Wheeler began singing in the reggae bands Brown Sugar and Afrodiziak, and then became famous as part of Soul II Soul in 1989. She went solo in 1990, recording UK Blak in 1991. Her last record was Beach of the War Goddess in 1993.
She is an adoptee and also a birth mother. Her baby boy, Nesta, was taken from her after a non-accidental injury and has been adopted.