Immediately before joining the Spice Girls, Melanie Chisholm studied for a Diploma course in dance, singing, drama and musical theatre at the Doreen Bird College of Performing Arts in Sidcup, Kent. While at the college, she replied to an advert placed in The Stage by Chris and Bob Herbert, who were looking to form a new girl group, later to become the Spice Girls. She left college having nearly completed her three-year course and gained teaching qualifications in Tap and Modern Theatre Dance with the ISTD.

In 1994 she joined the Spice Girls (then still called Touch) after the original fifth Touch member, Lianne Morgan had to leave the group. In 1996 Chisholm, along with Melanie Brown, Geri Halliwell Emma Bunton and Victoria Beckham(at that time Victoria Adams), shot to fame with the release of "Wannabe". The debut album, Spice, shot to number one all over the globe, including the U.S.. Because she was often to be found in a tracksuit with her hair in a ponytail and sporting a rather "tomboyish" attitude, Chisholm received the nickname "Sporty Spice" from Top of the Pops Magazine (each member of the group was given a humorous nickname in a small piece titled "Spice Rack"). The Spice Girls dominated the late 1990s, selling over thirty-five million albums in just two years. They went on to become one of the best-selling girl groups of all time, selling more than fifty-five million records worldwide. They had nine UK number-one singles and two number-one albums. After a third album release, Forever (UK #2), the members went their separate ways, and Chisholm developed a solo career.

Chisholm took her first steps in establishing a solo career in late 1998 by singing with Canadian rocker Bryan Adamson the song "When You're Gone". She followed the duet with the album Northern Star in 1999. A track from this album ("Ga Ga") was included on the Big Daddy soundtrack before her own album's release. Singles "Goin' Down" and "Northern Star" were met with promising success, but the third single "Never Be the Same Again", featuring Tlcmember Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes, became her first UK number-one single as a solo artist, also a Top Five hit in Germany and #2 in Australia. Capitalising on her new found success, Chisholm released a fourth single from Northern Star, a dance remix of "I Turn to You", and earned herself a second UK number-one single. "I Turn to You" reached #2 in Germany, #11 in Australia and eventually climbed to the top of the Billboard dance chart in the United States. Northern Star was re-released with the single versions of "Never Be the Same Again" and "I Turn to You", and eventually peaked at number four on the United Kingdom album chart and number six in Germany.

"If That Were Me" was chosen as the fifth and final single from Northern Star and proceeds were donated to a charity for the homeless; it peaked at number eighteen in the UK. Northern Star is certified three times platinum in the United Kingdom for shipping 900,000 copies, platinum in Germany for selling over 500,000 copies, gold in Brazil for selling 100,000 copies, and gold in Australia for selling over 35,000 copies. Chisholm then went on her Northern Star World Tour, performing in countries such as Canada, Germany, Spain, Turkey, USA, Russia, Estonia, Bahrain, Israel, Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom.

Chisholm released her second studio album, Reason, in March 2003. The album included production from a series of collaborators including Gregg Alexander (New Radicals, Ronan Keating, Marius De Vries (Madonna), Dr Robert of The Blow Monkeys, David Arnold (Björk) and Matt Rowe, co-writer of the Spice Girls' "Wannabe". The lead single from Reason was "Here It Comes Again", which peaked at number seven in the UK, with the album entering the UK album chart a week later at number five, but quicly fell of the chart.

Other singles from the album were "On the Horizon" (UK number fourteen, written with Gregg Alexander), "Let's Love" in Japan (where the song accompanied a Toyota commercial), "Yeh Yeh Yeh" in mainland Europe and, finally, a UK double A-side of "Melt"/"Yeh Yeh Yeh", which achieved a disappointing UK chart position of number twenty-seven. After a series of disappointments and the relative failure of "Melt"/"Yeh Yeh Yeh", Chisholm parted ways with her label, Virgin Records. Reason has been certified gold in the United Kingdom.

Chisholm spent much of 2004 working on new material and setting up her own record company, Red Girl Records. Without major label backing, her activities are decided on and funded by herself, alongside her business partner and manager, Nancy Phillips. In April 2005, Chisholm released her third album, Beautiful Intentions. The Adam Argyle-penned "Next Best Superstar" was chosen as the lead single and was released simultaneously in the UK, Europe, and Australia. The single peaked at number ten in the UK and reached the top of the Germany radio airplay chart for several weeks.

In early 2007 Chisholm released her fourth album, This Time. It features writing collaborations with Adam Argyle, Peter-John Vettese, Guy Chambers and Cathy Dennis (amongst others). The first single released from the project was the international hit "The Moment You Believe", primarily released in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, where it became a top twenty hit. The single also peaked at number 1 in Spain for two weeks and was a big hit in several other European countries. In the UK, Chisholm released the track "I Want Candy", which peaked at number twenty-four and featured on the soundtrack to the film of the same name.

In November 2007, Chisholm reunited with the Spice Girls for a Greatest Hits album release and a three-months world tour. When the tour reached its first two-day break, Chisholm performed an acoustic solo set at The Mint in Los Angeles on 6 December, another one in The Grand Ballroom in New York City and a third solo performance in Toronto Canada. On the last show of the tour, Chisholm did her famous "Sporty Spice" backflip as a surprise to the fans, as well as the other Spice Girls. In February 2008 Chisholm returned to her solo career. She released her fourth album "This Time" in Canada on April 8 2008, followed by a full Canadian tour in May 2008.