Gabriel (Roy Davis Jr. song)


"Gabriel" is a song by Roy Davis Jr. and Peven Everett.
It was first released in the U.S. in 1996 on Large Records, titled "Gabrielle". It originally states on the record that the track was produced by Davis Jr., with Everett providing vocals and performing trumpet on the song — although Everett later contested Davis Jr.'s involvement.
The following year, UK label XL Recordings re-released "Gabriel" and rebranded the song to credit Peven Everett as a 'featured artist' despite both being credited as having written and produced the song. Also in the XL re-release, Everett was credited as having provided lead and backing vocals, as well as performing trumpet and keyboards. The re-release featured more mixes of the track by UK duos Basement Jaxx and R.I.P. Productions. It became very popular in the clubs, and the single subsequently reached the top 30 on the UK Singles Chart, peaking at number 22 and remaining on the chart for five weeks. It also reached No. 5 on the UK Dance Singles Chart.
A 2-step remix was released in 2000 by Mike Millrain on the Locked On compilation Sound of the Pirates.

Impact and legacy

In November 2016, UK duo Gorgon City compiled a list of their top UK garage songs for Billboard, with "Gabriel" at #26.
The Guardian listed the song at number 3 in their list of "The best UK garage tracks - ranked!" in 2019.
Mixmag included "Gabriel" in their list of "40 of the best UK garage tracks released from 1995 to 2005", and in their list of "16 of the Best Uplifting Vocal Garage Tracks".

Controversy over song credits

In a 2017 tweet, "Gabriel" singer Peven Everett claimed that he "wrote, sang and produced" the track, suggesting that he had been unduly credited for his contribution.
He reiterated his claim in a 2019 tweet, stating "A large thing is the large lie told by Large Records for almost 30 years that Roy had anything to do with my song Gabriel. I wrote it and recorded all of it... Roy's mom hated him for this."

Track listing

;US 12"
;UK 12"