b. Beverley Knight, 22nd March 1972, Wolverhampton, United Kingdom.
Beverley Knight was born in Wolverhampton in the United Kingdom in 1972.
Raised with a gospel background (singing an unaccompanied spontaneous version of 'The Eye Is On The Sparrow' on a recent Jools Holland show in 2002), Beverley Knight landed a record deal with Dome Records in 1995 resulting in a debut album 'The B-Funk'.
Much of Beverley's early years involved her being subject to a great deal of bigotry in her home town, with one particular instance, at the age of 20, of four men in a car pulling up beside her and hurling a torrent of racial abuse.
As the vehicle pulled away, Beverley gave chase in anger, sadly without success.
At the age of four, a similar ocurrence of racial hatred shocked her as a child.
In 1992, Beverley went to college in Cheltenham to study Religious Theology and Philosophy.
Hoping that university would be less prejudiced, she thought things would improve moving to a white, middle-class town.
She was refused accommondation, however, because of her skin colour.
Beverley's time in Cheltenham took its toll, so she looked towards London and a career in the music industry.
By the age of 21, Beverley was meeting industry people and landed a deal with Dome Records.
Beverley's cousin is a producer, Don-e ('Love Makes The World Go Round' / 'Unbreakable' etc.).
The company heard her perform with him and offered her a deal immediately.
Beverley's first single was entitled 'Flavour Of The Old School', a track released in 1994.
An album entitled 'The B-Funk' followed a year later, with two further albums, 'Prodigal Sista' in 1998 and 'Who I Am' in 2002.
Beverley is a three-times Mobo award-winner, has acheived several chart successes along with singing 'Happy Birthday' to Muhammed Ali, who requested a copy of her album after her performance.
She also sang her single 'Greatest Day' at the South African Freedom Day in Trafalgar Square in London in the prescence of Nelson Mandela (a personal hero of hers).
Beverley has, additionally, duetted live and on record with Jamiroquai's Jay Kay.
Her 2002 album 'Who I Am' featured input from several U.K. acts including D-Influence, Dodge and C -Swing.
U.S. input came from Country Music Award winner Craig Wiseman (with whom Beverley co-wrote the single 'Shoulda, Woulda, Coulda') and Philadelphia producer (James Poyser who previously has worked with D'Angelo, Lauryn Hill and Jill Scott) and a duet with Musiq Soulchild.
Albums:
The B-Funk (Dome Records 1995)
Prodigal Sista (EMI Records 1998)
Who I Am (EMI Records 2002)
Music City Soul (Parlophone Records 2007)
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