Gabrielle's biggest songs on the Official Chart

Gabrielle’s soulful hits landed her a string of UK Top 40 singles – 16, to be exact – and a pair of million-selling albums across the ‘90s and 2000s, making her one of the top British female solo artists of the past 30 years.

The Hackney-born singer-songwriter continues to be a successful albums artist, with her latest record Do It Again on course to become her sixth Top 10 collection on this week’s Official Albums Chart. The record includes covers of songs she performed on The Masked Singer – a show that introduced her to a new generation of fans – plus two new original tracks.

Below, we reveal Gabrielle’s Top 10 biggest songs on the Official Chart.

10. Should I Stay (2000)
Official Chart peak: 13

The fourth single from Gabrielle’s Rise album is arguably her most underrated gem - an emotional trip-hop ballad co-written with electronic musician Jon Sharp about learning to let go.

9. Don’t Need The Sun To Shine (To Make Me Smile) (2001)
Official Chart peak: 9

Recorded as a new song for her 2001 greatest hits Dreams Can Come True, the soothing soul-blues guitar of Don’t Need The Sun To Shine is a fitting homage to the sound that first made her famous.

8. Walk On By (1997)
Official Chart peak: 7

Gabrielle’s soulful-if-straightforward cover of Dionne Warwick’s 1963 hit Walk On By, taken from her self-titled debut album, was the perfect match for her light-yet-husky voice. Despite being one of her ten Top 10 singles, the track wasn’t included on her 2001 greatest hits.

7. When A Woman (2000)
Official Chart peak: 6

This rare uptempo moment – co-written and produced with pop legends Richard Stannard and Julian Gallagher (Spice Girls, Kylie Minogue, One Direction) – sounds straight out of the Motown songbook, and earned Gabrielle her eighth Top 10.

6. Sunshine (1999)
Official Chart peak: 9

The lead single for her Rise album, the wistful, trip-hop-tinged sound of Sunshine inspired popular remixes by garage musician Wookie and club legend Frankie Knuckles, helping it land in the Top 10.

5. Give Me A Little More Time (1996)
Official Chart peak: 5
UK chart sales: 422,000

With its vintage brassy production (courtesy of The Boilerhouse Boys), it’d be easy to mistake Give Me A Little More Time as a cover. In truth, Gabrielle wrote this trailer to her second album to address critics who thought she would be a one-hit wonder.

4. If You Ever (with East 17) (1996)
Official Chart peak: 2
UK chart sales: 626,000

Collaborations in pop weren’t that common in the 1990s, making this duet even more unexpected. Regardless, the merging of East 17’s boyband riffs with Gabrielle’s soulful vocal was a resounding success and reached Number 2, just missing out on the top spot to Spice Girls’ Say You’ll Be There.

3. Out Of Reach (2001)
Official Chart peak: 4
UK chart sales: 645,000

Written for rom com Bridget Jones’s Diary, Out Of Reach featured classic Gabrielle lyrics of disappointment and longing that felt immediately relatable. Its success – debuting at Number 4 - led to its inclusion on a reissue of her Rise album.

2. Rise (2000)
Official Chart peak: 1
UK chart sales: 647,000

Rise’s message of defiance, combined with a sample of Bob Dylan’s Knocking On Heaven’s Door, gave it an instant-classic feel, launching it to Number 1 on the Official Singles Chart, marking a return to the summit for the first time in seven years, since…

1. Dreams (1993)
Official Chart peak: 1
UK chart sales: 1 million

Gabrielle’s debut single Dreams was inspired by her unlikely rise to success, having been told she had neither the looks or the voice to be a successful recording artist. Originally demoed using a sample of Tracy Chapman’s Fast Car that was eventually rejected by the US singer, Dreams was re-recorded and debuted at Number 2 – the biggest chart entry for a debut single by a female artist ever. A week later it hit Number 1, and stayed there for three weeks. 28 years later, the song has reached 1 million chart sales, split between 643,000 pure sales and 40.4 million streams since 2014.