March 26, 2007 • 12:59 pm 0
Check out these EXCLUSIVE new clips taken from Beverley Knight’s brand new album ‘Music City Soul’, out on Monday 7th May 2007.
Ain’t That A Lot Of Love (Clip)
Back To You (Clip)
Every Time I See You Smile (Clip)
No Man’s Land (Clip)
Tell Me I’m Wrong (Clip)
Filed under: Album, Exclusive, Music City Soul
• 12:59 pm 0
SHE’S Britain’s Queen of Soul who wowed the crowds on a recent tour with comeback kings Take That.
But life hasn’t always been as good for singer Beverley Knight. The 34-year-old still bears the scars of racist abuse she suffered as a little girl growing up in Wolverhampton.The star, who has a string of chart-topping hits and an MBE, is speaking out for the first time about how she and her family were targeted because of the colour of their skin. And she is urging everybody to support the Daily Mirror’s Hope Not Hate anti-racism campaign, which was launched yesterday.
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Our two-week bus tour across the country aims to celebrate all that is great about Britain. And spread the message – hope not hate…
‘I’M the first generation of my family to be born in Britain – my parents were born and raised in Jamaica. Living in Wolverhampton was very diverse and mixed, and most people got along pretty well most of the time. But from a very early age I was aware of hostility towards people like me and my family. Of course, back then I didn’t know it was racism, I was too young to understand.It was a dodgy time. The National Front had its headquarters just down the road in Walsall and they did their best to stir up trouble.
School could be awful at times. I remember being in maths class when I was seven and I was the only black person in the top stream. Other kids would say things like: “Your skin’s black because you haven’t washed” and “your hair’s like a Brillo pad”. I did my best to ignore them, but it just got worse. Until one day the teacher went out of the class and this girl starting chanting: “Blackie, blackie.” And soon the whole class caught on.
I got very upset because I felt horribly isolated – I still remember that feeling now. I knew they picked on me because I was black. They were listening to their parents, that’s the problem.
When I told the teacher she just said: “Oh sit down, you’re causing trouble.” So I said: “But they’re calling me names.” And she replied: “Well just call them whities then.”
I went home and sobbed to my mum and she went straight down there and said this was unacceptable. The next day, in the middle of the lesson, I was removed from the class and sent to the lower stream where there were other black people. That was their way of dealing with it.
But what happened to me as a child was so trivial in comparison to what my parents suffered. My dad came to Britain in 1959, Mum in 1962. She says it was November, it was freezing and she’d never seen snow before.
Once, shortly after my dad arrived in the country, he had to defend himself against a gang of about 20 men. It was Dad and three of his brothers and they were only young. Wolverhampton was a different place back then. My mother was spat at, called names and shouted at in the street. People would make excuses not to serve you or let you on to public transport. Buses would drive past or kick you off. I think we have made astonishing progress but we still have a way to go. My parents went through hell. Those days may have gone but you still get comments from people. People still say to my mum: “Oh those black people, they’re always fighting with knives, they’re lazy and they don’t want to work.”
When my mum makes a comment back, they say: “Oh not you! You’re different!”
Some people will ask daft questions and just not realise, like: “Where did you learn to speak English like that?” They’re not racist, they’re just not engaging their brain. They look at you and see that you’re black and think you can’t be from here, even though your accent is from Wolverhampton.
Some people speak innocently out of ignorance and some people speak with racial intent. Most of the time you can completely see the difference. The race row on Celebrity Big Brother was shocking. I was so disappointed with Jo O’Meara. I had worked with her on Just The Two Of Us, and we had a laugh together.
Jade Goody is not a clever girl. The reason she got the brunt of the criticism is probably because she was the mouthiest of the lot. She was daft enough to put her mouth into action far too many times.
But the comments that cut to the core came from Danielle Lloyd. With Jade, to a certain extent, you have to ignore the ignorant rantings of someone who’s not very clever. But Danielle said: “F**k off home.” I remember those comments when I was a child, and they still hurt.
Once in Italy, two of my band members, Carlos and Joe, went into the bank for some money. The woman took one look at these two black guys, one of them pretty big and powerful, and she pushed the panic button. I couldn’t believe it. Carlos said the next thing he knew he was being hauled out and told to spread against the wall with a gun aimed at him. It was awful for them. Sadly it doesn’t surprise me that people can still behave like this. Not everywhere is Britain. As we’ve seen in very recent cases, Britain isn’t perfect, but we’re doing a lot better than our European cousins. There are far-right parties in other countries that have much more of a foothold than the BNP has here. But we can’t be complacent where racism is concerned and, in some parts of the UK, the BNP is on the rise. This has got to stop!
I was lucky because my parents taught me to be proud of my heritage and of being British. They would say: “You are a child of Britain, you were born in Wolverhampton, raised in Wolverhampton, and we want you to be proud of that.” And I was not the kind of person to cower, ever. I was proud of me and who I was, I always had an inner confidence. But stereotypes are so deeply entrenched and people hold on to them.
People must learn not to hate someone because of where they’re from. The reality is that no matter what the colour of your skin, or where you’re from, we’re all going through the same struggle – just trying to get through life the best we can.’ School could be awful..kids chanted “Blackie” at me. Danielle’s comments on Big Brother cut me to the core
Related Articles:
The Mirror ‘Soul Diva Joins Anti-Racism Drive’
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• 12:58 pm 0
Guy Chambers has uploaded a track he co-wrote with Beverley Knight called ‘Saviour’ that is set to feature on ‘Music City Soul’. Listen to it at myspace.com/guychambers
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• 12:58 pm 0
This is taken from Beverley Knight’s official myspace page, run by the record label,
What a year! Just the Two of Us, Take That, the release of “Piece of my Heart”, the release of “Voice”, Bryan Adams, back to Take That, and then my own headline tour! And that was LAST year!!!
This year has started with a bang too. Just the Two of Us came around again, this time I sang with the irrepressible Brendan Cole. He was lively and kept me on my toes for sure! Don’t be mad that we didn’t win, I got to sing “Brown Sugar” by the Stones, so I was happy happy happy!!!!
I received my MBE at the palace in February, a special morning for my parents who were blown away by the whole experience. The look on their faces, their tears of joy, reminded me of what my whole career is about. The love of seeing others happy.
Can’t forget Question Time, with David Dimbleby. Being an opinionated woman meant that I was in my element. I loved it, I won’t however be pursuing a career in politics any time soon…
While all that was happening, I was busy writing my dream project, an album that would be recorded entirely live, just like they did “back in the day”. A real rootsy soul album, something that would evoke the spirit of Sam Cooke’s and Al Green’s gospel, Aretha’s, Chaka’s and Tina’s soul, with a load of Prince’s and Sly Stone’s funk and rock. R&B, when it was rhythm and blues. That album is ” Music City Soul”. The beginning of a new era of music recording for me, working with some of great musicians that did it the first time. Live.
I am so eager for you to hear this and let me know how you feel about it. This album, more any anything I’ve done before, gives you an insight into my musical childhood, the reason I started to create in the first place. I hope you love it.
Peace and love, Beverley Knight
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• 12:58 pm 0
Britain’s two most talented award-winning soul stars join together for their first ever London date in this unique and sensational collaboration. Come and experience the honeyed voices of these charismatic artists singing together in a truly powerful performance that is guaranteed to be a highlight of the summer.
This will be taking place on Saturday 11th August 2007, at Marble Hill, Twickenham.
Tickets are priced £28 and will be available from Monday 26th March at ticketmaster.co.uk
See www.picnicconcerts.com for more info!
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• 12:58 pm 0
It’s Beverley Knight’s 34th Birthday today. Posted your best wishes at myspace.com/thebkmassive
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• 12:58 pm 0
After being nominated ‘Record Of The Week’, Beverley Knight’s brand new single ‘No Man’s Land‘ has been added to the ‘A-List’ over at BBC Radio 2. The track is also ‘Lovesong Of The Week’ across commercial radio stations up and down the country, including BRMB, Power, 2CR, Fox and Q103 FM.
Reviews are coming in thick and fast, 4Music -
Wisely avoiding another attempt to wedge herself into the pop market, Beverley Knight’s sixth album sees her reaching for the Radio 2 market with new single ‘No Man’s Land‘, a sweet, simple soul song that befits a dame – or whatever she is now that she’s been crowned.
If you haven’t heard the new single yet, head over to myspace.com/thebkmassive to hear it in full! The single is released as a digital download on Monday 16th April, followed by the CD on Monday 30th April 2007.
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• 12:57 pm 0
Beverley Knight was so impressed by Japanese spirit Shochu at the Shochu Lounge, in Fitzrovia, that she’s going back to the venue to have a bottle personalised for her with her own favourite flavour…
www.shochulounge.com
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• 12:57 pm 0
The offical Beverley Knight site have announced details regarding a one off show to launch her new studio album ‘Music City Soul’.
The gig will be taking place at London’s Bloomsbury Ballroom on Wednesday 11th April. The show will preview the majority of her new album for the first time, along with a handful of classic hits and one or two surprises.
Tickets are priced at £23.50 and are currently available for presale at gigsandtours.com
Tickets will be available generally from Friday 23rd March at 09:00
Filed under: Album, Music City Soul
• 12:57 pm 0
The Prince of Wales, on an offical visit to Kent, led a standing ovation for Jools Holland’s concert in support of the Rochester Cathedral Music Forever Campaign on Tuesday afternoon.
More than 500 people packed the cathedral for the concert They included the Bishop of Rochester, the Rt Rev Michael Nazir Ali, and the Mayor of Medway, Cllr Angela Prodger.
T hey heard a mass written by Jools, who lives at Cooling, near Rochester, especially for cathedral performances. The Music Forever Campaign is part of the cathedral’s £10 million fund-raising project.
After the concert the Prince met performers, who included gospel singers Ruby Turner, Louise Marshall and Beverley Knight as well as the Rochester Cathedral Choir and the Jools Holland Rhythm and Blues Orchestra.
Asked how he enjoyed the concert, the Prince said: “It makes you feel much happier.But I don’t know how people are going to move from that to evensong.”
The Dean of Rochester, the Very Rev Adrian Newman, said after the concert: “What more could you wish for? The heir to the throne together with the undoubted King of rhythm and blues.”
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Kent Online ‘Concert time for heir to throne and king of rhythm’
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