Mel B was reunited with her Spice Girls bandmates on Friday – at least in a manner of speaking – as she celebrated her 51st birthday.
The singer was showered with social media tributes from friends and family, among them Victoria Beckham, Geri Halliwell, Emma Bunton and Melanie Chisholm, after taking another step into her fifties.
But the celebrations were tinged with sadness, with Mel’s birthday falling just one day after that of her late father, Martin Brown.
Martin, who passed away in 2017 after a five year battle with cancer, would have celebrated his 72nd birthday on May 28.
Thanking friends, family and fans for their messages, an appreciative Mel wrote: ‘Feeling very grateful today coz I’ve had some of the most memorable birthdays honestly and it’s ALL thanks to YOU LOT!!!’ [sic]
The singer shared an array of posts from celebrity friends as well as daughter Phoenix, 27, and husband Rory McPhee whom she wed last year.
Mel B was reunited with her Spice Girls bandmates on Friday – at least in a manner of speaking – as she celebrated her 51st birthday.
But the celebrations were tinged with sadness, with Mel’s birthday falling just one day after that of her late father, Martin Brown (pictured together 2001)
The singer was showered with social media tributes from friends and family, among them Victoria Beckham, Geri Halliwell, Emma Bunton and Melanie Chisholm, after taking another step into her fifties.
In 2022 Mel B has shared the touching moment she visited her late father’s grave to tell him she had been awarded an MBE in the New Year Honours list.
The singer – who was rewarded for her services to Domestic Violence victims – explained she had told her father on his death bed that she would leave her abusive marriage and said he would be ‘so proud’ that she has been recognised for her charity work.
Martin Brown passed away in March 2017 aged 63 following a battle with myeloma cancer. Just two weeks later, Mel split from husband Stephen Belafonte and later claimed she had suffered abuse – allegations Stephen has repeatedly denied.
Alongside she wrote: ‘This was the moment I told my dad about my MBE. On his death bed I promised him I would leave my abusive marriage. He gave me that strength.
After battling multiple myeloma cancer since 2012 Martin had been given just days to live, and Mel admits she made a frantic mercy dash from her home in Los Angeles to Leeds-Bradford Airport via London in order to be with her father during his final moments.
Accompanied by daughter Phoenix, younger sister Danielle and mother Andrea, the performer helped look after bedridden Martin, who was increasingly frail and had lost the ability to talk.
Martin, who passed away in 2017 after a five year battle with cancer , would have celebrated his 72nd birthday on May 28
Emma captioned the snap: ‘ Love you to bits! thank you for always making me laugh out loud’
Geri’s tribute was a candid snap of the pair during their Spice Girls heyday
The singer shared an array of posts from celebrity friends as well hushing tribute from daughter Phoenix, 27,
Husband Rory McPhee, whom she wed last yera, also celebrated her big day
![Thanking friends, family and fans for their messages, an appreciative Mel wrote: 'Feeling very grateful today coz I’ve had some of the most memorable birthdays honestly and it’s ALL thanks to YOU LOT!!!' [sic]](https://i.dailymail.com/1s/2026/05/29/15/108959189-15858753-Thanking_friends_family_and_fans_for_their_messages_an_appreciat-a-98_1780065927391.jpg)
Thanking friends, family and fans for their messages, an appreciative Mel wrote: ‘Feeling very grateful today coz I’ve had some of the most memorable birthdays honestly and it’s ALL thanks to YOU LOT!!!’ [sic]
But he managed to summon an ounce of strength after Mel told him she planned to end her disastrous marriage to Belafonte.
‘I told him I was leaving Stephen and I felt his hand tighten slightly in mine,’ she recalled, before recounting the terrible moment her father passed away.
‘I leaned over him. “Dad. You’ve had your hair cut and a shave. You’ve got a fresh shirt on. We have prayed. We are ready. You are ready. But I can’t start my divorce until you die.”’
She added: ‘His eyes opened for a second, we looked at each other, and there was a moment in which I felt every ounce of pain that had ever passed between us disappear. Then he took one last, very slow breath. “He’s gone,” I announced to the room.
The moment proved to be as cathartic as it was emotional, with Mel immediately doing what her father had always wanted her to do by initiating her divorce.
Opting to avoid Martin’s funeral, Mel returned to Los Angeles, where she rented a new house, hired a divorce lawyer, and filed a restraining order against her husband.
The former couple finalised their divorce on December 15 2017.
