Louisa Gabriella Bobb (born 19 July 1969), known professionally as Gabrielle,[a] is an English singer and songwriter.
Gabrielle was born on 19 July 1969[2][3][4] in London, as Louisa Gabriella Bobb to parents from Dominica.
[6] Gabrielle has had ptosis, the drooping of one eyelid, since childhood: in public, she covers her eye with sunglasses, an eyepatch, a hat or hair.
[6] After finishing her A-levels, she abandoned an idea to study law and began singing in nightclubs.
In its earliest version, the song sampled the melody of Tracy Chapman's 1988 hit "Fast Car".
[11] The second single "Going Nowhere" from the same album was written by Gabrielle and George McFarlane and produced by Pete Cragie.
"I Wish", written by Gabrielle and Jon Douglas, it was not as successful as its predecessors, which both reached the UK top ten.
Written by Gabrielle, George McFarlane and Ray Saint John, "Because of You" peaked at number 24 on the UK Singles Chart.
Written by Gabrielle, Wolff, Dean, Barson, who wrote previous single, "Give Me a Little More Time", "Forget About the World" did not perform as well as its predecessor, peaking at 23 in UK.
In 1997, UK singer Gabrielle released her version of "Walk On By" as the fifth and final single from her album.
The song reached number one on the UK singles chart for two weeks in January 2000.
The lead single from the greatest hits album was "Out of Reach" which was also from the soundtrack to the film Bridget Jones's Diary.
The song reached number four in the UK and nine in Australia, making it her second biggest hit in the country and also the 37th highest selling single of 2001.
The second and final single from the album was "Don't Need the Sun to Shine (To Make Me Smile)".
Gabrielle once again teamed with frequent collaborators Jonathan Shorten and trio Julian Gallagher, Richard Stannard, and Ferdy Unger-Hamilton to work on her fourth studio album Play to Win.
Released in May 2004, it reached number ten on the UK Albums Chart and was certified gold by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI).
While the album received positive reviews from music critics, its preceding single "Why," a duet with Paul Weller, failed to enter the top forty.
[15] The same year, Gabrielle set off on a sell out UK tour of 14 dates which earned positive reviews on her performances.
In mid-2008, she headlined the Zermatt Unplugged music festival along with Alanis Morissette,[16] as well as the Birmingham Pride.
The singer worked with several new collaborators on the new material on the album, including producers Naughty Boy and Syience as well as songwriter Emeli Sandé.
A minor success, Now and Always: 20 Years of Dreaming peaked at number 38 on the UK Albums Chart.
[citation needed] Gabrielle released Under My Skin, her sixth studio album, worldwide on 17 August 2018.
Her first studio album in 11 years, it marked her first full-length release through BMG Rights Management.
[26] Gabrielle's first two studio albums were inspired by "classic soul connotations" such as Marvin Gaye, Barry White and Bobby Womack.
Gabrielle's third album Rise spoke of "optimism, romanticism, devotion, and a keen survival instinct".
"You know, it was all pop, and at the same time I was a huge Michael Jackson fan, so I had a big picture of him, you know, when he looked really beautiful, and he was dark chocolate and you just wanted to lick him, although they were innocent thoughts those days, when I was younger.
'But once the press got wind of it and there was the major thing of me being questioned, my whole world just came in on me [...] It was made out that I went on the stand and said he didn't do it.