Band leader Ivy Benson was as famous in the 1940s as Glenn Miller and Dame Vera Lynn, yet her name has not lived on in the public consciousness. Former Spice Girl, Melanie C, wants to make sure her legacy is remembered by a new generation.

British Band Leader Ivy Benson was a gutsy and glamorous woman. Fifty years before Victoria, Mel B, Emma, Geri and myself were talking about Girl Power, Ivy and the members of her all-girl band were risking their lives entertaining Allied troops in war-torn Europe, and fighting the battle of the sexes back at home.

Ivy started her dance band in 1939. She wanted to prove that women could be good musicians. It seems strange now, but before World War Two, the main orchestras and bands in the UK were filled entirely with male musicians.

Ivy worked herself and her girls very hard. To begin with, people went to see them out of curiosity because they had never seen women playing trombones and trumpets before.  More …