Chester Cathedral has announced it will soon be presenting one of Britain’s most talented soul singers. February 16 will see Heather Small take to the stage at the St Werburgh Street venue to perform a live concert for local Cestrians and visitors to the city. Chester’s Grade Listed cathedral is regularly selected to showcase the vocal talents of powerful singers from a wide range of musical genres, mainly due to its astonishing acoustics and elegant setting.
Heather Small is best known as the voice of British chart toppers M People, but her singing career started much earlier. As a teenager she sang for Hot House before becoming a studio singer, performing vocal duties on Black Box’s re-recorded edition of “Ride on Time”.
However, after a chance meeting with Manchester DJ Mike Pickering, she enjoyed critical international success with M People. Inspiring anthemic hits like “Search for the Hero”, “One Night in Heaven” and “Moving on Up” catapulted Small and the band to stardom on a global scale.
In 1997, Small added her distinctive voice to a recording of Lou Reed’s “Perfect Day”, accompanied by other artists including David Bowie, Elton John and Bono for the Children in Need charity, which reached number one.
A few years later in 2000, the soul singer launched a solo project called “Proud” which included a single of the same name. The song was selected by Oprah Winfrey as a theme for her 2005 show.
Chester Cathedral’s doors will open at 6pm for the concert, which will begin at 7.30pm and run until 11pm.
