Des'ree was born in Croydon, South East London, England, on 30 November 1968.
13 Facts About Des'ree
1.
2.
Des'ree's mother is from British Guiana, and her father is from Barbados.
3.
Des'ree was introduced to reggae, calypso and jazz music by her parents.
4.
Des'ree spent in 1992 touring as the opening act to Simply Red.
5.
In 1993, Des'ree collaborated with Terence Trent D'Arby on the song "Delicate", which was released as a single and hit the UK top 20 and the US top 100.
6.
Des'ree ended the year singing with a host of other artists at the first concert of secular music at the Vatican City, on 23 December 1993, which was aired on Italian TV.
7.
Des'ree's success led to an American tour with Seal in 1995.
8.
Des'ree helped break the record for "most people simultaneously singing the same song" by leading 600,000 schoolchildren across the United Kingdom in singing "You Gotta Be".
9.
Des'ree had begun work on the album in 2012, but took a break to care for her mother.
10.
In 1997, Des'ree's hit "Feel So High" was interpolated into the Janet Jackson song "Got 'Til It's Gone" from Jackson's CD The Velvet Rope without due credit to Des'ree as a contributor.
11.
Des'ree considered suing Robyn and Cleopatra due to the similarities between their songs and "Feel So High"; however, nothing came of it.
12.
Des'ree has won several awards, including a Brit Award, an Ivor Novello Award, World Music Award, Urban Music Award and a BMI Award for over five million plays of "You Gotta Be" in America alone.
13.
Des'ree won a BBC poll for "Worst Pop Lyricist" for the 1998 single "Life", though it went to number 1 in Japan, Spain and several other European countries.