Heather Small (born 20 January 1965) is a British soul singer, best known for being the lead singer in the Manchester based band M People, her previous involvement was in the band 'Hot House' who released the album 'South'. Her solo debut album Proud . She was also a contestant in Strictly Come Dancing 2008 .

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Beginning

Small was born and raised in West London and joined her first group, Hot House, while she was still a teenager. She is rumoured^[who?] to be the studio singer voice of the re-recorded version of UK number 1 single "Ride On Time" from Italo House Band Black Box. After a chance meeting with Manchester DJ, Mike Pickering, formerly of Quando Quango, her distinctive voice helped to sell over 10 million albums worldwide singing with his group M People. They had considerable success with songs such as "Moving on Up" and "Search for the Hero". Small has said that her major influence has been singer Elkie Brooks.

Solo work

In 1997, Small performed on the "Perfect Day" record alongside a wide range of artists including Tom Jones and Lou Reed. The song was the official 1997 Children in Need charity release. It sold over a million copies and was the UK's number one single for three weeks, in two separate spells.

In 1998, after M People's 'best of' album, Small and the band took some time off to pursue solo projects.

In 2000, Small released her solo album Proud and a single of the same name, closely affiliated with the British Olympics team of the time. The single "Proud" was also used for the first season and the last chapter on the finale season of Queer as Folk and was put on its single. "Proud" is also known as Small's signature song, with which she achieved international success. When Oprah Winfrey was looking for a song to sum up the work she'd been striving to achieve over her twenty-year career, she got in touch with Small and the song "Proud" became the theme song to The Oprah Winfrey Show , and in 2005 Small made her American television debut on the show. Then in 2004 the song become the theme song for the American reality weight loss show The Biggest Loser . A further single, "Holding On", followed and in November 2000 a duet single with Tom Jones, called "You Need Love Like I Do" (which can also be found on the 1999 album Reload ).

Since then, she has been taking time off to look after her son and start recording her new solo album. She was occasionally seen on various TV programmes as Parkinson and Songs of Praise . She also sang three songs at the Tsunami Relief Concert at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.

Small released a new single, "Radio On" in the UK on July 17, 2006 and her second solo album, Close To A Miracle was released on July 24, followed by a second single of the same name. The album was a commercial disappointment, charting for one week at No 57 with both supporting singles charting outside the Top 100. A short UK solo tour which followed in the Autumn of that year was received well. ^[1]

Small was also busy as a solo artist in 2007, performing at the opening of Spinning Field building in Manchester in June followed by an appearance on Songs Of Praise in July in which she performed "Love Is Always There" from her second album Close To A Miracle . In addition, she performed a set from her two solo albums and a few of M People's greatest hits at The Festival Too concert in Kings Lynn, headlining the weekend as a solo artist.

M People

In 2005, another M People album was released, M People featuring Heather Small, The Ultimate Collection featuring both band and solo singles. M People reformed and played together on an Arena Tour during 2005, they have played a few dates each year since.

International success

Small has collaborated with Icelandic tenor Garðar Thór Cortes on a song called "Luna", which reached number two in the Icelandic Charts.

Small played in Poland September 2007, at the Congress Hall in Warsaw along with M People. ^[2] M People also played at the Samso Festival in Denmark this July. ^[3]

Recent history

A new song was recorded to celebrate 200 years since the abolition of the slave trade, and Small performed at a concert in London to mark this anniversary on 10 November 2007. ^[4] On 26 May 2008 Small performed alongside Stereophonics and Feeder at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, as part of the celebrations of Wales success at the 2008 Grand Slam. In addition, Small performed three nights at Ronnie Scott's in October as part of her 2008 tour, and headlined Manchester Pride.

On 24 August 2008 she performed at the Visa London 2012 Party to celebrate the handover as host city of the Olympic Games from Beijing, China, to London. Small sang "Proud" which was the unofficial anthem of Team GB at the Athens Games in 2004, and is the official anthem of the London 2012 Games. On December 2008, she again performed "Proud" on the 2008 BBC Sports Personality of the Year programme, as a soundtrack to a montage of British Olympian achievements at Beijing.

In May and June 2009, Small toured the UK. The setlist included Small's solo tracks, M People songs and some jazz. ^[5]

On her week as a panelist for Channel Five's "The Wright Stuff" Small stated she would return to touring in October. ^[6]

Strictly Come Dancing

Small was announced as one of the sixteen celebrities in the sixth series of BBC's Strictly Come Dancing . She was partnered with newcomer, Brian Fortuna.

Small is to appear in a new BBC3 series called "Dancing On Wheels". ^[7]

Charity work

Small is active in supporting several charities, such as "Beat Bullying", Barnardo's “Adopt a Child” campaign, the Aiden Cox Foundation, Mencap (for which she performed) and St Luke's Midnight Walk. She attended an anti-racism ceremony at 10 Downing Street earlier this year for “Show Racism The Red Card”, attended by Sporting Elite, the Prime Minister and others. In addition Small has also recently become an ambassador of Asthma UK, as she suffered from asthma as a child. ^[8]

Discography

See also:

Albums

Year	Album	UK Albums Chart [9]
2000	Proud (Gold)	12
2006	Close to a Miracle	57

Singles

Year	Song	UK Singles Chart	Album
2000	"Proud"	16	Proud
	"Holding On"	58
	"You Need Love Like I Do" (with Tom Jones)	24
2005	"Proud" (re-release)	33
2006	"Radio On"	-	Close to a Miracle
	"Close to a Miracle"	-
2007	"Luna" (with Garðar Thór Cortes)	-	Cortes

References

1. Heather Small News
2. M People :: The M People & Heather Small Fansite
3. MySpace.com - Heather Small [M People - London, UK - Pop / Electrique / Disco House - www.myspace.com/closetoamiracle]
4. M People :: The M People & Heather Small Fansite
5. http://heathersmall.blogspot.com/2009/02/heather-small-uk-tour-2009.html
6. http://www.m-people.com/elegantlounge/viewtopic.php?t=696
7. The Press Association: Heather Small in Dancing On Wheels
8. http://www.heathersmall.moonfruit.com/#/charitywork/4527808104
9. British Hit Singles & Albums