Raising a child to 18 is no easy feat, and singer Melanie “Mel B” Brown is celebrating. The child she shares with comedic legend Eddie Murphy, Angel Iris Murphy, is officially 18, and the former Spice Girls group member couldn’t be prouder.
“HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY ANGEL !!! I cannot believe youre 18,” she began in an Instagram caption that accompanied a carousel of images of Angel as a baby and into adulthood, including with big sister Phoenix. “You are so special and so bright and so talented!! I couldnt be prouder of watching you grow and become the person you are but youll forever be my babyyyy I hop [sic] you keep chasing your [sic] dreams and be kind to everyone around you like you always have been my Angel. Love you always ❤️❤️❤️.”
The 18-year-old is not only entering adulthood but also has a strong sense of self during this new phase of life. Angel made that clear in the comment section under Mel B’s birthday tribute, clarifying that they identify with he/him pronouns.
“That second picture is exactly how old she was when I met her!! The only baby to look like she worked out at the gym! Cutest little thing,” a commenter wrote under the celebratory post. When another corrected the follower writing, “*him / *he,” and someone asked how they knew Angel’s pronouns, the newly minted 18-year-old responded, “they are on my profile!”
Eddie Murphy and Mel B had a whirlwind romance in 2006, and the singer gave birth to Angel on April 3, 2007. The former couple had a public dispute over paternity and the actor wasn’t present in Angel’s life at one point. Now he’s all in. Back in 2021, the starlet opened up about those complicated early days following Angel’s birth.
“He apologizes to this day about that,” she explained to Piers Morgan on Life Stories in 2021. “He wishes he never said it because that baby was planned; we planned that baby together, and we were madly in love, and it just went wrong, dramatically went wrong.”
As mentioned, in addition to Angel, Mel B has an eldest daughter named Phoenix, as well as a younger daughter named Madison. Eddie Murphy has nine other children, and Angel was pictured with all of their siblings in 2018 during an epic family holiday photo that went viral. He’s said that he has a close relationship with every one of his children, as parenthood is his priority.
“My career, or what I am as an artist, that’s not at the center of my life. At the center of my life is my family and my kids,” he said during a conversation with Vanity Fair in 2020. “That’s the principal relationship, and everything comes after that. I have 10 kids, and I’m present, and I’m part of their lives. You got to have some kind of balance with career and personal life. I started making movies when I was 20, and I auditioned for SNL when I was 18, so that’s 40 years ago. So I had a little crossroads where it was like, it’s time to back off, and sit on the couch and just be Dad.”
It’s great that Mel B and Murphy found a middle ground and got to a place of being able to co-parent amicably. They’ve done an exemplary job at raising Angel, and we’re excited to see what they do during this new phase of life.
