What We Had
by Roachford (featuring Beverley Knight)

Album: Twice In A Lifetime (2020)
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Songfacts®:

  • "What We Had" is a duet between Roachford and British soul singer Beverley Knight. In a Songfacts interview with Andrew Roachford, he revealed how the collaboration came about. "We've bumped into each other over the years at live gigs and stuff, and I think it was always in the cards – I just was waiting for the right song. When I'd written 'What We Had' I thought, 'Yeah this is it, we've got to get in touch with Beverley and hopefully she'll say yes.' So we played it for her and she instantly got back and was just like, 'Yeah, I'm up for it,' and she came down to the studio and really just blew us all away."
  • Andrew Roachford explained that he very much found a kindred spirit in Beverley Knight: "We've had a similar journey over the years, me and Beverley, both of us from a black Caribbean heritage, with similar stories and a lot of shared experiences. We've had to go out there and bang on a lot of doors during our careers, and I really admire Beverley a lot, I love her warrior spirit."

    Beverley Knight previously covered Roachford's breakthrough hit single "Cuddly Toy (Feel For Me)" as part of her 2011 covers album Soul UK. She said in the press release for the album that "Cuddly Toy" had a big influence on her as a songwriter, adding, "Roachford showed a cynical British media that British soul could also be fused with a rockier sound and not only work, but be a global hit."
  • Twice In A Lifetime was Roachford's 11th studio album and the follow-up to 2013's This Beautiful Moment. It charted at #31 in the UK, making it the first Roachford album to enter the Top 40 since 1997's Feel.

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