Name Beverley Smith [aka. Beverley Knight]
Date Of Birth 22nd March 1973
Born Wolverhampton, United Kingdom
Facts Bev began singing at the tender age of 4. She has a degree in Religious Theology and Philosophy, which she studied in Cheltenham. And has over 350 pairs of shoes!

An awesome voice, an already great artist, yet one who has used that self-claimed time away to continue the all-important process of maturing and growing. Since releasing the album Prodigal Sista in 1999 Beverley Knight has blossomed into a very centered 29 year old and has returned sounding even better than ever! Why wouldn't she be? Since last time around, she's charmed [and been totally awed by] Nelson Mandela, sung Happy Birthday to a delighted Mohammed Ali, duetted live on record with Jamiroquai's Jay Kay, and done a whole lot of getting to know herself too. "All of which has brought me to a very good place indeed!"

This much - and more - is evident from the fabulous album, 'Who I Am'. The fact is that Beverley Knight has made it back again, and triumphantly so. "I've been through many, many changes, and you can hear them all right here", she admits of the living-and-learning process she has undergone these past two and a half years. "I've found out lots about the industry I work in but also, and more importantly, about me myself -and-I. Perhaps most significant in all of this was the fact that, during it all, I came out of a long-term relationship. That was a big old thing for me, believe me!

As the title suggests, it's a collection which deals promarily with the question of identity. "With the people and experiences that have shaped me, and with where I am headed next," she confirms. That said, it's a journey with a projected happy ending. "Because I'm pleased to say that I've come out on the far side with my soul intact, with a clear sense of exactly who Beverley is, and [she laughs here, as if in gratitude] with the smile still on my face!" Giid news, then, for the university graduate turned hometown r'n'b heroine - a woman who, when looking for musical role models, turns more readily to artists like Annie Lennox, [as well as guests such as Aretha and Chaka] than to whoever it is that media opinion is electing as the latest funky diva-du-joir. "Man, that's not where I'm coming from at all! What Prodigal Sista did [with its two top 20 hits 'Made It Back' and 'Greatest Day'] was break me out of that specialised, ghettoised box that all British black women artists find themselves dropped into, and which I'd been fighting for so long to excape from.

Those MOBO awards, for a start [judged Best RnB act not only of '98, but of '99 as well - 'Prodigal Sista' picked up Best Album also] were a start. Then there was my insistence on playing live whenever and wherever possible. Yes, it costs a whole lot more to take your music to the people in that way, but that's how the women who inspired me did it. They didn't just sing and dance to backing tracks in a club. They were out there fronting a real and, holding a show together and working on captivating their audience. And that's how I intend to do it too." If the picture that you're forming is of an artist more interested in developing her own talents than in following fashion, you are on the right track. Says Beverley, "My feeling about all of that is that when something or someone is super-hot, it or they can very soon grow cold. I prefer to see myself as kind of a back-burner, quietly keeping up a steady but intense heat!"

The album 'Who I Am' is a set that shows just how far the girl from Wolverhampton has come. It features one strong song after another - some written and recorded in collaboration with top industry names here in the UK [D-Influence, Dodge and C-Swing for example] others with the cream of the crop in the U.S. From Nashville - Country Music Award winner Craig Wiseman with whom Beverley co-wrote the classic 'Shoulda Woulda Coulda' - or Philadelphia [James Poyser, who has worked with the likes of D'angelo, Lauryn Hill and Jill Scott]. "Songs are the key to it all with me, that's why I've taken my time in coming back with this. Quality is appreciated by record buyers, and quality can't be rushed."

-> Celebrate South Africa Day Concert, London 2001 ->

Beverley has a steadily growing list of famous admirers from Bowie and Prince to Michael Stripe who she met at London's open-air 'Celebrate South Africa Day' concert back on April 29th 2001. Jay Kay has to be more than a little smitten too. He invited Bev to guest on two of the tracks from his Jamiroquai album 'A Funk Odyssey' and support him on his UK & European arena tours.

All of which is great, of course. But perhaps the best measure of where the sista herself is coming from, can be taken from the reaction to finding herself at a private audience with the truly legendary Nelson Mandela last April. "It knocked me sideways that, through music, I had got to meet one of history's living legends, a man who future historians will still be writing about in 500 or more years' time. And how had it happened? It was because I, a woman from Wolverhampton, had dared to have a dream that was bigger than those that everyone else around me was carrying with them."

-> 'Who I Am' Album Photo Shoot 2002 ->

Who I Am' entered the UK album charts at number 7 on March 17th 2002 and was certified gold status withing a few weeks, the sales are now heading towards platinum status. The first single 'Get Up', was released in October 2001 and was a top 20 hit and a club smash, riding high in the club/dance charts. The video has been nominated for a CAD (Creative Design Award) for 'Best Urban Video'. The second single 'Shoulda Woulda Coulda', was Beverley's first UK Top 10 hit, and a huge Top 5 airplay record.

The third single 'Gold' was released on 24th June 2002. It scored Bev another top 30 hit and sent Who I Am back iinto the top 20 album chart. Following highly successful support tours in Europe and the UK with Jamiroquai, Beverley undertook a headline tour of the UK in May. This was followed by appearances at various European festivals through the summet including Glastonbury, T In The Park and V2002 in the UK.

The latter stages of 2002 saw no sign of Beverley slowing down. She was nominated for the prestigious 2002 Mercury Music Award. In October Beverley returned from a life-changing trip with the charity Christian Aid to Salvador in the north eastern Brazil, an experience that she found both moving and extremely informative. Beverley's trip allowed her to experience first hand the amazing projects that have been set up to combat a country plagued with extreme poverty and illness. Whilst in Brazil she visited organisations including GAPA-BAHIA - an AIDS prevention project and CESE - an organisation that campaigns againest domestic violence.

-> Christian Aid Trip, Brazil 2002 ->

Upon returning from her Christian Aid Trip, Beverley had the honour of performing at a benefit event for a Nelson Mandela Children's fund, which again allowed her to meet with her idol and inspiration.

Knight has also travelled to New York where she recorded a new version of her single 'Shape Of You' with Wyclef Jean. Originally planned as a straightforward remix, Wyclef and Beverley Knight soon reworked the entire track - its production, lyrics and melody - hence 'Shape Of You - Reshaped'. The pair also shot the video, [which also features new Clef signing, 19 year old rapper 'Hollywood']. The track was released as a limited edition single in March 2003.

-> 'Shape Of You Reshaped' Video Shoot, New York 2002 ->

In April 2003, Beverley recorded a cover of Stevie Wonder's 'Love's In Need Of Love Today' for the HOPE War Child Album, with all the money raised going straight to the War Child Charity.

Miss Knight is now writing and recording tracks for her fourth album, which is expected to be released early 2004. She has also recorded a demo for Roni Size's forthcoming album, and a cover of 'Steppin Out' for the brand new Kool & The Gang Tribute Album due for release later this year.

-> Marks & Spencers Promotional Campaign, May 2003 ->

[Written by Alan Jackson. Taken from the Official Beverley Knight Tour Programme 2002.]

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

[Updated & Designed By SJ Robertson © 2002, 2003]