Craig David Best Hits

[Honorato Overmyer]

Craig David is one of the most popular British artists of all time, and he's now announced a new tour for 2025. Known for his huge songs from the iconic '7 Days' to featuring on 'Abracadabra' with Wes Nelson, we've taken a look back at his musical journey, starting with his debut single 'Fill Me In' - which he performed at Wembley with Coldplay.

As well as being a talented singer, he's also a brilliant DJ, and you can read about Craig David's career, including his amazing TS5 set which he has performed all over the world. Now, as the singer has announced his 'Commitment Tour 2025', let's take a look at some of his biggest hits of all time...

Yet another song released in 2002, 'Walking Away' was another Top 10 hit for Craig David! The song was re-recorded for the pop star's Greatest Hits album in 2008 and is still very popular on YouTube today.

Craig teamed up with Wes Nelson on the huge track 'Abracadabra', which was released in February 2024. The pair even delivered an incredible performance of the track together in the Love Island: All Stars villa!

Music is definitely in Craig David's blood. As a child, he was surrounded by music. His father George even played bass in a reggae band.
Despite being well-known in the underground MC world in the 90s and writing songs for British group Damage, Craig David only got his big break in 1999 when he featured on the track 'Re-Rewind' by garage duo Artful Dodger.
The song reached Number 2 in the charts and Craig soon became a household name.

Craig's debut album 'Born To Do It' was released 14th August 2000 by Wildstar Records. It went to Number 1 and eventually went 6x Platinum. It also achieved major success in the US, selling over a million copies.
Hosting smash singles including '7 Days' and 'Walking Away', the album placed Craig at the top and earned him three Ivor Novello Awards as well as six BRIT Award nominations in 2001.
Later in April 2009, MTV viewers voted 'Born to Do It' as number 2 on their 'Greatest Album of All-Time' poll. What an accolade!

Craig's first album was definitely hard to beat and his second, 'Slicker Than Your Average', was released in 2002. It had huge hits, 'What's Your Flava?', 'Hidden Agenda' and 'Rise & Fall' and reached Number 4 in the charts.

In 2005, Craig announced that he had signed with Warner Music and put together his third album, 'The Story Goes...'. His sound shifted slightly and he began exploring more contemporary R&B. His song 'All The Way' put him back in the Top 3 in the charts and the album still did well.

Craig switched up his look on his fourth album 'Trust Me'. He successfully sought permission from David Bowie to sample his 1983 Number 1 single 'Let's Dance'. The single was a top ten hit but his fourth record didn't perform as well as his first three.
2007 also saw him team up with UK grime legend Kano for their collaboration 'This Is The Girl' that sampled Jay Z's song 'Big Pimpin'.

In 2008, still quite early on in his career, Craig released a Greatest Hits album, full of his best known hits as well a new song 'Where's Your Love' featuring Tinchy Stryder and Rita Ora.
Craig then signed another new record with Universal Motown and released sixth album 'Signed, Sealed, Delivered'. It featured covers of classics from Stevie Wonder, Otis Redding, Marvin Gaye and Al Green.
In 2009, he moved to Miami and took a break. Craig bought a luxurious all-white penthouse in the sunny city, and began taking major interest in body-building and getting into shape.
Although he didn't go on an official hiatus, Craig reportedly resented the caricature of himself on Leigh Francis' TV show Bo' Selecta!, in which he was frequently parodied.
Craig told The Sunday Times in 2007: "The whole Bo' Selecta! thing was killing me for a while because this idiot had a cult following and I was the main caricature. It was hurtful beyond belief. There were times when I thought I just want to knock this guy out."

Craig started making his way back to the mainstream in 2011 when his DJ name TS5 started uploaded the sets to Soundcloud, and on the back of this success Craig embarked on a huge world tour that took him all over the globe.
TS5 remains hugely successful to this day, taking Craig everywhere from Ibiza to Glastonbury.
In January 2013, David announced on Twitter that he had signed a publishing deal with Universal Music Publishing Group, he then took his TS5 shows on tour.
In 2015, Craig appeared on The X Factor and performed his breakthrough single 'Re-Rewind' with Reggie 'n' Bollie.
In 2016, he signed with Sony and was preparing for the ultimate comeback.

Craig's comeback single 'When The Bassline Drops', featuring Big Narstie, flew straight into the Top 10.
In September 2016, he dropped his long-awaited comeback album 'Following My Intuition' and it was his first album to hit Number 1 since his debut 'Born To Do It'. He then headed on tour and played almost every festival under the sun.

Craig David was among the talented artists who performed at the Platinum Party at the Palace concert as part of Queen Elizabeth II's Jubilee celebrations on 4th June.


After his performance, he took to Instagram to say: 'After the last few years we've all had to face our own challenges individually & collectively, but in that time I've seen so many acts of courage, humility & grace from all of You that makes an occasion like this even more special to be a part of' (sic)

Craig delivered an incredible performance in the Love Island: All Stars villa in February 2024, delighting Islanders including superfan Anton Danyluk. Craig was also joined by Wes Nelson, with the pair teaming up for an epic performance of their collab 'Abracadabra'.

Turn it up with Hits Radio! Home of Fleur East, Sam Thompson and Gemma Atkinson playing the biggest hits and the biggest throwbacks, alongside the biggest laughs and life-changing competitions. Tune in on FM, DAB, online or ask your Smart Speaker to 'Play Hits Radio'.

In March 2001, 19-year-old Craig David was on top of the world. The singer-songwriter's debut full-length, Born To Do It, entered the U.K. albums chart at No. 1 on the week of its August 2000 release. By the new year, he had arena shows booked across the U.K. At the beginning of the month, David played for a sold-out crowd at London's prestigious Wembley Stadium, while camera crews shot footage for a future concert film. As coming-out parties go, it was the stuff of dreams.

On the road that spring, David spoke to the Los Angeles Times about his hopes of cracking America. (He also discussed the careful upkeep of his already-famous beard, seen on the cover of Born To Do It: "It takes about 30 minutes to perfect the symmetry.") While confident in his talents, David knew U.S. success was no sure thing: "I'm at square one."

What he could offer new ears, though, was the distinctly British sound of U.K. garage. The genre, which evolved out of the U.S. garage scene led by DJ-producers like Todd Edwards and Mood II Swing, is also referred to as 2-step garage or simply 2-step. (Genre sticklers might quibble, but the terms are often used interchangeably to describe the same sound.) At the time, David gave the Los Angeles Times a neat explainer on the genre that launched him. "It's a hybrid of R&B; and house-garage where you take the bass drum off the second and fourth beats of the bar," he said. "That gives a unique skipping feel."

For David, Born To Do It was the natural next step after the breakout success of "Re-Rewind," but he had no intention of making a pure U.K. garage record. The album, released 20 years ago this month, captures an artist as steeped in U.S. R&B and pop as the "unique skipping feel" taking over U.K. dance floors. Born To Do It also marked the definitive moment when U.K. garage went supernova, a double impact that saw the underground British genre and its bright young ambassador gain enough mass appeal to crack the U.S.

David met Mark Hill and Pete Devereux, aka Artful Dodger, in their shared hometown of Southampton on England's south coast. After watching the teenager DJ at a local club, the duo invited David to their modest studio the next day. David performed on three tracks on Artful Dodger's debut album, It's All About The Stragglers (2000), including "Re-Rewind." The guest-heavy LP, which also featured British vocalists Michelle Escoffery, Romina Johnson and Lifford, applied pop sheen to a U.K. garage template. (With only a few of its tracks available on streaming services, It's All About The Stragglers is now something of a rare gem.)

Released ahead of the album in April 2000, "Fill Me In" debuted at No. 1 on the U.K. singles chart. Sonically, its stuttering drums and lush string samples would've been at home on It's All About The Stragglers. However, its songwriting highlighted David's specific touch, with lyrics that shift perspective from the teenagers creeping around to the watchful parents. Buoyed by the success of "Fill Me In" and its follow-up single, "7 Days," released that July, Born To Do It was a lock to top the U.K. albums chart.

With Wembley conquered, David set his sights more keenly on the U.S. Atlantic Records released Born To Do It stateside in 2001, peaking at No. 11 on the Billboard 200 chart. The singer toured North America with an eight-piece band in early 2002, then closed his trip that February at the GRAMMYs, where "Fill Me In" was nominated for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. While David didn't win, he shared the category with his boyhood hero, Michael Jackson who was nominated that year for "You Rock My World." It was another pinch-yourself moment for the striver from Southampton. "It's all been very surreal," David told Billboard in 2001. "When I do interviews, I sometimes talk in the third person, like I'm watching this other artist grow."

After the ice-breaker of "Fill Me In," Born To Do It soon strays from the U.K. garage mold. In addition to Michael Jackson, David grew up listening to his mom's favorites like Terence Trent D'Arby, Stevie Wonder and The Osmonds. Later, he discovered the new school of '90s R&B from across the Atlantic. By 19, he was hyperliterate about the music that shaped him. In his concert film, Off The Hook...Live At Wembley (2001), David excitedly recounts the story of an out-of-the-blue call from rap mogul Sean Combs, known then as Puff Daddy. "This guy is a pioneer in taking old samples and bringing them into contemporary music, from [The Notorious] B.I.G. to 112 to Faith Evans," he marvels to the camera. "And this guy is on the phone telling me he likes 'Fill Me In.'"

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