Editing Heather Small (section)

===1987–1998: Hot House and M People===
Small joined her first group, [[Hot House (British band)|Hot House]], as a singer while she was still a teenager. She was the studio singer voice of the re-recorded version of "[[Ride on Time]]" by [[Black Box (band)|Black Box]].<ref name = "discog">{{cite web|url=http://www.discogs.com/Black-Box-Ride-On-Time-UK-Remix/release/157659 |title=Black Box – Ride On Time (UK Remix) (CD) at Discogs |year=1989 |publisher=Discogs.com |access-date=9 April 2012}}</ref> She had a chance meeting with Manchester DJ, [[Mike Pickering]], formerly of [[Quando Quango]], which led to sales of over 10 million albums worldwide with the group [[M People]]. They had considerable success with songs such as "[[Moving On Up (M People song)|Moving On Up]]", "[[One Night in Heaven]]" and "[[Search for the Hero]]".

In 1997, Small performed in "[[Perfect Day (Lou Reed song)|Perfect Day]]", the official 1997 [[Children in Need]] charity release, alongside a broad range of artists, including [[Tom Jones (singer)|Tom Jones]] and [[Lou Reed]]. It sold over a million copies and was the [[United Kingdom|UK's]] number one single for three weeks.<ref>{{Cite web|title=perfect day {{!}} full Official Chart History {{!}} Official Charts Company|url=https://www.officialcharts.com/search/singles/perfect%20day/|access-date=2021-04-30|website=www.officialcharts.com|language=en}}</ref>

In 1998, Small and M People took some time off to pursue solo projects after ''[[The Best of M People]]'' was released.