Des'ree was raised in South London and introduced to reggae, calypso and jazz music by her parents, who came to Britain from the Caribbean. Des'ree's interest in pursuing a musical career followed a three year trip to Barbados with her family at the age of fourteen. In 1992, the single "Feel So High" got extensive international airplay and reached #13 in the UK and #28 in Australia.

In 1994, her single "You Gotta Be" hit the Billboard Hot 100 Top 5, peaking at #5, and was a hit in the UK three times. You Gotta Be became the most played music video on VH1 and remained on the Billboard recurrent airplay chart for 80 weeks.

Following the single's success, Des'ree's second album, I Ain't Movin' , sold in excess of 1.6 million copies worldwide. Her success lead to an American tour with Seal in 1995. The following year, she contributed the song "Kissing You" to the soundtrack of the film William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet.

In 1998, her single "Life" became a hit in Europe. In 1999, she won a BRIT Award for the British Female Solo Artist category. She released Dream Soldier in 2003.

Des'ree has also performed various duets, including "Fire" with Babyface, "Plenty Lovin" with Steve Winwood and "Delicate" with Terence Trent D'Arby.

She also campaigned for anti-fur campaigns featuring on PETA's website, as well as FurIsDead.com.

In Spring 2007, Des'ree was voted the worst pop lyricist of all time for the song "Life" according to a BBC Radio poll.

Des'ree also re-appeared in the news, when Beyoncé recorded a cover version of the Tim Atack/Des'ree penned song, "I'm Kissing You", for the re-release of her album, B'Day. It turns out that the song was recorded without permission, legal action to recover royalties and block further distribution of the song is pending.

Her song, "Feels So High" was interpolated into the Janet Jackson song "Got 'Til It's Gone" from Jackson's CD, The Velvet Rope. The album itself does not list the song or Des'Ree as a contributor, but the maxi single, released in 2000, lists Des'ree as one of the song's writers. This was when in 1998, Jackson was forced to pay an undisclosed sum to Des'ree following legal action.