Proud (Heather Small song)

"Proud"
Single by Heather Small
from the album Proud
B-side	"Don't Give Up the Fight", "Wonderful World"
Released	8 May 2000 18 July 2005 (Re-release)
Format	CD, Digital Download
Genre	R&B, dance-pop
Length	4:29
Label	Arista
Writer(s)	Heather Small Peter-John Vettese
Producer(s)	Peter-John Vettese Simon Climie Steve DuBerry Ollie Marland
Heather Small singles chronology
"Proud" (2000) "Holding On" (2000)
Alternative cover Cover art of the 2005 release. Audio sample file info · help

"Proud" is a song by M People singer Heather Small, which was released in May 2000, peaking at #16 on the UK Singles Chart.^[1] It was the title track from her debut album Proud, and was released as her first single becoming a worldwide hit. The song was co-written with and produced by Peter-John Vettese.

In 2005, the song was adopted as the official theme for the London 2012 Olympic bid, and was featured in a widely seen promotional video for the bid.^[2] Re-released in honour of this, and due to the fact a new M People greatest hits titled Ultimate Collection, which also included two of Small's solo songs, was released the same year, the song returned to the UK Singles Chart peaking at #33 and remaining in the Top 75 for two more weeks.^[3] The song was also re-released on The Biggest Loser soundtrack in 2006. It peaked at #34.^[4]

Track listing

Official versions

• Album Version – 4:29
• Single Version – 3:54
• Radio Edit – 3:45
• Peter Presta QAF V Mix – 5:01
• Peter Presta QAF Extended Mix – 8:36^[5]
• Josh Harris Remix – 4:19

Charts

In the media

• Heather Small performed "Proud" at the 60th anniversary of VE day in Trafalgar Square.^[11]
• She also performed the song for the launch of the Queen Mary 2.^[11]
• She appeared at a performance to celebrate Britain's successful bid for the 2012 Summer Olympics.^[11]
• Proud was featured in the American version of the popular hit series Queer as Folk; the recording was featured in both the debut episode in 2000, as well as the 2005 series finale.
• Small also appeared in the Visa London 2012 Party at The Mall on August 24, 2008, to celebrate official countdown of the Olympic Games coming to London
• In 2005, Small performed for the Tsunami Relief Concert at the Cardiff Millennium Stadium. This concert was able to raise over £1.25 million and bring awareness to distressed countries.^[11]
• In November 2005 Small made her US television debut performing "Proud" on The Oprah Winfrey Show whereupon Winfrey named it as the new theme for the program.^[11]
• "Proud" is used as the theme music for the season two to nine of NBC's weight-losing reality show The Biggest Loser.
• The song is being used on the soundtrack of the film Akeelah and the Bee. The soundtrack was released in the US on April 4, 2006, and the film on April 28, 2006, in US theatres.
• In 2006, the song "Proud" was used as the main campaign song for Massachusetts gubernatorial candidate Deval Patrick.
• On December 14, 2008, she sang the song at the 2008 BBC Sports Personality of the Year awards, at the Echo Arena in Liverpool. This was to celebrate the achievements of British Olympians at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.
• The song is also widely used in many videos and events as an unofficial theme for the pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline.
• The song was previously used in television commercials, radio commercials, and other marketing materials for HealthPartners.^[12] Scroll down on page to HealthPartners video.
• The song was at a time the school song for AKIS-BS.
• The song is used in the local radio station, i98FM's Camp Quality Truck Convoy, in November every year, in Wollongong.
• In the British sitcom, Miranda, Miranda's best friend Stevie (Sarah Hadland) has a cardboard cutout of Small's face. She is regularly seen holding it up and singing the main line of the chorus ("What have you done today to make you feel proud?"), then replying to herself by stating an achievement she has accomplished that day (e.g. "Well Miss Heather Small, today I've completed the expenditure-chart for our joke-shop, and taken the delivery of hen-night stock"). ^[13] Small performed part of the song in a guest appearance for the series finale.
• It is also used as the company song within the Thomas Cook Group. Employees follow the 'PROUD' values (Pioneering our future, Results oriented, Obsessed with customer service, United as one team and Driving robust decisions).
• The British supermarket Tesco uses the song in most of their employee training videos.
• On Red Nose Day 2011, Small appeared in a sketch of the aforementioned Miranda, alongside Stevie, where they tried to out-sing each other on "Proud".
• In March 2012, financial services firm Citigroup celebrated its 200th Anniversary by having 1,000 employees record a collaborative rendition of the song.
• In 2013, a Brazilian soap opera called Amor A Vida used this song in the soundtrack

References

External links

• Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics