The Spice Girls finally wrapped up the tour by performing to 150,000 fans over two gigs at Wembley Stadium in September 1998.Īgainst a futuristic space-age themed backdrop, the show began with a CGI video introduction of a spaceship flying through the galaxy. I'm sure the group will continue to be successful and I wish them all the best." The Spice Girls quickly released a statement which stated that the North American leg of the tour would continue as planned with the remaining group members. This is because of differences between us. Through her solicitor she stated: "Sadly I would like to confirm that I have left the Spice Girls. On, Halliwell announced her departure from the Spice Girls. Promotional appearances with the new 4-piece promoting the release of 'Viva Forever' on the National Lottery also claimed that Halliwell was ill. Halliwell's final performances occurred in Helsinki, Finland at the Hartwall Arena. Days before the end of the European portion of the tour, Geri Halliwell did not appear for shows in Oslo, Norway. The tour kicked off in Dublin, Ireland on 24 February 1998 before moving on to mainland Europe. Such was the interest, it led to State Attorney General Dennis Vacco(together with the co-operation of the group) to investigate whether illegal scalping to ticket brokers had taken place – a claim that was later dropped by the Attorney General's office. Tickets for the first two shows in Ireland sold out within 2 hours, and various shows on the North American leg such as Los Angeles, Toronto and Philadelphia sold out within mere minutes of sale. In New York City, the group set the record for the quickest ever sell-out, selling 13,000 tickets for Madison Square Garden in less than 12 minutes.
The Spiceworld Tour was the first global tour staged by the group, and proved to be an almost instant sell-out.