M People

Formed by Mike Pickering, a DJ, A&R man, keyboard player and one of the great characters of the Manchester music scene, M People rose from the swaggering sounds of the Hacienda Nightclub and the house music craze to become hugely successful chart stars. Led by Heather Small's huge, soulful voice, it was second album Elegant Slumming (1993) that catapulted the band to massive fame, winning the Mercury Music Prize and scoring five Top 10 hits, including One Night In Heaven and Moving On Up. Its follow-up Bizarre Fruit (1994) sold five million copies and produced the band's big anthem Search For The Hero, later used as the backing track to nearly every piece of sporting prowess ever filmed. Fourth album Fresco (1997) reached Number 2 in the UK charts, but the band fell into hiatus soon afterwards. Small went on to solo stardom with the hit single Proud and starred in the 2008 series of Strictly Come Dancing.

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