Brown signed a recording contract with
A&M in 1986. doing particularly well in the UK and Australia. Brown's second studio album,
April Moon (1990), included two
hit singles, "
Kissing Gate" and "
With a Little Love". In late 2006, she undertook an extensive UK tour as special guest of her father, Joe Brown. The shows also included appearances by her brother, Pete Brown. In 2007, seven years after her last album, Brown released
Of the Moment. She also returned to the Top 10 of the
UK Albums Chart in October 2007, when "Valentine Moon" was included on
Jools Holland's hit album
Best of Friends. That same year she developed problems with her singing voice, and for unknown reasons has not been able to sing consistently since. In an interview in 2013 she explained that "I can't get vocal cord closure and achieve the proper pitch simultaneously. It feels like there are some muscles that aren't working." After a cyst was found on her vocal cords, she had the cyst successfully removed, but problems with her voice persisted, leaving her unable to hold a note. Seeking alternative musical occupation, Brown started a ukulele club in 2010 and expanded to several clubs in
Oxfordshire,
Dorset,
London and online which have continued to thrive. In 2021 she released her only live album,
Wednesday The Something of April, a recording of a one-woman show from 2004 featuring songs from across her career. Brown's first studio album in fifteen years,
Number 8, was released in January 2023. It was written and recorded with long-time collaborator Danny Schogger and makes use of
Melodyne software to help Brown's vocals.
Backing and guest vocalist As well as her solo career, Brown has had a successful career as a backing vocalist and collaborator with other artists. She has worked with the band
Barclay James Harvest (1984),
David Gilmour (
David Gilmour in Concert) and
Pink Floyd,
Deep Purple (
In Concert with The London Symphony Orchestra),
Jon Lord,
The Firm,
Gary Moore,
George Harrison and
Nick Cave. She has often appeared as a member of
Jools Holland's Rhythm and Blues Orchestra and achieved further prominence with her 2002 performance at the
Concert for George, which was a
memorial to George Harrison on the first anniversary of his death, where she sang "
Horse to the Water". This song is included in the film of the concert and in the 2018 digital
album release, but not on the original 2003 album. In 2002, she was a backing vocalist at
Buckingham Palace at the
Golden Jubilee of Elizabeth II's concert,
Party at the Palace. In 2015, Brown started teaching backing vocals classes at the
Academy of Contemporary Music (ACM) in
Guildford, Surrey, a school for rock and pop musicians. ==Personal life==