Gabrielle Leithaug and Gabrielle

It’s safe to say that Louise Gabrielle Bobb made quite an impression when she debuted at the tender age of 23. Her debut single “Dreams” hurtled into the charts at number two, which was already the highest chart entry for a debut single in the history of the U.K singles charts. She went one better the week afterwards though, when the single topped the charts and stayed at the top for the following three weeks. With one single, Gabrielle had established herself as a talent to be reckoned with, and followed it up with another top ten single in the form of “Going Nowhere”. Her debut album “Find Your Way” was released soon after that, and signalled the peak of a commercial purple patch for the young artist along with her award for British Breakthrough Act at the 1994 BRIT Awards.

After touring the world for the remainder of 1994, Gabrielle released her second studio album in 1996. The self-titled effort was another huge hit for her, as was its lead single “Give Me A Little More Time”, but as the campaign went on her singles started slipping further and further down the upper echelons of the charts, save for a duet with “Stay Another Day” hitmakers East 17 in the form of “If You Ever”, which was a number two hit and sold over half a million copies. However, people were beginning to doubt the commercial potential of Gabrielle on the whole. Almost as a response, 1999 would see her go through one of the most spectacular career rejuvenations of the 1990’s. Her third album “Rise” spent three weeks at number one and was certified four times platinum, with its eponymous lead single enjoying similar success in January 2000.

Ever since then, Gabrielle has enjoyed a stellar career as one of the premier British soul artists of today, arguably paving the way for the likes of Adele and Amy Winehouse to have similar levels of success all over the world. With a sixth album currently in the works, Gabrielle comes highly recommended.