Des’ray
Biography
Desray, stage name of Désirée Manders (The Hague, 28 October 1969). She is best known as the lead singer of the eurodance project 2 Brothers on the 4th Floor.
On the evening of 29 January 1988 she gained national attention during the live broadcast of the Soundmixshow hosted by Henny Huisman on KRO (Nederland 1), where she performed They Don't Play Our Lovesong Anymore. After winning the preliminary round she qualified for the final and finished third; the final caused a failure of the PTT telephone lines in the Netherlands that night.
Together with D-Rock (René Philips) she formed 2 Brothers on the 4th Floor, which achieved international hits including Never Alone, Dreams, Come Take My Hand and One Day.
She also performed with Anita Doth (2 Unlimited) and Linda Estelle (T-Spoon) under the name “Divas of Dance”.
In 2000 Desray appeared on Big Brother VIPS. In 2012 she took part in the talent show “The Winner is…” (John de Mol) on SBS6: she won successive duels against Anita Heilker (99–2), Dewi Pechler (72–29) and Lilian Day Jackson (101–0), was awarded the “Professionals” category unanimously by the jury and qualified for the live final on 15 March 2012.
On 13, 14 and 15 May 2016 Desray performed at the Toppers in the Amsterdam ArenA with the duo 2 Brothers on the 4th Floor.
In 2026, her stage partner D-Rock was forced to stop touring due to Parkinson’s disease; he left the group and Desray did likewise. Live shows are now covered by Li-Ann on vocals and Masta for the rap parts.