Heather Marguerita Small MBE (born 20 January 1965) is a British soul singer and lead vocalist of the band M People.

[4] She had a chance meeting with Manchester DJ, Mike Pickering, formerly of Quando Quango, which led to sales of over 10 million albums worldwide with the group M People.

In 1997, Small performed in "Perfect Day", the official 1997 Children in Need charity release, alongside a broad range of artists, including Tom Jones and Lou Reed.

The album was a commercial disappointment—it charted for one week at number 57, and both supporting singles failed to reach the Top 100—but a short UK solo tour later in the autumn was received well.

[citation needed] 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 the anniversary on 10 November 2007.

On 26 May 2008, Small performed alongside Stereophonics and Feeder at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff as part of the celebrations of Wales's success at the 2008 Grand Slam.

In December 2008, she performed "Proud" again on the 2008 BBC Sports Personality of the Year programme, as a soundtrack to a montage of British Olympian achievements at Beijing.

[citation needed] In 2008, Small was one of the sixteen celebrities in the sixth series of BBC's Strictly Come Dancing, where she was partnered with newcomer Brian Fortuna.

[12] In April 2011, Small performed as half-time entertainment at London's Twickenham Stadium for the annual St. George's Day Premiership Rugby fixture hosted by Wasps.

[citation needed] On 29 October 2012, Small appeared at the 2012 Pride of Britain Awards, and sang "Proud" as a tribute to the athletes of the London 2012 Olympic Games.

During 2017, Small participated in the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage for the BBC, along with Neil Morrissey, Debbie McGee, Ed Byrne, Kate Bottley, Raphael Rowe, and JJ Chalmers.

[20] Small actively supports several charities, such as BeatBullying, the Aiden Cox Foundation, Mencap (for which she performed) and St Luke's Midnight Walk.

In the 1990s, she had a long-term relationship with rugby player and coach Shaun Edwards, with whom she has a son, Labour Party councillor and London Assembly member James Small-Edwards.