"Girl power" has returned with the reunion of 1990s power group Spice Girls at London's O2 Arena to announce a new world tour.

The reunited Spice Girls, top, were in London on Thursday to announce a concert tour. At the height of their success, the group travelled the world, including visiting the Cannes Film Festival in 1997, shown below.
(Lefteris Pitarakis/Remy De La Mauviniere/Associated Press)

The tour will take Melanie Brown (Scary), Melanie Chisholm (Sporty), Geri Halliwell (Ginger), Emma Bunton (Baby) and Victoria Beckham (Posh) around the world, beginning in December.

"We feel like the time is right. We wanted to have some fun and be together again for a while," Brown said.

"Obviously it's nostalgic. But equally, if new fans want to come along, that's fantastic," Halliwell said. "I like to think our songs are universal and they are timeless."

On the official Spice Girls website, concerts are listed for 11 cities:

• New York.
• Los Angeles.
• Las Vegas.
• Buenos Aires.
• London.
• Madrid.
• Cape Town.
• Beijing.
• Hong Kong.
• Sydney.
• Koln, Germany.

"Hey everybody! We're back! Can you believe it?" the quintet declare on the site.

"Who knows if this will ever happen again, it's a once in a lifetime opportunity!"

The group will also release a greatest hits album in November, prior to the tour, and announced plans for a documentary set for television broadcast.

Formed by successful entertainment mogul Simon Fuller in 1994, the Spice Girls celebrated "girl power," and were seen as positive role models for young female fans. They eventually sold more than 50 million albums worldwide. 

The group quickly rose to international stardom with a string of upbeat pop hits including Wannabe, Say You'll Be There and 2 Become 1 off their 1996 debut album Spice.

Released in 1997, the group's sophomore effort, Spice World, continued with chart toppers like Spice Up Your Life, Stop and Too Much.

The end began when Halliwell left the group — reportedly over infighting — in 1998. The subsequent Spice Girls album Forever, released in 2000, suffered weak sales, and the rest of the group broke up a year later.

The five singers are in their 30s. Brown, Halliwell and Beckham are mothers and Bunton is expected to give birth soon. As solo recording artists, they have had varying levels of success.

Rumours of a reunion had swirled for weeks, skyrocketing after Chisholm — who had long been opposed to a reunion — told the BBC recently that she had changed her mind and the "girls" had been discussing getting back together.

With files from the Associated Press