Heavenly Records, aka Heavenly Recordings, is a London-based record label, distributed by EMI. Founded by Jeff Barrett, a former press officer for Creation Records and many successful indie bands of the time including Happy Mondays, Heavenly Recordings' first releases were 7" and 12" singles for bands Barrett had discovered. The label's early releases included singles and albums by acts such as Flowered Up, Saint Etienne, East Village and Manic Street Preachers. Their most significant early release was Saint Etienne's Foxbase Alpha album, released in 1991 to widespread critical acclaim and a Mercury Music Prize nomination.

In 1993 Barrett partnered with former East Village lead singer/songwriter Martin Kelly who had worked alongside Jeff since 1989 and given up making music to manage bands. Together they brokered a distribution deal with BMG which enabled them to sign Beth Orton, The Hybirds, Monkey Mafia, Dot Allison, Q-Tee and Espiritu. Beth Orton's first album Trailer Park was well received by critics and sold modestly well. It won her two BRIT Award nominations and a Mercury Music Prize nomination. She won the BRIT Award for Best British Female in 2000 for her second album, Central Reservation. In 2000 Heavenly Records sought a new distribution deal with EMI and soon signed Manchester band Doves, 22-20s, and singer/songwriter Ed Harcourt. Beth Orton was dropped from the label in 2005 but continues to make records for EMI. Doves became a great success for the label, scoring four platinum albums in a row with Lost Souls (2000), The Last Broadcast (2002), Some Cities (2005), and Kingdom of Rust (2009). The Last Broadcast and Some Cities gave the label their first #1 album. In 2004 the label signed brother/sister quartet The Magic Numbers. The Magic Numbers debut album went on to out-sell anything else the label had ever released, quickly becoming one of the biggest British bands of 2005 and earning them a BRIT Award Nomination in 2006 for Best British Newcomer.

Manic Street Preachers are a Welsh alternative rock band formed in 1986 consisting of James Dean Bradfield (lead vocals, lead guitar), Nicky Wire (bass, lyrics), and Sean Moore (drums, percussion). The band is part of the Cardiff music scene and were at their most prominent during the 1990s. They are colloquially known as "The Manics" or simply "Manics". Manic Street Preachers were originally a quartet but primary lyricist and rhythm guitarist Richey Edwards vanished on 1 February 1995.

In 1992, the Manics released their debut album, Generation Terrorists. Their combination of androgynous glam punk imagery and critical social lyrics about "culture, alienation, boredom, and despair" soon gained them a loyal following and cult status. The band's later albums retained a leftist politicisation and intellectual lyrical style while adopting a broader alternative rock sound.

Following Edwards' disappearance, Bradfield, Moore, and Wire persisted with Manic Street Preachers and went on to gain critical and commercial success, becoming one of Britain's premier rock bands. Altogether, they have garnered eight Top 10 albums, fifteen Top 10 singles, and have reached number one three times with their 1998 This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours album, the 1998 "If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next" single, and the 2000 "The Masses Against the Classes" single.

Dot Allison (born Dorothy Elliot Allison, 17 August 1969, Edinburgh, Scotland) is a Scottish singer and songwriter, who has made significant inroads in electronic music circles, most notably as a result of her tenure fronting the band One Dove in the early 1990s. She is married to the film composer Christian Henson and they live in London.

In addition to solo ventures, Allison's career has concentrated on collaborative efforts, and has seen her work beside Scott Walker, Paul Weller, Hal David, Arab Strap, Mick Harvey, Kevin Shields, Pete Doherty, Gary Mounfield, Xenomania and Massive Attack.

Allison released her debut album, Afterglow, in 1999 to generally positive reviews. A song-oriented pop outing, it was followed by the electro and house music inspired We Are Science in 2002. In 2007, she released Exaltation of Larks. Allison's touring group includes members of The Fall, Tindersticks, The Bad Seeds, Massive Attack, and Tokyo Windbag. Stylistically, her music has been described as "trip-pop," and owes a great deal to British electronic music of the late 1980s and early 1990s.^{[citation needed]}