Des'ree
Des'ree |
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Des'ree, born Desiree Weeks on November 30, 1968 in London, England was one of Britain's most successful pop/soul vocalists throughout the 1990s. She changed her name from Desiree Weeks because she preferred a two-syllable name.
Growing up in South London, Des'ree's introduction to music came from her parents, who, coming to Britain from the Caribbean, brought with them their island sounds, enabling their daughter to experience reggae, calypso and jazz along with British pop music. It was on returning from a 3-year spell in Barbados with her family, at the age of 14, that Des'ree knew she wanted her life to revolve around music. An avid reader from an early age, she soon found herself moving from studying poetry to writing it, condensing everything she learned from her culture, history and life experiences and setting it to music. It's a style of composition that hasn't changed over the years.
Finding her own voice out of that initial decision has been an interesting adventure that Des'ree has undertaken sometimes alone, sometimes in partnership.
In 1994 the hit single "You Gotta Be" hit Billboard Top 5 and was a hit in the UK three times. It also allowed Des'ree to break into America. "You Gotta Be" was also a major hit in the United States, and it was featured in the movie The Next Karate Kid, starring Hilary Swank. The second song from Des'ree's second album, "Crazy Maze" featured in the movie Nothing to Lose. Coincidentally, her last album ("Dream Soldier") featured a song entitled "Nothing to Lose".
The impact of the "You Gotta Be" single, however, was extraordinary and it rapidly became a nationwide anthem. "You Gotta Be" broke US records, becoming the most played video on VH1 and after 80 weeks was still on the Billboard recurrent air-play chart. As a result, Des'ree's second album, "I Ain't Movin'", has sold in excess of 1.6 million worldwide. In fact the impact of the song around the world has been so great that "You Gotta Be" was selected to go on the tribute album for Diana, Princess Of Wales.
The success of her new material created another whirlwind of activity for Des'ree. She travelled the world on a sell-out tour and in partnership with Seal, took America by storm on the most popular US tour of 1995. Another landmark experience in that year was her performance at the first ever secular concert at the Vatican and subsequently having a personal audience with the Pope to receive a blessing.
Between the release of "I Ain't Movin'" and her album "Supernatural", Des'ree was busy in the film world, providing soundtrack material for Spike Lee's Clockers, Set It Off and more recently Romeo And Juliet, a film which marked her personal big screen début. Director Baz Luhrmann approached her to contribute a song to his Hollywood interpretation of Romeo And Juliet' and to critical acclaim Des'ree sang "Kissing You (Love Theme From Romeo & Juliet)" at 'The Capulet's Ball', where the young 'Romeo' and 'Juliet' (Leonardo Di Caprio and Claire Danes), played their first scene together. The scene launched them to superstardom and Des'ree's music is intimately associated with that moment.
In 1999, she won a Brit Award for the British Female Solo Artist category. This was a turbulent time for Des'ree as she was going through an emotional break-up with long-time partner, comedian and muse Iain Lee also known as Lee Iain.
Des'ree has also performed various duets, including "Fire" with Babyface, "Plenty Lovin" with Steve Winwood and "Delicate" with Terence Trent D'Arby.
Her 2003 release Dream Soldier was considerably less successful.
Des'ree has also added her voice to the anti-fur campaigns featuring on PETA's website, as well as FurIsDead.com. In her print ad, she is quoted as saying "Animals should not be fashion victims".
UK major singles history
- 1991, "Feel So High", number 51
- 1992, "Feel So High" (Re-Released), number 13
- 1992, "Mind Adventures", number 43
- 1992, "Why Should I Love You", number 44
- 1993, "Delicate" (Terence Trent D'Arby with Des'ree), number 14
- 1994, "You Gotta Be", number 20
- 1994, "I Ain't Movin'", number 44
- 1994, "Little Child", number 69
- 1995, "You Gotta Be" (Re-released), number 14
- 1998, "Life", number 8. "Life" remained in the UK top 40 for 11 weeks, and was a number one seller across Europe
- 1998, "What's Your Sign", number 19
- 1999, "You Gotta Be" (Remix), number 10
- 2003, "It's Okay", number 69
Spain major singles history
- 1998, "Life", number 1
- 1998, "What's Your Sign", number 30
- 1999, "You Gotta Be", number 1.