Pop Idol'' in the United Kingdom with Thames Television in 2001. The ''Idol serie ...
, they released their first single in summer 1996.
Tulisa Contostavlos Sex tape
Herbert was the manager of Justin Edwards, also known as MC Ultra. With his career not gaining traction, in late 2011 Edwards advised Herbert that he had a
sex tape of himself and ex-lover
Tulisa Contostavlos, now a well-known singer and judge on the UK version of ''
The X Factor''.
Herbert says that he advised Edwards not to release the tape, but by early 2012 Edwards had an agreement with others to distribute the tape. Herbert says that he advised Edwards not to do this, but negotiated a legal restraint clause with the contract Edwards signed as it was "career suicide".
[ The tape was released to the press in March 2012.]
References
External links
Interview, HitQuarters Jul 2001
{{DEFAULTSORT:Herbert, Chris
1970 births
Living people
Spice Girls