Craig David
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Craig Ashley David (born 5 May, 1981) is a British R&B singer.
Biography and music career
David was born in Holyrood, Southampton, Hampshire, England to an Afro-Grenadian father. He released his first US hit "Fill Me In" in May 2001. The song was an instant hit, reaching #15 on the Bilboard Hot 100 in the summer of 2001. Born To Do It was released on July 17,2001. It managed to peak #11 on the Billboard 200 then eventually reach platinum status. "7 Days" was the next single which went on radio in Novenber 2001. The song was a greater success than Fill Me In, peaking number #10 on the charts. The third and final single "Walking Away" wasn't as successful as the first two. It peaked number #44.Slicker Than Your Average was the follow-up album and was released in 2002, and 6 singles were released from it. These were: "What's Your Flava?" (#8 in 2002), "Hidden Agenda" (#10 in 2003), "Rise & Fall" (featuring Sting and an acoustic guitar sample from the Sting song Shape of my Heart, #2 in 2003), "Spanish" ,(#8 in 2003), "World Filled With Love" (#15 in 2003), and "You Don't Miss Your Water ('Til The Well Runs Dry)" (#43 in 2004).
David's label, Telstar Records, ultimately went bankrupt; the blame was placed on them concentrating too much on marketing Victoria Beckham's musical output, which failed to achieve the success they had expected. He later signed on with Warner Music.
In 2005 he made his comeback with the single "All The Way" which hit the top 10. His third album The Story Goes... was released on 22 August, 2005. A US release date has yet to be annonced. The album's second single "Don't Love You No More (I'm Sorry)" became his longest running single in the charts since his debut appearance on The Artful Dodger's "Rewind", spending 15 weeks inside the UK top 75. The album's third single, "Unbelievable", disappointingly charted at #18 on 6th March 2006. The fourth single to be lifted from The Story Goes... was going to be "Hypnotic" in a remixd version by the legendary producer DJ Premier, however this has recently been cancelled.
Many critics and fans claim that Craig David's last album (The Story Goes...) gives more reflection about his personal life and feelings unlike his other albums. Today Craig David is perhaps the best selling R&B singer in Europe with already 20 million albums sold at the age of 25 .
Discography
Albums
- 2000 Born To Do It #1 UK, #11 US (2001 release)[U.S. Platinum], #2 AUS, 8 million worldwide
- 2002 Slicker Than Your Average #4 UK, #32 US [U.S. Gold ], #5 AUS, 5 million worldwide
- 2005 The Story Goes... #5 UK ,#9 AUS, 5 million worldwide
Singles
{| class="wikitable" ! width="28" rowspan="2"| Year ! width="257" rowspan="2"| Title ! colspan="4"| Chart Positions ! width="257" rowspan="2"| Album |-
! width="86"| UK Singles
! width="86"| US Hot 100
! width="86"| US R&B/Hip-Hop
! width="86"| AUS Singles
|-
| 1999
| "Re-Rewind The Crowd Say Bo Selecta"
(with Artful Dodger)
! 2
! -
! -
! -
| Born To Do It
It's All About The Stragglers
|-
| 2000
| "Woman Trouble"
(with Artful Dodger & Robbie Craig)
! 6
! -
! -
! -
| It's All About The Stragglers
|-
| 2000
| Fill Me In
! 1
! 15
! 19
! 6
| Born To Do It
|-
| 2000
| "7 Days"
! 1
! 10
! 52
! 4
| Born To Do It
|-
| 2001
| "Walking Away"
! 3
! 44
! -
! 5
| Born To Do It
|-
| 2001
| "Rendezvous"
! 8
! -
! -
! 28
| Born To Do It
|-
| 2002
| "What's Your Flava"
! 2
! -
! -
! 10
| Slicker Than Your Average
|-
| 2003
| "Hidden Agenda"
! 10
! -
! -
! 24
| Slicker Than Your Average
|-
| 2003
| "Personal"
! -
! -
! -
! -
| Slicker Than Your Average
|-
| 2003
| "Rise And Fall"
(featuring Sting)
! 2
! -
! -
! 6
| Slicker Than Your Average
|-
| 2003
| "Spanish"
! 8
! -
! -
! -
| Slicker Than Your Average
|-
| 2003
| "World Filled With Love"
! 15
! -
! -
! 32
| Slicker Than Your Average
|-
| 2004
| "You Don't Miss Your Water ('Til The Well Runs Dry)"
! 43
! -
! -
! 180
| Slicker Than Your Average
|-
| 2005
| "All The Way"
! 3
! -
! -
! 31
| The Story Goes...
|-
| 2005
| "Don't Love You No More (I'm Sorry)"
! 4
! -
! -
! 49
| The Story Goes...
|-
| 2006
| "Unbelievable"
! 18
! -
! -
! 96
| The Story Goes...
|-
Trivia
- The music video for "What's Your Flava?" is a parody of the children's movie classic Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, where Craig sponsors a "lottery", four females discover "golden CD's" (similar to the "Golden Tickets" in the movie), during the tour, three of the four females misbehave and disappear from the tour (similar to the children, other than Charlie Bucket, in the movie), and Craig and the winner end the video in a glass elevator.
- In Avid Merrion's Channel 4 Series Bo' Selecta, Craig was parodied as having a Leeds accent and a pet peregrine falcon (both reminiscent of the character of Billy Casper from the novel Kes), and frequently using the catchphrase "Proper Bo'!"
- This has since gone on to haunt Craig so much so that he even blamed the show for his lack of recent success.
- Famous singer/songwriter Elton John once said "If there is a better singer in England than Craig David, then I am Margaret Thatcher."
External links
- [Craig David's official website (UK)]
- [Craig David's official website (US)]
- [CraigFlava.com: Fansite with the latest news and information about Craig David]
- [Craig David fan site]
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