b. 30 November 1970, London, England. Des’ree had a convent school upbringing in Norwood, London. She signed to Sony subsidiary Dusted Records in 1991 after being spotted by A&R scout Lincoln Elias, and her first two singles, ‘Feel So High’ and ‘Mind Adventures’, both charted. ‘Mind Adventures’ was helped enormously by her appearance on the UK’s prime-time television programme, Wogan. Its spiritual edge was fuelled by her lengthy apprenticeship in gospel choirs. On the strength of this Mind Adventures broke into the UK Top 20. In 1993, she duetted with Terence Trent D’Arby on the UK Top 20 single, ‘Delicate’. The first single from her second album, ‘You Gotta Be’, looked ready to repeat the success when it broke into the UK Top 20 in February 1994, but when it was not played on BBC Television’s Top Of The Pops it fell straight out of the charts - a fate that also befell its successor. However, this was compensated for by an expanding international audience, with ‘You Gotta Be’ going Top 10 in the Australian charts. In America, her record company, 550 (an offshoot of Epic Records), promoted the single for no less than 32 weeks, an effort that paid off with a number 6 chart placing. Supporting Seal on tour helped her avoid the expected R&B bracket, and television appearances included The Late Show With David Letterman and Tonight. Afterwards, Des’ree toured with collaborator and co-writer Ashley Ingrams (ex-Imagination), and also wrote with the US hit songwriter/performer Brenda Russell. Her third album, Supernatural, was another well-crafted collection of catchy pop/soul songs featuring the international hit single ‘Life’.
