Victoria Caroline Beckham (née Adams; born 17 April 1974) is an English singer-songwriter, dancer, model, actress, fashion designer and businesswoman. During her rise to fame with the late 1990s girl pop group the Spice Girls, Beckham was dubbed Posh Spice, a nickname first coined by the British pop music magazine, Top of the Pops in the July 1996 issue. Since the Spice Girls pursued separate careers, she has had a solo pop music career, scoring four UK Top 10 singles. Her first single to be released, "Out of Your Mind", reached Number 2 in the UK Singles Chart and is her highest chart entry to date. During her solo career, she has been signed to Virgin Records and Telstar Records. Beckham has found more success as an internationally recognised and photographed style icon. Her career in fashion includes designing a line of jeans for Rock & Republic and later designing her own denim brand, dVb Style. Beckham has brought out her own range of sunglasses and fragrance, entitled Intimately Beckham, which has been released in the UK and the US. In association with the Japanese store Samantha Thavasa and Shiatzy Chen, she has produced a range of handbags and jewellery. In addition, Beckham has released two best-selling books; one her autobiography, the other a fashion guide. In her television ventures, Beckham has participated in five official documentaries and reality shows about her, some of which include Being Victoria Beckham and The Real Beckhams. Her last documentary was Victoria Beckham: Coming to America, which documented her move to the US with her family in 2007. She has since made a cameo appearance in an episode of American TV series Ugly Betty, and been a guest judge on Project Runway, Germany's Next Topmodel, and American Idol. She is the wife of English footballer David Beckham and they have three sons: Brooklyn, Romeo and Cruz. As of 2009, the couple's joint wealth is estimated at £125 million.
In 1994, Beckham joined the all-female group, the Spice Girls. In the recordings before her marriage, she is credited with her maiden name as Victoria Adams. The group's first single was called "Touch", and she worked with Geri Halliwell, Emma Bunton, Melanie Brown and Melanie Chisholm. Beckham had previously answered an advertisement in The Stage in March 1993 which required girls who were "street smart, extrovert, ambitious and able to sing and dance". In 1996, the group's first single, "Wannabe", went to Number 1 in the UK and US, and another 29 countries. It was followed by nine further Number 1 singles from their albums Spice, Spiceworld and Forever.In 2007, the Spice Girls reformed and announced plans to embark upon a reunion tour, from which they were said to have earned £10 million each (approximately $20 million). Victoria had previously stated that she and her former Spice colleagues were enjoying their solo careers in various fields, saying "We're all still doing our own thing."On 14 August 2000, Beckham released her first solo single, "Out of Your Mind" in collaboration with Dane Bowers and Truesteppers. The week of release coincided with the release of "Groovejet (If This Ain't Love)" by Spiller featuring Sophie Ellis-Bextor, resulting in a chart battle dubbed 'Posh vs. Posher' by the tabloids. Following a huge publicity campaign, "Out Of Your Mind" was outsold by Ellis-Bextor, and debuted at Number 2 in the UK Singles Chart. Before the single's release, on 8 July 2000, Beckham made her public solo debut at London's Hyde Park at a concert to raise money for the Prince's Trust charity. She sang "Out of Your Mind" to a 100,000-strong audience. Beckham then signed a recording contract with her group label Virgin Records. Her next single as a solo artist, "Not Such An Innocent Girl", was released on 17 September 2001. Again, she faced competition in another hugely hyped chart battle, this time with Kylie Minogue's single "Can't Get You Out Of My Head". Despite a huge promotional campaign, Beckham was outsold eight to one, and her single debuted at number 6. Beckham's eponymous debut album, which was released on 1 October 2001, reached Number 10 in the UK album chart The album cost a reputed £5 million to produce and it sold a modest 50,000 copies.Beckham's autobiography, entitled Learning to Fly, was released on 13 September 2001.[40] The title was taken from a line in a song from the musical Fame, which Beckham had enjoyed as a child. The verse that inspired the title is: "I'm gonna live forever, I'm gonna learn how to fly". The book documents her childhood, time during the Spice Girls, her marriage and family life, as well as her career at the time. Learning to Fly became the third best-selling non-fiction title of 2001 and the total UK sales stand at more than 500,000 copies. When the book was first released, it went to Number 1 in the book charts after four weeks of release, relegating Robbie Williams' book to second place. A high-profile guest appearance on Parkinson, watched by nine million people, helped to promote the book. Before the publishing of the book, Hello!, The Daily Mail and The Mail on Sunday joined to buy the rights to preview and serialise the book before its release. The figure paid was thought to be near £1 million.Beckham has shot five official documentaries. The first, dated 11 January 2000, was called Victoria's Secrets, a programme only shown in the UK on Channel 4. It involved Beckham being followed by cameras while also discussing and interviewing other British celebrities, such as Elton John. The second, Being Victoria Beckham, was broadcast in March 2002 and saw Beckham discussing her career as a solo artist with the release of her first album, and also showed her at various photo shoots and recording sessions. The documentary attracted a strong audience of 8.83 million, coming top in its timeslot. One critic described her as "so clearly level-headed, happy with her not inconsiderable lot and seemingly unfazed by the madly intrusive nature of her monumentally ridiculous fame". The third, The Real Beckhams, aired on 24 December 2003 on ITV1 and focused on the Beckhams' move to Madrid from London after David Beckham was signed to Real Madrid. It also featured Victoria Beckham re-launching her solo career and showed her mocking the tabloid stories she reads in the paper every day. The special received an audience of 6.10 million viewers and was later released on DVD on 2 February 2004.Beckham has become better recognized as an international style icon, rather than a music artist. Beckham made a guest appearance on the catwalk for Maria Grachvogel in 2000, marking her debut as a model at London Fashion Week. Beckham also acted as a British ambassador for Dolce and Gabbana and was briefly the face of Rocawear in 2003. Beckham designed a limited-edition fashion line for Rock & Republic called VB Rocks in 2004, consisting mainly of jeans for the high end of the market, retailing at approximately $300 in the US. She had previously "hit it off instantly" with Rock & Republic designer, Michael Ball, in Los Angeles. He commented "She not only understands fashion and trends but has been a trend-setter and fashion icon for years."
In 1997, she started dating footballer David Beckham after they had met at a charity football match, prompting him to request a meeting with her. Of their initial meeting, she said, "I didn't really know who he was. I was never into football." The couple announced their engagement in 1998 and were dubbed "Posh and Becks" by the media. On 4 July 1999 they were married by the Bishop of Cork, Paul Colton, at Luttrellstown Castle, Ireland. The wedding attracted much media coverage. Beckham's team-mate, Gary Neville, was the best man, and the couple's four month old son Brooklyn was the ring bearer. Most of the media were kept away from the ceremony as an exclusive deal with OK! Magazine had been arranged, but photographs were released showing the Beckhams sitting on golden thrones. Victoria wearing a diamond coronet created for her by jewelery designer Slim Barrett. A total of 437 staff were employed for the wedding reception, which was estimated to have cost £500,000. The couple bought what would become their most famous home for £2.5 million in 1999; the property, which is set in 24 acres (97,000 m2) of land, was duly given a £3 million renovation and was subsequently dubbed Beckingham Palace by the media. Beckhams have three sons: Brooklyn Joseph (born 4 March 1999, Westminster, London), Romeo James (born 1 September 2002, Westminster, London), and Cruz David (born 20 February 2005, Madrid, Spain). Elton John and David Furnish are reportedly the godparents of Brooklyn and Romeo, and the godmother is Elizabeth Hurley. The Beckhams have stated that they would like to have more children, especially a daughter. In January 2000, a tip-off to Scotland Yard detectives exposed a plot to kidnap Victoria and Brooklyn Beckham and hold them at a house in Hampstead, London. The family was then moved to a secret location, but no arrests were made. Later in March 2000, she received a death threat prior to performing at the Brit Awards with the Spice Girls, and in the show's rehearsal, a red laser light appeared on her chest and she was rushed off stage. After a fire door was found to be lodged open, it was thought that there had been an assassin there, and Beckham later revealed that she was terrified by the experience. In November 2002, five people were arrested after another plot for her kidnap was infiltrated by a tabloid newspaper. All charges were dropped after a witness was deemed unreliable. In 2004, allegations surfaced that David Beckham had had a brief affair with a former personal assistant, Rebecca Loos. The affair had apparently taken place when David had moved to Madrid, although he denied all the allegations. The Beckhams moved to Los Angeles, California on 12 July 2007 as a result of David Beckham being signed to play for the LA Galaxy. On their arrival in America on 12 July 2007, the couple were met by hundreds of paparazzi and media representatives, causing a media frenzy. They currently reside in a $22 million Beverly Hills mansion with ten security guards. To create publicity for their move to America, the couple were photographed in their underwear for the fashion magazine, W, which also included an interview in which Victoria Beckham said that David's supposed affair with Loos had made their marriage stronger.After years of a mystery, Victoria Beckham has admitted that she had undergone breast surgery. As his statement to British media Vogue, Victoria says, "No more torpedoes bazookas. It have lost." With that statement, the wife of footballer David Beckham confirms no longer DD breast size again. But do not mention more details about the operation. In the Mirror quoted an interview on Friday (01/07/2011), Victoria much ask about her marriage with David Beckham. The former Spice Girls was telling how she and her husband dismissed the negative issues surrounding their family. "I am a person who always positive thinking. I always saw myself, why I was sad. Why I can not smile?Because I'm a happy, always smile, but if I see a photo journalist, I just froze," said her with her nicknamed Is Posh Spice.