A bedroom full of 12-inch records and a debut that sold eight million

The first clue to Craig David's future was his father's bass guitar. George David, who comes from Grenada, played bass in a reggae band called Ebony Rockers, and as a teenager Craig began going along to local dance clubs, where DJs would let him take the microphone. Born in Southampton in 1981, he grew up on the Holyrood estate and started making his own music, working as an MC and DJ in youth and community clubs.

School was harder. David was bullied, and in 2005 he wrote and released “Johnny” about those memories. Meanwhile his earliest recorded work appeared on the B-side of a Damage cover, and then he began singing for the UK garage duo Artful Dodger. Their “Re-Rewind” reached number two in 1999 and cleared the way for a solo career.

Colin Lester, co-owner of Wildstar Records, first heard “Walking Away” and was struck that someone so young could write it. When he later visited David's home in Southampton, he found a tiny bedroom stacked floor to ceiling with 12-inch vinyl, which convinced him this was no pose. He offered a development deal, and after hearing “7 Days” he upgraded it to an album deal the same day, certain he had heard a number-one record.

David's own first single, “Fill Me In”, did reach the top of the UK chart. It started a run of four Top 10 singles from Born to Do It, which came out in 2000 and eventually sold more than eight million copies, going multi-platinum in over twenty countries. Since then he has made eight more albums, from Slicker Than Your Average in 2002 to Commitment in 2025, and worked with Sting, Tinchy Stryder, Big Narstie, Tiwa Savage and JoJo. “Rendezvous” is one more chapter in a career built on that early confidence.