Beverley Knight

Beverley Knight (born Beverley Anne Smith, 22 March 1973) is an English singer, songwriter, actress and radio personality.

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 (Knight's cousin), Ethnic Boyz and the hip-hop act Blak Twang.

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, Knight is best known for her hit singles "Greatest Day", "Get Up!", "Shoulda Woulda Coulda", "Come as You Are" and "Keep This Fire Burning".

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 September 2005, Knight was made an honorary Doctor of Music by the University of Wolverhampton.

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.

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 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 that included Quincy Jones, particularly for her rendition of "Rock Steady".

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.

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.

Knight sang at the London 2012 Paralympic Opening Ceremony.

Knight made her first foray into musical theatre in September 2013, replacing Heather Headley as Rachel Marron in The Bodyguard.

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.

In 2016, Knight released her eighth studio album, Soulsville.

In 2017, she made her pantomime debut at the Birmingham Hippodrome as the Fairy Godmother in Cinderella.

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 (from Smith) 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 (now the University of Gloucestershire) to study theology and philosophy.

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.