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Gabrielle Biography
GABRIELLE BIOGRAPHY
Gabrielle Biography
Nope, she's not a pirate, and never was one - the eye-patch, though gimmicky to some extent - I mean, did it really have to have sequins on it? - was also to cover up a drooping eyelid that had resulted from a childhood injury. In fact, Gabrielle's story has largely been one of making her ostensible faults and drawbacks a virtue - after all, she is a single mum, who had to originally fit studio sessions and live performances around doing the school run, and remains a musical star who has always eschewed the red carpets and awards ceremonies (in fact, her only vice appears to be a weakness for chocolate!). Most of all, her bright, somewhat nasal voice would not at first listen appear to be cut out for an R&B or soul singing career at all - as she freely admits herself, '...what I represent is everyone out there who's not typical of what a singer should be. I've got a little Gabrielle voice, and it hasn't done too badly!' However, it is unmistakeably her, and perhaps this is the core of her success - the shy girl with the eye-patch can sing, for sure, but her humility, accessibility and uniqueness are pretty powerful selling points too.
Gabrielle's father left home when she was young, and therefore she and her three brothers were brought up by her mother Patricia - a strong woman on whom she still relies to help her bring up her son, and of whom she states 'She's an army, she really is.' - Patricia once memorably had to be with Jordan when he had his tonsils out, as mum Gabrielle had to go to the MOBOs!
She was something of an outsider at school, a gawky kid with a lazy eyelid and big feet (which reached the legendary proportions of size seven and a half at the age of ten), but was inspired to starts writing lyrics and songs after writing poetry in her English lessons. She wrote her first song at the age of thirteen, and would put on lunchtime performances for friends 'until the dinner lady caught me and put a stop to it.'
Unperturbed by the misery guts dinner lady, Gabrielle kept up the music after leaving school, but in distinctly unglamorous circumstances. Doing temp work by day in the Lord Chancellor's office, she performed unpaid in various West End night clubs, until someone she knew lent her the money to record a demo. The resulting track, 'Dreams,' which relied on a sample of Tracy Chapman's 'Fast Car', gained attention from execs at Go! Beat, such that by 1992 Gabrielle put the ink on her first recording contract.
'Dreams' was rerecorded and released in the early summer of 1993, with the Chapman sample removed, and the girl with the eye-patch had a stunning debut single on her hands - the song broke the record at the time for highest chart debut, entering at number two and landing the number one shortly after.
Further single success followed in October that same year, in the shape of 'Going Nowhere', which again reached the UK top ten. Likewise, her debut album 'Find Your Way' was released that month, and reached number nine, selling a million copies globally. The deluge of good news was then capped with her winning the BRIT best newcomer award.
Her second self-titled album in 1996, with production from the Boilerhouse Boys, Gabrielle continued to build on her early successes. The hit singles flowed, most notable of which would have to be the Motown-ish classic, 'Give Me a Little More Time', and she had by now become the poster-girl for modern British soul music. However, as the stellar successes of her career were only just starting to sink in, domestic life for the singer took a horrific turn for the worse.
Her ex-partner Tony Antoniou, the father of her son, went on trial in Nottingham for the murder of his step-father, just two days before Christmas in 1995 (stabbing him and then beheading him with a samurai sword). The resultant media coverage of the 1997 trial could not have been more unwelcome for the singer, not least because of the knowledge that Jordan would eventually need to know the full story. Gabrielle has stated that thanks largely to what happened, she has not been able to trust men since, and in fifteen years has not had a meaningful long-term relationship. Reasoning that she simply does not have room in her life to be a successful singer, a good mother and someone's romantic partner, Gabrielle has denied herself the option of enjoying the latter option.
All of which is ironic considering that so much of her oeuvre consists of uplifting love songs. The 2000 release of album 'Rise' felt like something of a watershed moment - drawing on the pain and turmoil of the events in her personal life, Gabrielle's declaration in the lyrics to the title song said it all: 'I'm ready to rise again.' And rise the album did, hitting the number one sales position. Furthermore, that particular title track sampled Dylan's 'Knockin' on Heaven's Door', and upon hearing the song the Bobster was said to be very pleased with it and for the first time ever, granted the sample clearance - surely the music industry's equivalent of a Royal Seal of Approval? Furthermore single 'Out of Reach' was effectively the theme song of chick flick 'Bridget Jones's Diary', and clearly the female singleton market was a big one!
'Play to Win' (2004) did not manage to emulate her earlier album successes, and by Gabrielle's own admission, '...it bombed - we couldn't get radio play at all, and that can make or break you.' She decided then to take time out of her music career to devote a bit more time to being a mum. Having tried to strike a healthy balance between work and life, and having relied heavily on the support of her mum, she felt that Jordan probably needed his own mum around a bit more.
She was ready to return by 2007 however, and in the shape of 'Always' Gabrielle appears to have recaptured the sounds that will elicit that much-needed airplay. First single 'Why' relied upon a sample of Paul Weller's 'Wild Wood', and the Modfather himself popped into the studio to record some acoustic guitar and backing vocals for the track (despite this, it failed to break the top forty). Whatever the sales though, the album is largely themed around women who stay strong whatever hand they are dealt, and given Gabrielle's turbulent past, and unlikely attributes for a music star, this is certainly a theme she is amply-qualified to sing about.
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