Beverley Knight
Beverley Knight is an English singer, songwriter, actress and radio personality. She released her first album, The B-Funk, in 1995. Heavily influenced by American soul music icons such as Sam Cooke and Aretha Franklin, Knight has released nine studio albums. Widely regarded as one of Britain's greatest soul singers, she is best known for her hit singles "Greatest Day", "Get Up!", "Shoulda Woulda Coulda", "Come as You Are" and "Keep This Fire Burning".
In 2006, Knight solidified her transition into the mainstream by starring in the BBC music TV series Just the Two of Us, a role she reprised in 2007. After releasing a platinum-selling compilation album in 2006, Knight went on to tour the UK with a reformed Take That. She has also hosted the BBC Radio 2 show, Beverley's Gospel Nights, which explored the origins and impact of gospel music. The show ran for six seasons until 2009 and included interviews with stars such as Michelle Williams and Shirley Caesar.
Knight is an ambassador for many charities such as Christian Aid and has travelled to areas affected by disease and poverty to help raise awareness. She is an active campaigner for anti-Aids organisations such as the Stop AIDS Campaign and The Terrence Higgins Trust and is also a vocal campaigner against homophobic lyrics in urban music. On Saturday, 15 August 2009, she performed live at the fourth annual UK Black Pride event in Regent's Park. On 4 December 2009, at the invitation of Sarah Jane Brown, wife of the then prime minister Gordon Brown, Knight performed the two songs "Shoulda Woulda Coulda" and "Gold" to an invited audience at 10 Downing Street in support of the White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood Million Mums charity.
After more than a decade in the music industry, Knight was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire in 2006 in recognition of her contribution to British music. In September 2005, Knight was made an honorary Doctor of Music by the University of Wolverhampton. After receiving a host of awards, including three MOBO Awards, Knight was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2004 at the Urban Music Awards in London. Knight supported Prince during The Earth Tour: 21 Nights in London and also performed at the concert after parties.
In February 2008, Knight was flown to Los Angeles by Prince to perform at his prestigious post-Oscars party, at the singer's purple home, in front of and with A-list stars including Stevie Wonder. She received a standing ovation from stars including Quincy Jones, particularly for her rendition of "Rock Steady".
Knight sang at the London 2012 Paralympic Opening Ceremony. The performance was praised, and a recorded version by Knight reached No. 101 on iTunes, her first charting single since "Soul Survivor" and highest since "Beautiful Night" in 2010 and 2009, respectively. In 2016, Knight released her eighth studio album, Soulsville. In 2019, Knight celebrated 25 years in music with the release of the live album BK25 which was recorded with the Leo Green Orchestra. Knight's ninth studio album, The Fifth Chapter, was released in October 2023.
Knight has been nominated for two Laurence Olivier Awards for Best Actress in a Musical in 2015 and 2022 for her performances in Memphis and The Drifters Girl; she won in 2023, on her third nomination, the Best Supporting Actress in a Musical for Sylvia. Knight made her first foray into musical theatre in September 2013, replacing Heather Headley as Rachel Marron in The Bodyguard. In 2017, she made her pantomime debut at the Birmingham Hippodrome as the Fairy Godmother in Cinderella. In 2025, Knight portrayed Rosetta Tharpe in the stage production Marie & Rosetta at the Rose Theatre in Kingston upon Thames and the Minerva Theatre in Chichester.
Early life and education
Knight attended Woodfield Infant and Junior Schools, and Highfields School in Wolverhampton. She was born to Jamaican parents and grew up in a strict Pentecostal household where church attendance was an important element in the life of the family. It was here that she began her singing career. "The first time I heard music would have been in church. My mum was often called upon: 'Come on sister Dolores. Lead us in song!' Singing was the most natural thing in the world. I thought, doesn't everybody's mum lead the congregation at church in song?" Knight sang in her local church throughout her childhood, and her musical education was continued at home where she was often exposed to gospel music. Because of her parents' religious beliefs, secular music was largely frowned upon, but artists such as Sam Cooke and Aretha Franklin played a big part in her childhood.Knight began writing her own songs at the age of 13; however, it was not until she turned 17 that she began to take songwriting and performing seriously. She began performing the songs she had written on stage in local clubs in her home town. At the age of 19, she performed on the demo songs of Wolverhampton songwriter Westley Jones, who was signed to Dome publishing in London. Peter Robinson, the managing director of the company, impressed with her vocals, asked Westley Jones to introduce her. Robinson and Jones – who had discovered Knight through demo recordings – also came up with the stage name of Beverley Knight as Peter had also signed another demo vocalist of Jones' from Birmingham, calling her Fiona Day. She was adamant that her education should come first and that she should have something to fall back on, and so went to Cheltenham and Gloucester College of Higher Education to study theology and philosophy.
Career
1994–2000: Early success
In late 1994, Knight signed a record deal with Dome Records, a small, independent label. Shortly after, she went into a studio to write and record her first album. The backbone of the project was produced by the London production trio 2B3, with additional beats provided by Don E, Ethnic Boyz and the hip-hop act Blak Twang. Klarmann/Weber, the German songwriter/producer team, also contributed two songs. The result was the album The B-Funk, – hailed by her record label as "the best British soul album ever" when it was released in November 1995. Knight went on to win two Black Music Awards in 1996 and was named Best R&B Act by Blues and Soul magazine, beating a number of American stars. However, the album only peaked at number 145 on the UK albums chart. Several singles were released from the project, the biggest being "Flavour of the Old School", which peaked at number 33 in March 1996 when it was re-released.In February 1997, Knight left Dome Records after disagreements, and signed a new four-album deal with EMI-controlled Parlophone. After returning to the studio with 2B3 and Don E and teaming up with new producers Dj Dodge and Carl McIntosh, Knight released her second album, Prodigal Sista, in August 1998. Peaking at number 42 in Britain, the commercial success of the album proved to be much greater than her first. The album sold 150,000 copies in Britain and was certified Gold in 1999. It contained five top-40 hits, the biggest of which were "Greatest Day", peaking at number 14, and the Dj Dodge-produced "Made It Back" featuring the US rap star Redman, which peaked at number 21.
Prodigal Sista was a big step forward in Knight's career. Q magazine called the album "a triumph not only of Knight's musical vision but also of the strength in her character", while The Times remarked, "Prodigal Sista is a joy to hear – her vocal and intricate self-devised and performed harmonies can make you catch your breath in wonderment." The album won three MOBO Awards, with "Made It Back" and "Greatest Day" winning Best R&B Act in 1998 and 1999 respectively, and Prodigal Sista winning the Best Album Award.
2001–2005: Mainstream breakthrough
Throughout 2001 Knight returned to the recording studio to write and record her third studio album. She was accompanied by an array of writers and producers handpicked largely by Kevin and Bev from Britain and the United States, which included James Poyser, Che Guevara, Derrick Joshua & Derrick Martin, D'Influence, Mike Spencer and Colin Emmanuel. The result was Who I Am, released in March 2002. It was preceded by two singles, "Get Up!" and "Shoulda Woulda Coulda" – a first in that it introduced Knight to the world of Nashville and one of its most famous sons, Craig Wiseman, a giant in the country music business. This partnership became Knight's most successful single up to that point, peaking at number 10 on the UK Singles Chart. The success of the singles propelled the album to number seven on the album chart, making Who I Am her most commercially successful album to date. It was re-released with new versions of the singles "Gold" and "Shape of You " and has sold 215,000 copies in Britain, earning a Gold sales certificate.The critical response to Who I Am was largely positive, with The Guardian stating that "every song bubbles with the kind of expensive, polished confidence that often eludes British contenders, and she sings with the poise of an artist at the height of her powers", while the BBC remarked: "Who I Am marks a significant change in direction for this tenacious 28-year-old singer, signifying her own personal growth as a true artist and developing songwriter....on this her most personal work to date, she takes us on an intimate journey where she bares her soul with such raw honesty that you get the distinct impression a healing process is taking place". The album earned her two Brit Award nominations and was nominated for the Mercury Music Prize in 2002.
After touring Britain in 2002, Knight set about creating her fourth album and entered the studio in the summer of 2003. Without the architect of her most successful song in her camp her new A&R team attempted to appeal to a larger mainstream audience, enlisting the help of pop producers such as Guy Chambers and Peter-John Vettese as well as collaborating with R&B producers such as DJ Munro. The result was Affirmation, which was released on Parlophone in June 2004. The album entered the charts at number 11 and was preceded by the single "Come as You Are" – a rock/pop orientated song written with and produced by Chambers. The song marked a more mainstream pop sound that alienated Knight's largely urban fan base and the song was not well received by urban radio stations. Nevertheless, it became her biggest hit to date, peaking at number nine on the singles chart. The song was followed by two more singles, "Not Too Late for Love" and "Keep This Fire Burning", which helped boost album sales and resulted in the album being awarded a Gold sales certificate in December 2004.
The themes running throughout the album, which were influenced by the events she had witnessed over the previous two years, marked a milestone in Knight's career as a lyricist. The main essence of the project was centred on Knight's relationship with Tyrone Jamison – a gay man whom she described as her "soulmate" and who died of an AIDS-related disease in 2003. Throughout the album, lyrics on tracks such as "Remember Me" and "No One Ever Loves in Vain" clearly point to her close relationship with Tyrone and rank as her most personal work to date.
Compared to the praise of her previous albums, the critical response to Affirmation was mixed. The mainstream press such as The Guardian praised her for branching out, while the black music press such as The Voice and Blues and Soul accused Knight of selling out and being manipulated away from urban music by her record label, a claim she flatly denies: "Everything I've done musically has been completely me. I write my own songs so I'm not just a vocalist who can easily be dictated to."