The Gold Edition Meets… Beverley Knight
Singing From The Start…
“From the very beginning as a child, I knew I was going to sing for the rest of my life. Nobody questioned it, it was a given. I also started acting when I was about six but I didn’t realise that would be something I’d come back to in midlife.
“There was so much fun and joy in my childhood, and much of that was rooted in music. That came from my church background, where I was singing several times a week. When I say church, it’s more like a gig every single week, because there were drums, keys, bass and guitar. That’s why so many R&B and soul musicians come from a church background, because you’ve got the whole set-up.
“I went to a school that put a lot of emphasis on extra-curricular activity as well as academic excellence. They correctly believed that was a symbiotic relationship. I did well at school but, for me, what was more important was that I had the opportunity to act, to sing and to be in a choir. I constantly had the opportunity to showcase my abilities and that made for a wonderful childhood.
“I was so fortunate that everybody kept telling me that this is what I was going to do. Even though I didn’t have a roadmap, I knew somehow it was going to unfurl itself – the path would be there, and I would walk it.”
Early Years In The Industry…
“In those early days, the music industry was all about Britpop. It was lads – white lads – all playing guitars. There was no room for R&B or soul music. In fact, in the early days it was mocked quite a lot, and people would titter about my style of singing. It was tough, but I bet on myself every single time. That’s never changed. I learned quickly that I had to get people on side, one human at a time, and I had to get them to invest in me so that I could get to where I wanted to be.
“Most people were not especially on side, but I just kept plugging away. It was really hard. I was not the right sex and not the right colour at that time. I wasn’t even the right nationality. If I had been an American doing all of this, coming from American success and literally just converting it to over here, I’d have had a better chance. But I was homegrown, and there was this attitude that the R&B, the soul or whatever that came from Britain was so inferior, it couldn’t measure up. So why bother with it was the attitude.
“In the clubs and among all the tastemakers who were listening to my early efforts (Flavour of the Old School and my first album The B-Funk), they all said, ‘Who is this kid? Who is this Beverley Knight?’ When people played that record, they mistakenly assumed it was from the US and everyone was like, ‘Oh my God, this tune’, not knowing that it was this funny-looking woman from Wolverhampton. The song absolutely exploded in every single club up and down the country, and all the R&B and soul radio shows inevitably played it late at night. By the time I got to the mainstream, they knew that I was British, and it took them a very long time to come on board. But again, I was betting on myself.
“I released my second album, The Prodigal Sista, after some legal wranglings to get off the first label. They certainly did well, but I just had a bigger vision for myself. I released that on Parlophone, and then everybody started to take notice. Britpop was still around and by then the Spice Girls and major pop had taken over. They still weren’t ready for what I was doing, but I just started to make inroads. Then I was lucky enough to meet people like David Bowie and Prince, who were supportive.”
Musical Influences…
“I’m a Prince obsessive. I joined forums, I was a member of the NPG Fan Club – it’s fair to say, I’m a monster Prince fan. Meeting and working with him live on stage and being able to share time with him was the biggest privilege of my life. He taught me to always believe in my own creative instinct and not be swayed by what other people were doing or saying. When my deal with Parlophone came to an end and I wasn’t really sure what to do next, hearing him say that to me was extraordinary. He kept saying, ‘Believe in your own creative vision. Be bold with it. Don’t be scared. Be fearless.’ That has always stayed with me.
“David Bowie came to see me at the Jazz Café, early doors, in 1997 or 1998. At first, I couldn’t even believe he was there. Then, when I got off stage, he gave me the nickname ‘Little Aretha’, which, of course, made me cry. He really was a very gentle character, quite softly spoken. So was Prince to be honest. David also echoed a lot of what Prince had said: ‘Keep going. Keep believing in yourself. I think your voice is extraordinary. It’s going to serve you, no matter what else is going on around you.’ This was a man who tried Tin Machine and the press savaged him for it. He’d taken on so many guises – the Thin White Duke, Ziggy Stardust and all of that. He knew what it was to keep coming back with a new persona. You’ve got to have some balls to do that and he absolutely did. Just having him say, ‘I think you’re great’ and then talking to other people in the industry saying, ‘This kid, I’m telling you, she’s great’ was a massive help for me. Absolutely massive.”
The Shift To Acting…
“Now, when I look back at those years of struggle, it’s somewhere where I managed to learn and hone my craft. I was able to make all the mistakes before the public really got to know who I was. My big character-building test came in 2007. It coincided with me meeting and working with Prince, when Parlophone dropped me. That hurt for a long, long time because I was so lost. I now look back at that period and think, ‘Oh, it was just preparing you for your re-entry into the world of acting.’ Acting had served me well from childhood through university until signing that first recording contract. It’s the only reason I stopped.
“Getting back to acting was like putting on an old sock but wearing a new shoe. I studied it at university – that was the old sock bit. The new shoe bit was that this was the West End. It was professional. How was I going to manage? I was leading a company of The Bodyguard with people who went to BRIT School, Urdang, Bird, Sylvia Young and Mountview. And then there was me at the front of it all.
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“I had the advantage of having the vocal ability to sing those big songs in The Bodyguard. I was pretty sure I could do the job. I just knew I needed to work really hard and bring that same 100% energy to the role every day. I was pretty sure that, if I dug deep, I could do that.
“The nerves were about the musical-theatre industry – all those luminaries and wonderful, talented people. What did they think of me? That changed within two weeks. The theatres started to get packed out. The word started to spread. It went from ‘Can Beverley Knight step into a leading role in the West End?’ to ‘Oh my God, what else can we give Beverley? She’s doing a great job.’ People started to treat me as though I’d always been part and parcel of theatre. It was an enlightening time, and I’ve never forgotten that. I’ll never forget their kindness. They made space for me.”
From Stage To Real Life…
In order to play Emmeline (Pankhurst in Sylvia), I had to research the hell out of her. I’m a history nerd, so that was heaven. The more I researched Emmeline, the more I found the common ground. I’d always been someone who would speak out about causes that I believed in, and I guess I found that voice early doors. I had two parents who were very vocal about what they believed in, and I had them as my example, much like Emmeline did. She helped me to understand what it costs when people don’t agree with you. It’s easy to speak out when the general consensus is with you, but what happens when you speak out and it’s against you? Learning what it takes to be brave – to take a deep breath and do things anyway – was important. She was a remarkable woman.
“The other thing I learned is that you can believe what you believe, but you don’t have to beat people over the head with it, especially the people you love. It doesn’t have to be ‘my way or the highway’, because there’s always another way around it. I learned that by watching Emmeline fall out with her daughter. It’s good and bad. I learned what to do and what not to do.”
Age Is My Superpower…
“After a while, you’re going to say your piece and not care. Someone is talking nonsense? You’re going to tell them. You’re not going to think, ‘What if they don’t like me after that?’ You don’t care. There is a fearlessness that comes with this age. I’m so here for it. You just are.
“You feel like you finally fit in your own skin. You look in the mirror and you’re like, ‘Yeah, that’s me. There are a few things changing, but that is me. I’m going to crack on with life.’ There are some superficial things you might want to change. You might want a bit of Botox or you might want to start eating collagen or whatever. That’s fine! But essentially, you know who you are. You know your character. You know what you will tolerate, what you will put up with and what you absolutely will not. You work yourself out, that’s what I’m trying to say.
“Now, I’m in what I call my Tina Turner era. That means I’ve had the part of my career which people are familiar with – the music and then the theatre and I’ve just finished shooting a movie. I still haven’t had the TV drama but, trust me, that’s going to come. I know it is. Just like Tina worked Vegas for years and years and years, putting food on the table for her children because she had left Ike and was determined to make something of herself, bit by bit she got closer to what we all know now. Then that one moment came, that tipping point where What’s Love Got to Do with It? ended up in her lap and exploded around the world. The tipping point is ever closer for me. We all know what happened after that.”
Olivier-nominated Sylvia: A Musical Revolution, starring Beverly Knight, returns for a limited nationwide tour this autumn. Starting in Leicester on 24th September, followed by Birmingham Hippodrome, Edinburgh Festival Theatre, Salford Lowry, Norwich Theatre Royal, Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury, the tour ends with five performances at the Royal Albert Hall from 13th-15th November 2026.
Visit SylviaMusicalUK.com
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