How the 90s were Spiced up

They championed Girl Power, revived the Union Jack as a fashion accessory and made pop music cool when grunge ruled the airwaves.

Now the Spice Girls have been voted the top cultural icons of the 1990s.

The five members - Victoria Beckham (Posh), Geri Halliwell (Ginger), Melanie Black (Scary), Melanie Chisholm (Sporty) and Emma Bunton (Baby) - gained nearly 12 times as many votes as Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain.

Dr Peter Webb, who lectures on the pop music industry at the University of Birmingham, said the Spice Girls tapped into a young female audience who had 'cash to burn'.

He added: 'In the 1990s, music was moving to a more commercial form. The Spice Girls did what the industry was trying to do, they diversified into all the media markets they could - films, magazines, merchandise and other spin-offs.'

The findings emerged from a poll of 1,000 people who were asked questions based on Trivial Pursuit to coincide with a new 1990s edition of the board game.

While 60 per cent of southerners voted the Iraq war as the biggest news story of the decade, 71 per cent of those in the North declared the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, as the most memorable event.

The Millennium Dome was voted the decade's biggest mistake, beating former US president Bill Clinton's relationship with White House intern Monica Lewinsky.