1999–2001: Early career and Drama Jamelia was signed to
Capitol Records at 15 after record producers heard recordings of her self-written
a cappella songs that she had made on a
karaoke machine. In late 1999, Jamelia recorded the single "
So High", a collaboration with fellow R&B vocalist Rosita Lynch. The single failed to chart in both the UK and mainland Europe, and did not appear on any of Jamelia's subsequent albums. Following the poor sales of the single, Jamelia left Capitol Records, but was quickly signed up with record company
Parlophone, a branch of
EMI. Taking some time to record her debut
studio album,
Drama (2000), Jamelia returned to the music scene in 1999 with the single "
I Do", which became her first commercially successful single in the UK and mainland Europe, making the UK Top 40 and holding Top 20 positions in France and Sweden. The single's mediocre chart success, however, led to the delay of the release of
Money. Jamelia's third single, "
Money" (featuring dancehall artist
Beenie Man and co-written by UK
The X Factor finalist Daniel De Bourg), was released in February 2000. The single was the singer's breakthrough in the UK, peaking at number five and spending nine weeks in the UK Top 75; it later won a
MOBO Award for Best Video in 2000. Despite the success of
Money,
Drama did not make a major chart impression in the UK, where it peaked at number 39. The third single from the album, "
Call Me", reached number 11, and the fourth single, "
Boy Next Door", peaked at number 42. Recognition for the singer's early success came in late 2000 and 2001 at the
BRIT Awards. Jamelia was nominated for Best British Newcomer, Best British Video and Best British Female. Parent album
Thank You, released shortly after "Superstar", was widely expected to replicate the single's success, but entered the UK chart at number 65. Subsequently, a number of record producers worked with Jamelia on a re-release of the album that featured new artwork and track listing, including two new songs: her collaboration with
Coldplay's
Chris Martin and DJ K Staveley, "
See It in a Boy's Eyes", and "
DJ". Promoting the re-release, title track "
Thank You" was issued shortly before. Known to be Jamelia's favourite of her releases, the song became her highest-charting single to date in the UK, where it peaked at number two and received the 2004 MOBO Award for Best Single and a
BRIT Award nomination in the same category. The fourth single "See it in a Boy's Eyes" was released in mid-2004 and became Jamelia's third consecutive top five hit, winning a MOBO Award for Best Video and a
Q Award for Best Single. The success of
Thank You resulted in five
BRIT Award nominations for Jamelia in 2004 and 2005 for Best British Female, Best British Single, Best Female Solo Act, and Best British Urban Act. and was certified double platinum by the
BPI in recognition of 600,000 copies shipped to retailers. The single became Jamelia's first to enter the charts solely on download sales alone, debuting at number 28, rising to number nine almost a month later following the physical release.
Walk with Me was released shortly after and drew critical praise, with many critics claiming that it marked a significant turn in the singer's career as she moved from R&B to pop/rock. The album did not emulate the chart success of
Thank You, managing to début only at number 20 on the UK Albums Chart. The second single, "
Beware of the Dog", features a sample from
Depeche Mode's 1989 song "
Personal Jesus" and was heavily praised as being Jamelia's best single to date, with
BBC Radio 1's "Chart Blog" stating that it "might just be one of the best pop songs ever made" and "the best pop song of the year", receiving a five-star rating. The single became the second consecutive Top 10 effort from the singer's third album, reaching number 10 in the UK. The final single to be released from the album was "
No More", which samples The Stranglers' 1981 single "
Golden Brown". It made the A-list on
BBC Radio 2, but failed to garner much sales success, debuting at number 43.
Walk with Me became Jamelia's second album to receive a BPI certification. After four months of release, it sold more than 100,000 copies and was awarded a Gold disk. In late 2007, the singer released a singles collection titled
Superstar - The Hits. The compilation album features 11 of her 14 releases, omitting the 1999 single "So High",
Drama singles "I Do" and "Boy Next Door" and the non-UK 2004 release "Universal Prayer". The collection, which only managed to début at number 55 on the UK Album Charts, was criticised for its hastiness, brevity and lack of new tracks or artwork. This proved to be her final album for Parlophone, which she left weeks after the collection's release amid rumours that the sales performance of
Walk With Me had been a factor in the decision of the artist and label to part ways, and to release the singles collection. In an interview with entertainment website
Digital Spy in December 2009, Jamelia commented on being a rumoured replacement for
Keisha Buchanan, in the girl-group
Sugababes and spoke about work with her ongoing album, which was going "absolutely amazing". She stated that she was working with producers who have previously worked with
Lady Gaga and
Beyoncé, and that the album returned her sound to 2004's
Thank You. She also vowed to come back with a "really exciting" album. Ultimately, nothing was released
2013–2020: Presenting and return to acting In 2013 and 2014, Jamelia appeared on two series of
The Voice of Ireland as a coach. In February 2013, Jamelia appeared in an episode of the
BBC drama series
Death in Paradise, portraying a singer. In 2014, Jamelia modelled a new swimwear range for
Boux Avenue. In August 2013, Jamelia was part of a house band on every episode of the
BBC One panel show
I Love My Country. On 27 November 2013, Jamelia joined the panel of the ITV chat show
Loose Women. As of 16 August 2016, she had made 162 appearances. However, she was axed from the show following new contracts being drawn up on 17 August 2016, and did not return for series 21. In May 2014, she appeared in a TV advertisement for Boux Avenue and sang a cover version of "
I Only Want to Be with You", with the chorus changed to "I only want to be with Boux". In 2015, Jamelia took part in
Bear Grylls: Mission Survive on ITV. In 2015, Jamelia participated on
thirteenth series of
Strictly Come Dancing. She was partnered with professional dancer
Tristan MacManus. The pair survived four dance-offs, but lost their fifth dance off in week 9, being voted out by 3 out of 4 judges against
Peter Andre and
Janette Manrara. In 2016, she returned to acting to appear in an episode of the BBC soap opera
Doctors as
Helena Wales. Following her appearance, she stated that she wants to return to
Doctors. She had previously appeared as herself in 2003, and as Bailey for one episode in 2021. In 2024, she appeared on the thirteenth series of the
E4 series
Celebs Go Dating. In April 2025, BBC comedy drama
Just Act Normal aired; Jamelia portrays Jackie. In 2025 Jamelia confirmed working on a new album. Citing family encouragement, as a reason to return to the studio, Jamelia says her new music will reflect a more "mature perspective" and that she intends to bring “wisdom and life experience” to her new music. In October 2025, Jamelia performed a live acoustic performance at AURA Skypool in
Dubai where she debuted two unreleased tracks "Flowers" and "Pieces" from her upcoming album. In an interview with
Davina McCall, Jamelia confirmed the album, titled
The Audacity, would be released in 2026. ==Other projects==