It's now been 30 years since a certain song catapulted now well established British music icon to a whole new level of fame. Well, as sure as Dreams can come true, Gabrielle is guaranteed of a sell out crowd when she performs at the iconic Durham Cathedral on Saturday night.
It was back in 1993 that Dreams captured the ears and the hearts of the nation and remains one of the biggest debut smashes of all time, as it climbed to the top spot. In a career that has now spanned three decades and shows no signs of ending any time soon, Gabrielle has also hit chart heights with the likes of Rise, When A Woman and Bridget Jones anthem Out of Reach.
They are all sure to be on the setlist for her North East show in front of a capacity crowd this weekend and there is another huge hit that the soul legend has been talked into putting back into her live repertoire and it's all down to her son
Towards the end of 1996, Gabrielle joined forces with one of the biggest boybands of the era, East 17, to cover If I Ever by American act Shai. Renamed If You Ever, the duet is one of the biggest hits of both Gabrielle and East 17's career and now, thanks to her son, it's now on her setlist once again. "I don't think many people still realise it was actually a cover, Gabrielle told ChronicleLive.
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"It's a song that I hadn't actually performed myself in years and then my son was like 'that needs to be on the setlist' so there we have it and that's the main reason why I'm doing it again now."
And what about Dreams? It's not very often at all that a song explodes that way that one did for Gabrielle did in the 90s and it's something she's still so, so grateful for. "It all took me by surprise at the time, it just kept getting bigger, bigger and bigger," she commented.
"I couldn't believe it when it made number 1, but I think a lot of that is down to the message and that's why so many people still love and relate to it today. It would never not be on my setlist."
Talking to Gabrielle, another subject that definitely couldn't be ignored was her successful stint on The Masked Singer, another thing she is massively appreciative of. "You know what? It was never something I saw myself doing but I loved every minute," she continued.
"I LOVED the Harlequin costume and I also enjoyed getting to sing some big modern songs like Harry Styles' Falling. Falling is just a great, great song and people really seemed to love my version, so much so I actually put it out as a single."
Gabrielle will be performed at Durham Cathedral on Saturday night by North East winners of The Voice UK Hunni (Jen & Liv) and already has a tour in the diary for next year, along with Tunde Baiyewu of The Lighthouse Family.
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