Michelle Gayle
Encyclopedia
Michelle Patricia Gayle (born 2 February 1971) is a British recording artist, actress and author. Gayle had success as a Soul and R&B
singer in the 1990s. She achieved seven Top 40 singles
in the UK Singles Chart
, her two biggest hits to date being "Sweetness" (Number 4, September 1994) and "Do You Know" (Number 6, February 1997). She released two Top 40 album
s through RCA Records
but they parted company in 1997, and although Gayle has recorded other albums, they have not been released.
As an actress, Gayle is best known for her work on television, in particular playing Hattie Tavernier
in BBC
's EastEnders
from 1990-1993. She has also had various roles in film and theatre and played Belle in the West End
musical Beauty and the Beast in 1999. She has taken part in several celebrity based reality television
shows, and, in June 2007, she became a panellist for ITV
's topical chatshow Loose Women
.
Gayle branched into writing and the rights to her first novel were acquired by Walker Books
in 2010. The book, Pride and Premiership, was published on 5 May 2011.
She was married to ex-footballer Mark Bright
for 10 years but the couple announced their separation in 2007. Gayle is to remarry in "summer 2011".
, and attended the Barbara Speake stage school in Acton
, west London
, where Naomi Campbell
, Amma Asante
and Kwame Kwei-Armah
were among her contemporaries. She first became publicly known when she appeared in the children's BBC television programme Grange Hill
in 1987 as Fiona Wilson, who was most notably part of a rap duo named Fresh 'n' Fly.
Gayle later appeared as an extra in TV Drama London's Burning
and in the Children's ITV television programme Press Gang
in 1990 as a background member of the news team, and that same year she won the role of Hattie Tavernier
in the popular BBC soap opera
EastEnders
. The introduction of the Tavernier family heralded the first time that an entire family had joined the programme all at once. Their introduction was also a well-intentioned attempt to portray a wider range of black
characters than had previously been achieved on the show. Gayle's character remained in the show for three years as Ian Beale
's PA and was featured in an array of storylines including being abandoned by her fiancé Steve Elliot
(Mark Monero
) and suffering a miscarriage
as a result. However, music was always Gayle's first passion, and in 1993 she left EastEnders to pursue a singing career.
In 1999, Gayle played Belle, the lead female, in Disney's Beauty and the Beast, and she returned to television acting in 2003, guest-starring in the BBC television dramas Doctors
and Holby City
. She went on to play the role of Lara in the Five soap opera, Family Affairs
(2005), and played the lead female character, Yvonne, in the film
Joy Division
, which was released in November 2006. The film tells the story of a German
boy who is orphaned in World War II
and then groomed as a KGB
sleeper.
On stage, she played the role of Brenda in Angie Le Mar
's The Brothers at the Hackney Empire
in April 2006, and she went on to play Jill in Pat Ashworth's ensemble stage production, Mum’s the Word, which toured the UK from February to June 2007.
's reality-television show Reborn in the USA
, competing against artists such as Elkie Brooks
, Sonia
, Gina G
, Leee John
and Tony Hadley
. Gayle made it to the final and finished second behind Hadley. In 2004, Gayle presented the UMA Awards with ex-EastEnder Gary Beadle
, and in 2005, she appeared as a celebrity mentor on the Five documentary Pushy Parents.
In March 2006, she took part in the fourth series of the Channel 4
reality-television show The Games competing against various other celebrities in a series of sports events. Gayle came third in the competition and raised more than £5,000 for her chosen charity, the Willow Foundation
. She later became a guest panellist on ITV
's topical chatshow Loose Women
, in June 2007.
In June 2009, it was announced that Gayle would be one of several celebrities competing in Dancing on Wheels
, BBC's spin-off show to the popular reality television competition Strictly Come Dancing
. Dancing on Wheels
paired able-bodied celebrities with those in wheelchairs. The winning pair represented the UK at the Wheelchair Dance Sport European Championships in Israel in October 2009. Gayle and partner Harry Maule reached the semi-finals, but were knocked out in the dance-off by Diana Morgan-Hill and Olympic swimmer Mark Foster.
In 1993, while she was still on the cast of EastEnders, Gayle signed with RCA Records
and launched herself as a solo artist. She scored a number 11 hit with her debut single
"Looking Up". By 1994, she had her biggest-selling single to date, "Sweetness", which reached number 4, spent 16 weeks in the UK Singles Chart
and was certified silver, selling more than 300,000 copies. Gayle had further chart success in 1994 with the number-26 hit "I'll Find You"; in 1995 with the number-16 "Freedom"; and the number-11 "Happy Just to Be With You" which sampled Chic's Good Times
. These five singles were taken from Gayle's self-titled debut album Michelle Gayle
, which was released in 1994, peaked at number 30 in the UK Albums Chart
, and was certified gold
.
Gayle also appeared on the Childliners charity record "The Gift Of Christmas" in 1995, alongside acts such as Backstreet Boys
, Boyzone
, E.Y.C.
, Sean Maguire
, Deuce
, Ultimate Kaos
, Let Loose
, East 17
, Peter Andre
, MN8
, Dannii Minogue
and many more. It peaked at number 9.
Gayle returned in 1997 with her sixth single, "Do You Know", which reached number 6. This was followed by the song "Sensational", which reached number 14. Both singles were taken from Gayle's second album
, Sensational
. Despite Sensational being praised by critics
, the album had disappointing sales. It entered the album chart at number 17, but quickly fell out of the top 40 the following week. Due to her second album selling way below Gayle's (and her record label
's) expectations, she decided to leave her label, RCA. While signed to the label, Gayle received three BRIT Award
nominations: two in 1995 for 'Best Single' and 'Best Female', and one in 1998 for 'Best Female'.
, and recorded an album for that label, but due to an artist rostering re-shuffle, she parted company in 1999 before the album was released. After leaving EMI in 1999, Gayle took to the West End
stage and played Belle in Disney's
Beauty and the Beast. After an extended break from showbusiness to look after her son, Isaiah, Gayle began developing her music production company M Media Productions. She also appeared on other artists' albums, including that of Ivan Matias, Me One
, Shabba and Lemon D
.
In 2003, Gayle accepted the offer to appear in the reality television
series
Reborn in the USA
, a televised singing competition where former British pop acts were transported to the USA, with the hope of revitalising their music careers. Gayle finished second in the competition, taking runner-up position to Tony Hadley
in the final. Following her success on the programme, Gayle began working on new material.
Gayle reinvented herself as a UK
R&B
artist, and worked on material for her third album with New York
record producer
Terence Dudley
— famous for working on 50 cent
's album Get Rich or Die Tryin'
. At the end of 2004, Gayle appeared on several TV shows promoting the release of her new single, "Gotta Be Me", but the single was pulled before its release. In an interview with The Voice
newspaper in April 2006, Michelle divulged that she did make a new album, but her record company (N2 Records) folded.
would send to the Eurovision Song Contest
in Serbia
on 24 May 2008. Gayle co-wrote her song, "Woo (U Make Me)", with Rashelle Davies and Morten Schjolin
, and described it as "pop in essence, but with a very cool 60’s vibe to it". Gayle came second in the public vote on 1 March 2008, behind Andy Abraham
.
. The plot involved an unpleasant TV talent-show judge who discovers he is dying. She said: "It's sort of fiction but not fiction and I hope it explains a few things about the pop business.". It was never published.
Walker Books
acquired the rights to Gayle's novel, Pride and Premiership, in 2010 and the book was published on 5 May 2011. The novel, aimed at a teen market, depicts the story of two girls who aspire to be WAGs
, or wives/girlfriends of football players. Gayle, who was once married to a professional footballer, has commented, "In the time of Jane Austen
’s Pride & Prejudice a woman had to get married to support herself. We’ve got to an age where a woman can support herself but still wants to marry a footballer to support her. I’m not WAG-bashing or footballer-bashing, I just want girls to make informed decisions about their future."
and football pundit Mark Bright
for 10 years, and had one son, Isaiah, with him. On 24 February 2007, it was announced that the couple were to split in an apparently amicable separation. They officially divorced on 18 April 2008. Gayle is godmother
to the daughter of the actress Jacqui Gordon-Lawrence
, who played her on-screen mother, Etta Tavernier, in EastEnders. Gayle is a teetotaller and doesn't eat meat. Gayle is to remarry in "summer 2011". On the 4th August 2011 it was announced on The Wright Stuff, C5 that she is 6½ months pregnant.
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
singer in the 1990s. She achieved seven Top 40 singles
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
in the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
, her two biggest hits to date being "Sweetness" (Number 4, September 1994) and "Do You Know" (Number 6, February 1997). She released two Top 40 album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
s through RCA Records
RCA Records
RCA Records is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. The RCA initials stand for Radio Corporation of America , which was the parent corporation from 1929 to 1985 and a partner from 1985 to 1986.RCA's Canadian unit is Sony's oldest label...
but they parted company in 1997, and although Gayle has recorded other albums, they have not been released.
As an actress, Gayle is best known for her work on television, in particular playing Hattie Tavernier
Hattie Tavernier
Hattie Tavernier is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Michelle Gayle between 1990 and 1993. Hattie and her family were introduced in July 1990 by producer Michael Ferguson. The Taverniers were the first collective black family to join the soap at the same time...
in BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
's EastEnders
EastEnders
EastEnders is a British television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 February 1985 and continuing to today. EastEnders storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional London Borough of Walford in the East End...
from 1990-1993. She has also had various roles in film and theatre and played Belle in the West End
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
musical Beauty and the Beast in 1999. She has taken part in several celebrity based reality television
Reality television
Reality television is a genre of television programming that presents purportedly unscripted dramatic or humorous situations, documents actual events, and usually features ordinary people instead of professional actors, sometimes in a contest or other situation where a prize is awarded...
shows, and, in June 2007, she became a panellist for ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
's topical chatshow Loose Women
Loose Women
Loose Women is a British lunchtime television programme, first broadcast in 1999 on ITV. It consists of a panel of four women who interview celebrities and discuss topical issues, ranging from daily politics and current affairs, to celebrity gossip...
.
Gayle branched into writing and the rights to her first novel were acquired by Walker Books
Walker Books
Walker Books is an independent British publisher of children's books, founded in 1978 by Sebastian Walker.The success of their Where's Wally? series enabled them to expand into the American market, starting a sister company called Candlewick Press in 1991.Amelia Edwards, co-founder of Walker Books,...
in 2010. The book, Pride and Premiership, was published on 5 May 2011.
She was married to ex-footballer Mark Bright
Mark Bright
Mark Abraham Bright is a former English footballer who is now a sports pundit and BBC London's sport presenter, as well as a coach at Crystal Palace....
for 10 years but the couple announced their separation in 2007. Gayle is to remarry in "summer 2011".
Acting
Gayle was born in LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, and attended the Barbara Speake stage school in Acton
Acton, London
Acton is a district of west London, England, located in the London Borough of Ealing. It is situated west of Charing Cross.At the time of the 2001 census, Acton, comprising the wards of East Acton, Acton Central, South Acton and Southfield, had a population of 53,689 people...
, west London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, where Naomi Campbell
Naomi Campbell
Naomi Campbell is a British model. Scouted at the age of 15, she established herself among the top three most recognisable and in-demand models of the late 1980s and early 1990s, and she was one of six models of her generation declared "supermodels" by the fashion world...
, Amma Asante
Amma Asante
-Biography:As a child, Asante attended the Barbara Speake stage school in Acton, London, where she trained as a student in dance and drama. She began her film and television career as a child actress, appearing as a regular in the British school drama Grange Hill...
and Kwame Kwei-Armah
Kwame Kwei-Armah
Kwame Kwei-Armah, is a British actor, playwright, singer and broadcaster. In 2005 he became the second black Briton to have a play staged in the West End...
were among her contemporaries. She first became publicly known when she appeared in the children's BBC television programme Grange Hill
Grange Hill
Grange Hill is a British television drama series originally made by the BBC. The show began in 1978 on BBC1 and was one of the longest running programmes on British television...
in 1987 as Fiona Wilson, who was most notably part of a rap duo named Fresh 'n' Fly.
Gayle later appeared as an extra in TV Drama London's Burning
London's Burning
London's Burning was a British television drama programme produced by London Weekend Television for the ITV network that focused on the lives of members of the London Fire Brigade, principally those of the Blue Watch at a fictional fire station called Blackwall.It was broadcast between 1986 and...
and in the Children's ITV television programme Press Gang
Press Gang
Press Gang is a British children's television comedy-drama consisting of forty-three episodes across five series that were broadcast from 1989 to 1993...
in 1990 as a background member of the news team, and that same year she won the role of Hattie Tavernier
Hattie Tavernier
Hattie Tavernier is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Michelle Gayle between 1990 and 1993. Hattie and her family were introduced in July 1990 by producer Michael Ferguson. The Taverniers were the first collective black family to join the soap at the same time...
in the popular BBC soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
EastEnders
EastEnders
EastEnders is a British television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 February 1985 and continuing to today. EastEnders storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional London Borough of Walford in the East End...
. The introduction of the Tavernier family heralded the first time that an entire family had joined the programme all at once. Their introduction was also a well-intentioned attempt to portray a wider range of black
Black people
The term black people is used in systems of racial classification for humans of a dark skinned phenotype, relative to other racial groups.Different societies apply different criteria regarding who is classified as "black", and often social variables such as class, socio-economic status also plays a...
characters than had previously been achieved on the show. Gayle's character remained in the show for three years as Ian Beale
Ian Beale
Ian Albert Beale is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Adam Woodyatt. He is the longest-serving character and the only remaining original character to have appeared continuously since the first episode on 19 February 1985...
's PA and was featured in an array of storylines including being abandoned by her fiancé Steve Elliot
Steve Elliot
Steve Elliot is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Mark Monero between 1991 and 1996.- Storylines :Steve is first seen in Albert Square in October 1991 as an old school friend of Hattie Tavernier and Sam Mitchell...
(Mark Monero
Mark Monero
Mark Monero is a British actor. He has had various roles including parts in Babylon, Wilt, Prayer for the Dying, Sid and Nancy and remains best known for his role as Steve Elliot in the BBC soap opera EastEnders , although he has appeared in many other television and theatre roles.-Acting:Monero...
) and suffering a miscarriage
Miscarriage
Miscarriage or spontaneous abortion is the spontaneous end of a pregnancy at a stage where the embryo or fetus is incapable of surviving independently, generally defined in humans at prior to 20 weeks of gestation...
as a result. However, music was always Gayle's first passion, and in 1993 she left EastEnders to pursue a singing career.
In 1999, Gayle played Belle, the lead female, in Disney's Beauty and the Beast, and she returned to television acting in 2003, guest-starring in the BBC television dramas Doctors
Doctors (BBC Soap Opera)
Doctors is a British daytime television soap opera, set in the fictional Midland town of Letherbridge, defined as being close to the City of Birmingham. It was created by Chris Murray; Mal Young drove its development, and Carson Black was the original producer. The first episode was broadcast on...
and Holby City
Holby City
Holby City, stylised as Holby Ci+y, is a British medical drama television series that airs weekly on BBC One.The series was created by Tony McHale and Mal Young as a spin-off from the established BBC medical drama Casualty, and premiered on 12 January 1999...
. She went on to play the role of Lara in the Five soap opera, Family Affairs
Family Affairs
Family Affairs was a British soap opera broadcast on Five, from 1997 to 2005. It was the second programme to be broadcast on the channel on 30 March 1997, the channel's launch night...
(2005), and played the lead female character, Yvonne, in the film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
Joy Division
Joy Division (2006 film)
Joy Division is a 2006 British film directed by Reg Traviss. The story is a fictional biopic which follows the life of a boy in Germany at the end of WWII into his adulthood in Russia and London during the Cold War...
, which was released in November 2006. The film tells the story of a German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
boy who is orphaned in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and then groomed as a KGB
KGB
The KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...
sleeper.
On stage, she played the role of Brenda in Angie Le Mar
Angie Le Mar
Angie Le Mar is a British comedian, actor, writer, director, presenter and producer.Le Mar is married with three children. The eldest, Travis Jay, is a budding comedian and radio DJ.-Early life:...
's The Brothers at the Hackney Empire
Hackney Empire
The Hackney Empire is a theatre on Mare Street, in the London Borough of Hackney, built in 1901 as a music hall.-History:Hackney Empire is a grade II* listed building...
in April 2006, and she went on to play Jill in Pat Ashworth's ensemble stage production, Mum’s the Word, which toured the UK from February to June 2007.
Presenting and reality television
Gayle was a contestant on ITVITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
's reality-television show Reborn in the USA
Reborn in the USA
Reborn in the USA was a 2003 ITV reality TV show, in which ten former British pop acts were transported to the USA, where they were supposedly not known , in the...
, competing against artists such as Elkie Brooks
Elkie Brooks
Elkie Brooks is an English singer, formerly a vocalist with Vinegar Joe, and later a solo artist. Elkie has been nominated twice for Brit Awards' top female singer. She is known for her powerful husky voice...
, Sonia
Sonia
Sonia may refer to:* Sonia, the allied code name for the Mitsubishi Ki-51, Japanese WW2 era bomber* SONIA, Sterling OverNight Index Average, a financial market rate* Sonia , a 1991 album by Sonia Evans...
, Gina G
Gina G
-Albums:*1997 Fresh! — #12 UK #40 Norway.*1998 Gina G Remix Album *2005 Get Up & Dance -Singles:...
, Leee John
Leee John
Leee John of St Lucian descent, is a British musician and actor. He was educated in New York, later studying drama at the Anna Scher Theatre School.-Career:...
and Tony Hadley
Tony Hadley
Tony Hadley is an English pop singer-songwriter, occasional stage actor and radio presenter who gained celebrity as the lead vocalist for the 1980s band Spandau Ballet.-Early life:...
. Gayle made it to the final and finished second behind Hadley. In 2004, Gayle presented the UMA Awards with ex-EastEnder Gary Beadle
Gary Beadle
Gary Beadle is an English actor, best known for playing Paul Trueman in EastEnders and Gary Barwick in Operation Good Guys....
, and in 2005, she appeared as a celebrity mentor on the Five documentary Pushy Parents.
In March 2006, she took part in the fourth series of the Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
reality-television show The Games competing against various other celebrities in a series of sports events. Gayle came third in the competition and raised more than £5,000 for her chosen charity, the Willow Foundation
Willow Foundation
The Willow Foundation is a national charity established in 1999 by Arsenal footballer Bob Wilson and his wife Megs in memory of their daughter Anna. The charity assists some of the estimated 12,500 people in the UK, aged 16–40, who are diagnosed every year with a life-threatening illness...
. She later became a guest panellist on ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
's topical chatshow Loose Women
Loose Women
Loose Women is a British lunchtime television programme, first broadcast in 1999 on ITV. It consists of a panel of four women who interview celebrities and discuss topical issues, ranging from daily politics and current affairs, to celebrity gossip...
, in June 2007.
In June 2009, it was announced that Gayle would be one of several celebrities competing in Dancing on Wheels
Dancing on Wheels
Dancing on Wheels is a British television show made by production company Fever Media and first broadcast on BBC Three on 11 February 2010. The concept of the show is that an able-bodied celebrity dances with a wheelchair user. The couples dance each week, and each week one couple is eliminated in...
, BBC's spin-off show to the popular reality television competition Strictly Come Dancing
Strictly Come Dancing
Strictly Come Dancing is a British television show, featuring celebrities with professional dance partners competing in Ballroom and Latin dances. The title of the show suggests a continuation of the long-running series Come Dancing, with an allusion to the film Strictly Ballroom...
. Dancing on Wheels
Dancing on Wheels
Dancing on Wheels is a British television show made by production company Fever Media and first broadcast on BBC Three on 11 February 2010. The concept of the show is that an able-bodied celebrity dances with a wheelchair user. The couples dance each week, and each week one couple is eliminated in...
paired able-bodied celebrities with those in wheelchairs. The winning pair represented the UK at the Wheelchair Dance Sport European Championships in Israel in October 2009. Gayle and partner Harry Maule reached the semi-finals, but were knocked out in the dance-off by Diana Morgan-Hill and Olympic swimmer Mark Foster.
1993-1998
Before she gained commercial success, Gayle sang with a rap duo called R-MOR-FUS, performing gigs at various clubs and low-key venues.In 1993, while she was still on the cast of EastEnders, Gayle signed with RCA Records
RCA Records
RCA Records is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. The RCA initials stand for Radio Corporation of America , which was the parent corporation from 1929 to 1985 and a partner from 1985 to 1986.RCA's Canadian unit is Sony's oldest label...
and launched herself as a solo artist. She scored a number 11 hit with her debut single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
"Looking Up". By 1994, she had her biggest-selling single to date, "Sweetness", which reached number 4, spent 16 weeks in the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
and was certified silver, selling more than 300,000 copies. Gayle had further chart success in 1994 with the number-26 hit "I'll Find You"; in 1995 with the number-16 "Freedom"; and the number-11 "Happy Just to Be With You" which sampled Chic's Good Times
Good Times
Good Times is an American sitcom that originally aired from February 8, 1974, until August 1, 1979, on the CBS television network. It was created by Eric Monte and Michael Evans, and developed by Norman Lear, the series' primary executive producer...
. These five singles were taken from Gayle's self-titled debut album Michelle Gayle
Michelle Gayle (album)
Michelle Gayle is the self-titled debut album by British R&B-soul singer Michelle Gayle, released in 1994 by RCA Records of BMG UK.-Overview:...
, which was released in 1994, peaked at number 30 in the UK Albums Chart
UK Albums Chart
The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...
, and was certified gold
Music recording sales certification
Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...
.
Gayle also appeared on the Childliners charity record "The Gift Of Christmas" in 1995, alongside acts such as Backstreet Boys
Backstreet Boys
The Backstreet Boys are an American vocal group, formed in Orlando, Florida in 1993. The band originally consisted of A. J. McLean, Howie Dorough, Brian Littrell, Nick Carter and Kevin Richardson. They rose to fame with their debut international album, Backstreet Boys...
, Boyzone
Boyzone
Boyzone are an Irish boy band comprising Keith Duffy, Mikey Graham, Ronan Keating,Shane Lynch, and formerly Stephen Gately. Boyzone have 19 singles in the top 40 UK charts and 21 singles in the Ire charts. The group currently have 6 UK number one singles and 9 number one singles in Ireland with 12...
, E.Y.C.
E.Y.C.
E.Y.C. was an American pop/R&B group. Its members were Damon Butler, Dave Loeffler and Trey McKay Parker.They scored six Top 40 hits in the UK Singles Chart before disbanding...
, Sean Maguire
Sean Maguire
Sean Maguire is an English actor and singer, who rose to fame in 1988 when at the age of eleven he took on the role of "Tegs" Ratcliffe on the BBC children's drama Grange Hill, in which he remained until 1992...
, Deuce
Deuce (band)
Deuce were a British pop group that found success in the mid 1990s. A two male, two female quartet, they released four Top 30 singles in the UK charts during 1995 and 1996, before splitting up in 1997.-Career:...
, Ultimate Kaos
Ultimate Kaos
Ultimate KAOS was a British boyband from the 1990s, who were formed by Simon Cowell. Its original members comprised the then 9 years old Haydon Eshun, Jomo Baxter, Jayde Delpratt, Ryan Elliott and Nick Grant.-Career:...
, Let Loose
Let Loose
Let Loose are a British pop/rock trio, featuring Richie Wermerling on lead vocals and keyboards, Rob Jeffrey on guitars and backing vocals, and Lee J Murray on drums, percussion and backing vocals.The band initially scored minor success...
, East 17
East 17
East 17 are a pop boy band comprising Tony Mortimer, John Hendy and Terry Coldwell. Tony Mortimer is the group's frontman and primary songwriter. Formed in Walthamstow, London in 1991, the group have achieved eighteen Top 20 singles and four Top 10 albums, and were one of the UK's most popular boy...
, Peter Andre
Peter André
Peter James Andrea , better known by the stage name as Peter Andre, is an English-born Australian musician, singer-songwriter, television personality and businessman. As a recording artist, he has achieving four top 10 UK albums and ten top 10 singles.-Early life:Andre was born at Northwick Park...
, MN8
MN8
MN8 were an R&B group from the United Kingdom. They consisted of KG , G-Man , Kule T and Dee Tails .-Career:...
, Dannii Minogue
Dannii Minogue
Danielle Jane "Dannii" Minogue is an Australian singer-songwriter, actress, television personality, radio personality, fashion designer and model...
and many more. It peaked at number 9.
Gayle returned in 1997 with her sixth single, "Do You Know", which reached number 6. This was followed by the song "Sensational", which reached number 14. Both singles were taken from Gayle's second album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
, Sensational
Sensational (album)
Sensational is the second album by British R&B-soul singer Michelle Gayle, released in 1997.-Track listing:#"Fly Away"#"Do You Know"#"Sensational"#"Working Overtime"#"Don't Keep Me Waiting"#"No Place Like Home"#"It's A High"#"Yesterday"...
. Despite Sensational being praised by critics
Music journalism
Music journalism is criticism and reportage about music. It began in the eighteenth century as comment on what is now thought of as 'classical music'. This aspect of music journalism, today often referred to as music criticism , comprises the study, discussion, evaluation, and interpretation of...
, the album had disappointing sales. It entered the album chart at number 17, but quickly fell out of the top 40 the following week. Due to her second album selling way below Gayle's (and her record label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
's) expectations, she decided to leave her label, RCA. While signed to the label, Gayle received three BRIT Award
Brit Awards
The Brit Awards are the British Phonographic Industry's annual pop music awards. The name was originally a shortened form of "British", "Britain" or "Britannia", but subsequently became a backronym for British Record Industry Trust...
nominations: two in 1995 for 'Best Single' and 'Best Female', and one in 1998 for 'Best Female'.
1999-2004
Following her departure from RCA, Gayle quickly signed with EMIEMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
, and recorded an album for that label, but due to an artist rostering re-shuffle, she parted company in 1999 before the album was released. After leaving EMI in 1999, Gayle took to the West End
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
stage and played Belle in Disney's
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company is the largest media conglomerate in the world in terms of revenue. Founded on October 16, 1923, by Walt and Roy Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, Walt Disney Productions established itself as a leader in the American animation industry before diversifying into...
Beauty and the Beast. After an extended break from showbusiness to look after her son, Isaiah, Gayle began developing her music production company M Media Productions. She also appeared on other artists' albums, including that of Ivan Matias, Me One
Me One
Me One is a singer, song-writer and music producer from Wales, known as MC Eric in his days partnering Ya Kid K in Eurodance band Technotronic and as Me One for his solo recording projects. His debut album as Me One, As Far as I'm Concerned, was released in May 2000 on Universal-Island U.K...
, Shabba and Lemon D
Lemon D
Kevin King embarked on his musical journey from a fairly young age. From the tender age of eleven, he was already b- boying: breakdancing and battling it out with the local crews in order to be eligible to receive the latest electro and pioneering hp hop mixtapes from the United States.A few years...
.
In 2003, Gayle accepted the offer to appear in the reality television
Reality television
Reality television is a genre of television programming that presents purportedly unscripted dramatic or humorous situations, documents actual events, and usually features ordinary people instead of professional actors, sometimes in a contest or other situation where a prize is awarded...
series
Television program
A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...
Reborn in the USA
Reborn in the USA
Reborn in the USA was a 2003 ITV reality TV show, in which ten former British pop acts were transported to the USA, where they were supposedly not known , in the...
, a televised singing competition where former British pop acts were transported to the USA, with the hope of revitalising their music careers. Gayle finished second in the competition, taking runner-up position to Tony Hadley
Tony Hadley
Tony Hadley is an English pop singer-songwriter, occasional stage actor and radio presenter who gained celebrity as the lead vocalist for the 1980s band Spandau Ballet.-Early life:...
in the final. Following her success on the programme, Gayle began working on new material.
Gayle reinvented herself as a UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
R&B
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
artist, and worked on material for her third album with New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
record producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
Terence Dudley
Terence Dudley (USA)
Terence Dudley is an American hip hop record producer. A native of Jamaica, New York City, Dudley's producing credits include 50 Cent's "Life's on the Line and Eternal's "Don't You Love Me." In 2003, Dudley was nominated for a Grammy for producing, engineering, songwriting and mixing on the 50 Cent...
— famous for working on 50 cent
50 Cent
Curtis James Jackson III , better known by his stage name 50 Cent, is an American rapper, entrepreneur, investor, record producer, and actor. He rose to fame with the release of his albums Get Rich or Die Tryin and The Massacre . Get Rich or Die Tryin has been certified eight times platinum by...
's album Get Rich or Die Tryin'
Get Rich or Die Tryin' (album)
Get Rich or Die Tryin is the debut studio album of American rapper 50 Cent, released February 4, 2003, on Aftermath Entertainment under a joint venture with Shady Records and distribution by Interscope Records. Its initially planned release was pushed seven days ahead due to heavy bootlegging and...
. At the end of 2004, Gayle appeared on several TV shows promoting the release of her new single, "Gotta Be Me", but the single was pulled before its release. In an interview with The Voice
The Voice (newspaper)
The Voice is a British national weekly tabloid newspaper owned by the Jamaican publisher, GV Media Group, aimed at the British Afro-Caribbean community. The paper is based in the London Docklands and is published every Monday.-History:...
newspaper in April 2006, Michelle divulged that she did make a new album, but her record company (N2 Records) folded.
Eurovision 2008
Gayle was one of the participants of the pre-selection stage of Eurovision - Your Decision, which determined who the United KingdomUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
would send to the Eurovision Song Contest
Eurovision Song Contest
The Eurovision Song Contest is an annual competition held among active member countries of the European Broadcasting Union .Each member country submits a song to be performed on live television and then casts votes for the other countries' songs to determine the most popular song in the competition...
in Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
on 24 May 2008. Gayle co-wrote her song, "Woo (U Make Me)", with Rashelle Davies and Morten Schjolin
Morten Schjolin
Morten Schjolin is a Danish music producer and composer, now living in United Kingdom.- Early career :He began his musical career with the band Harlot, where the later-to-be famous TV presenter, Alex Nyborg Madsen, was the vocalist....
, and described it as "pop in essence, but with a very cool 60’s vibe to it". Gayle came second in the public vote on 1 March 2008, behind Andy Abraham
Andy Abraham
Andrew Abraham is an English singer. He was the runner-up in the second UK series of TV talent show The X Factor in 2005 to Shayne Ward, and also represented the United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008.Before applying for The X Factor, Abraham was a refuse collector...
.
Writing
During an interview with the Blackpool Gazette in February 2007, Gayle mentioned that she was in the process of writing her first novelNovel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
. The plot involved an unpleasant TV talent-show judge who discovers he is dying. She said: "It's sort of fiction but not fiction and I hope it explains a few things about the pop business.". It was never published.
Walker Books
Walker Books
Walker Books is an independent British publisher of children's books, founded in 1978 by Sebastian Walker.The success of their Where's Wally? series enabled them to expand into the American market, starting a sister company called Candlewick Press in 1991.Amelia Edwards, co-founder of Walker Books,...
acquired the rights to Gayle's novel, Pride and Premiership, in 2010 and the book was published on 5 May 2011. The novel, aimed at a teen market, depicts the story of two girls who aspire to be WAGs
WAGs
WAGs is an acronym, used particularly by the British tabloid press, to describe the wives and girlfriends of high-profile footballers, originally the England national football team. The term came into common use during the 2006 FIFA World Cup, although it had been used occasionally before that...
, or wives/girlfriends of football players. Gayle, who was once married to a professional footballer, has commented, "In the time of Jane Austen
Jane Austen
Jane Austen was an English novelist whose works of romantic fiction, set among the landed gentry, earned her a place as one of the most widely read writers in English literature, her realism and biting social commentary cementing her historical importance among scholars and critics.Austen lived...
’s Pride & Prejudice a woman had to get married to support herself. We’ve got to an age where a woman can support herself but still wants to marry a footballer to support her. I’m not WAG-bashing or footballer-bashing, I just want girls to make informed decisions about their future."
Personal life
Gayle was married to ex-professional footballerFootball (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
and football pundit Mark Bright
Mark Bright
Mark Abraham Bright is a former English footballer who is now a sports pundit and BBC London's sport presenter, as well as a coach at Crystal Palace....
for 10 years, and had one son, Isaiah, with him. On 24 February 2007, it was announced that the couple were to split in an apparently amicable separation. They officially divorced on 18 April 2008. Gayle is godmother
Godparent
A godparent, in many denominations of Christianity, is someone who sponsors a child's baptism. A male godparent is a godfather, and a female godparent is a godmother...
to the daughter of the actress Jacqui Gordon-Lawrence
Jacqui Gordon-Lawrence
Jacqui Gordon-Lawrence is a British former actress, most famous for playing the role of Etta Tavernier in the BBC soap opera EastEnders. She no longer acts and as of 2008 works in criminal law.-Career:...
, who played her on-screen mother, Etta Tavernier, in EastEnders. Gayle is a teetotaller and doesn't eat meat. Gayle is to remarry in "summer 2011". On the 4th August 2011 it was announced on The Wright Stuff, C5 that she is 6½ months pregnant.
Albums
| Year | Information |
|---|---|
| Michelle Gayle Michelle Gayle (album) Michelle Gayle is the self-titled debut album by British R&B-soul singer Michelle Gayle, released in 1994 by RCA Records of BMG UK.-Overview:...
|
|
| Sensational Sensational (album) Sensational is the second album by British R&B-soul singer Michelle Gayle, released in 1997.-Track listing:#"Fly Away"#"Do You Know"#"Sensational"#"Working Overtime"#"Don't Keep Me Waiting"#"No Place Like Home"#"It's A High"#"Yesterday"... |
|
| Looking Up Looking Up (Michelle Gayle album) -Track listing:#"Looking Up" - 4.33#"Girlfriend" - 4.10#"Sweetness " - 3.38#"Fly Away" - 3.41#"Your Love" - 5.10#"Talk It Over" - 4.46#"Do You Know " - 3.36#"One Day" - 3.45#"Sensational " - 3.08... |
Singles
| Year | Single | Chart peak positions | Album | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
IRE Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association and compiled on behalf of the IRMA by Chart-Track. Chart rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through over-the-counter retail data captured... |
NZ Recording Industry Association of New Zealand The Recording Industry Association of New Zealand is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell music in New Zealand... |
NL Dutch Top 40 The Dutch Top 40 is a weekly music chart, which started as the "Veronica Top 40", because the offshore radio station Radio Veronica was the first to introduce it. It remained "The Veronica Top 40" until 1974, when the station was forced to stop broadcasting... |
SWI Switzerland Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition.... |
||||||
| 1993 | "Looking Up" | 11 | — | — | — | — | ||||
| 1994 | "Sweetness" | 4 | 11 | 27 | 38 | 21 | ||||
| "I'll Find You" | 26 | — | — | — | — | |||||
| 1995 | "Freedom" | 16 | — | — | — | — | ||||
| "Happy Just To Be With You" | 11 | — | 44 | 40 | — | |||||
| 1997 | "Do You Know?" | 6 | — | — | — | — | ||||
| "Sensational" | 14 | — | — | — | — | |||||
| 2008 | "Woo (U Make Me)" | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| "—" Denotes singles not released or did not chart in that particular country. | ||||||||||
B-sides and other tracks
- "Say What's On Your Mind" ("Sweetness" B-SideA-side and B-sideA-side and B-side originally referred to the two sides of gramophone records on which singles were released beginning in the 1950s. The terms have come to refer to the types of song conventionally placed on each side of the record, with the A-side being the featured song , while the B-side, or...
/Michelle GayleMichelle Gayle (album)Michelle Gayle is the self-titled debut album by British R&B-soul singer Michelle Gayle, released in 1994 by RCA Records of BMG UK.-Overview:...
album track) - "Tell Me" ("I'll Find You" B-Side)
- "I Thought I Was Your Lady" ("Happy Just To Be With You" B-Side)
- "Juicy" ("Sensational" B-Side)
- "Give Me A Try" ("Sensational" B-Side)
- "Sunshine After Rain" ("Sensational" B-Side)
- "Until You Come Back To Me" (Reborn In The USA album track)
- "Love Me Tender" (Reborn In The USA album track)
- "Got To Be Me" (unreleased single)
- "Don't Want It" ("Got To Be Me" unreleased B-Side)