Beverley Knight

Born Beverley Anne Smith in Wolverhampton in the English Midlands to a family of Jamaican origin, Beverley Knight developed her relationship with music early on in a Pentecostal church—an upbringing that has left a lasting imprint on her soul, contemporary R&B, neo-soul and her ties to gospel. She made her recording debut with The B-Funk in 1995 and further established herself at the end of the 1990s with Prodigal Sista (1998). In the early 2000s, Who I Am (2002) broadened her audience with more personal songwriting, followed by Affirmation (2004), where she opened her sound more to pop while remaining within the soul register. Her subsequent discography includes Music City Soul (2007), 100% (2009), Soul UK (2011), dedicated to covers of British soul, Soulsville (2016) and The Fifth Chapter (2023). Her career has also taken her to major British stages, notably as support for Take That in 2006 and for Prince at the O2 Arena in 2007. Alongside her musical career, Beverley Knight has made a name for herself in the West End with roles in The Bodyguard, Memphis, Cats, The Drifters Girl, Sylvia and Sister Act.