Craig Ashley David was born on May 5, 1981 in Southampton, England. His father is Black Grenadian and his mother is Jewish. He rose to fame as the singer on the Artful Dodger's "Rewind" which reached number two in the UK in late 1999. David sent in a self written song called "I'm Ready" for a competition Damage was running, which was then used as a b-side on their top three hit "Wonderful Tonight".

In 2000 he had a number one hit with "Fill Me In". He then got another top 10 hit, being featured on another Artful Dodger song, also featuring Robbie Craig, called "Woman Trouble" (reaching #6). Then another solo number one hit came, named "7 Days". At the end of that year he was named best UK newcomer and best R&B act at the MOBO Awards. His album Born To Do It was released in 2000, and 2 more top 10 hits from it came ("Walking Away" reaching #3, and "Rendezvous" reaching #8). The album and its singles also had massive success overseas, in countries like Australia, Canada and the United States.

Slicker Than Your Average was the follow-up album and was released in 2002, and 6 singles were released from it. These were: "What's Your Flava?" (#8 in 2002), "Hidden Agenda" (#10 in 2003), "Rise & Fall" (featuring Sting, #2 in 2003), "Spanish" (#8 in 2003), "World Filled With Love" (#15 in 2003), and "You Don't Miss Your Water ('Til The Well Runs Dry)" (#43 in 2004).

David's label, Telstar Records, ultimately went bankrupt; the blame was placed on them concentrating too much on marketing Victoria Beckham's musical output, which failed to achieve the success they had expected. He later signed on with Warner Music.

In 2005 he made his comeback with the single "All The Way" which hit the top 10. His third album The Story Goes... was released on August 22, 2005.