Official Charts Flashback 2000: Gabrielle - Rise

It's 20 years since London-born Gabrielle scored her long-awaited second Number 1 single.

By 2000, Gabrielle had reached the very peak of the pop pile. After two reasonably successful albums, 1993’s Find Your Way and 1996’s self-titled, the groundwork had been laid for the Hackney-born singer-songwriter to take things to the next level.

Her third album Rise saw her crystalize her contemporary R&B-pop sound; lead single Sunshine had been a Top 10 hit the previous year, but her follow-up – the record’s title track, released 20 years ago this month – was its obvious big moment. Co-written by Gabrielle and produced by Massive Attack/Portishead collaborator Jonny Dollar, Rise is also credited to Bob Dylan, thanks to his rare authorisation to sample his 1973 hit Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door. In fact, Bob was such a fan of Rise that he allowed them to use the sample for free.

The song was an instant hit, landing at Number 1 on the Official Singles Chart, shifting 165,000 copies during its two weeks at summit and earning Gabrielle her first chart-topper since her 1993 debut Dreams. 20 years on, its total chart sales stand at 597,000, including 10.4 million streams since 2014. Her album of the same name, released later that month, spent three weeks at Number 1 and is certified 4x Platinum in the UK with 1.3 million chart sales.

MORE: Gabrielle's Official UK Chart history in full

Listen to the UK's Official Singles Chart Top 40 from this week in 2000 on Spotify below. Listen on Deezer here.

Elsewhere on the Official Singles Chart this week in 2000, German producers Sash! were new at Number 2 with Adelante, making them the act with the most Number 2 hits in UK chart history never to reach Number 1, with five. Also new were British R&B trio Fierce, who scored their biggest hit at Number 3 with Sweet Love 2k, a re-work of Anita Baker’s 1987 classic that, for reasons still unknown, was also to be their final release.

Meanwhile, Italian dance troupe The Tamperer ft. Maya landed their third and final hit with Hammer To The Heart at Number 6, a song that heavily borrowed from ABBA’s Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight), and London electronic group Death In Vegas scored their biggest single with the Iggy Pop-assisted Aisha at Number 9.

Further down, Q-Tip’s biggest headline release Breathe And Stop was new at Number 12, US singer/rapper Sisqo arrived with his debut single Got To Get It at Number 14 (his biggest hit Thong Song followed just two months later) and music legend Tina Turner earned her 33^rd UK Top 40 hit with Whatever You Need at Number 27.