Gabrielle

Recognisable for the eye patch that adorns her right eye, Gabrielle enjoyed a meteoric rise to pop stardom in the 1990s with several well-timed records that captured the public's imagination. Office worker by day, by night she launched her career singing in London nightclubs. In search of a record deal, Gabrielle recorded a demo of later hit "Dreams" that originally sampled Tracy Chapman's hit "Fast Car." After being picked up by Go! Beat Records, the single was re-recorded (minus the sample due to copyright restrictions) and became the highest UK chart entry for a debut female act when it hit the top spot of the UK Singles Chart in 1993. She quickly became established as a leading soul singer in the UK, with her debut album Find Your Way proving a worldwide hit. Her second album, 1996's Gabrielle featured a duet with East 17 on "If You Ever" which reached number two in the UK. Subsequent years coincided with a difficult time for the singer, after the father of her son was sent to prison for murdering his stepfather, but she returned with her third album in 2000, Rise. Notably, Bob Dylan agreed to the sampling of his "Knockin' On Heaven's Door" on the album's lead track which hit number one in the UK charts in 2000. She followed this with her fourth album Play to Win in 2004 and Always in 2007 before taking a break from touring and recording. She returned in 2013 with Now and Always: 20 Years of Dreaming, a compilation album of her greatest hits and seven brand new tracks. She got back into the studio to record her sixth album, Under My Skin, which she released in 2018. Mostly a covers album with two original tracks, Do It Again arrived in 2021. In 2024, Gabrielle released A Place In Your Heart (2024), which was driven by the lead single of the same name.