Ellie Goulding
Elena Jane Goulding is an English singer-songwriter. Born in Hereford and raised in Lyonshall, Goulding began writing songs at the age of 15. She released her debut single "Under the Sheets" through Neon Gold Records in 2009, and signed with Polydor Records that same year, releasing her debut extended play An Introduction to Ellie Goulding. Her debut studio album, Lights, debuted at on the UK Albums Chart, and was reissued as Bright Lights, spawning three successful singles: a cover of Elton John's "Your Song", "Starry Eyed" and "Lights".
Goulding's second studio album, Halcyon, was preceded by its lead single "Anything Could Happen", and a repackaged edition titled Halcyon Days produced the single "Burn", which became her first single in the UK. She then collaborated with DJ Calvin Harris on two singles: "I Need Your Love" and "Outside". After the release of her third studio album Delirium and its lead single "On My Mind", Goulding received a Grammy Award nomination for her single "Love Me Like You Do", which was recorded for the soundtrack of Fifty Shades of Grey.
Goulding took a hiatus from 2016 to 2020, struggling with an anxiety disorder and media scrutiny over false claims about her personal life. Her fourth studio album Brightest Blue became her third album to top the UK Albums Chart, and her fourth consecutive album certified by the Recording Industry Association of America. It spawned several singles, including the hits "Close to Me", "Hate Me" and "Sixteen". She reunited with Harris on the single "Miracle", which spent eight non-consecutive weeks at No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart in 2023. Goulding's fifth studio album Higher Than Heaven debuted at No. 1 in the UK, her fourth chart-topping album, making her the British female with the most number-one albums in UK history, tying with Adele.
Goulding is the recipient of numerous accolades, including two Brit Awards, a Brit Billion Award, a Billboard Music Award, 17 BMI London Awards, and two Grammy nominations. She was honoured with a Decade Award by the Variety Hitmakers Awards in recognition of a decade of "undeniable hits" and TIME100 honoured her with the Impact Award for using her platform to protect the environment. She has sold more than 27 million albums and 216 million singles, and amassed 43 billion streams worldwide, making her one of the most successful British female singers of the 21st century.
Early life
Elena Jane Goulding was born on 30 December 1986 in Hereford, Herefordshire, England, to Arthur and Tracey Goulding, and was brought up in the small village of Lyonshall, in Herefordshire. She has a brother, Alex, and two sisters, Isabel and Jordan. When she was five years old, her parents separated. Afterwards, she had little contact with her father, a funeral director. Goulding and her siblings were raised by their mother on a council estate, with Goulding describing the family as "super poor". Goulding has stated that she has a "difficult" relationship with her mother.Goulding began playing the clarinet at age nine and began learning guitar when she was 14. She attended Lady Hawkins' High School in Kington, Herefordshire and, by the age of 15, started writing songs. She took A levels in English, politics, drama and music, and passed three with "A" grades but failed music. She enrolled on a degree in Drama and Theatre Studies at the University of Kent, but did not complete her studies, quitting in her final year. After meeting Jamie Lillywhite, he became her manager and introduced her to the producer Starsmith, who would become her chief collaborator and the primary producer of Lights.
Career
2009–2011: ''Lights'' and ''Bright Lights''
Although Ellie Goulding signed to Polydor Records in July 2009, her debut single, "Under the Sheets", was released through the independent label Neon Gold Records, appearing digitally in the United Kingdom on 15 November 2009. The single peaked at on the UK Singles Chart following Goulding's appearance on Later... with Jools Holland and a UK tour supporting Little Boots. "Wish I Stayed" was available as a free download as Single of the Week on iTunes Store UK from 22 to 28 December 2009.Before the release of her debut album, Goulding won the BBC Sound of 2010 poll, which showcases the music industry's top choices for rising stars. She also won the Critics' Choice Award at the 2010 Brit Awards, making her the second artist to win both in the same year. Goulding co-wrote "Love Me 'Cause You Want To" for Gabriella Cilmi's second album, Ten, and three songs for Diana Vickers's debut album, Songs from the Tainted Cherry Tree. Her song "Not Following" was used by German singer Lena on her debut album My Cassette Player. Goulding was featured on rapper Tinie Tempah's single "Wonderman" from his debut studio album Disc-Overy.
Goulding's debut album Lights was released in March 2010, reaching on the UK Albums Chart and on the Irish Albums Chart. Its singles "Starry Eyed", "Guns and Horses", and "The Writer" peaked at, 26, and 19. As of June 2012, the album had sold over 850,000 copies in the UK and 1.6 million copies worldwide. In August 2010, she released a second EP, Run into the Light, containing remixes of songs from Lights. The album was supported by Nike and was released through Polydor as a running soundtrack in an effort to get her music taken up by the running subculture. In November 2010, Lights was re-released as Bright Lights, with six new tracks added. It was originally announced that the lead single from Bright Lights would be the new edit of the title track with a release scheduled for 1 November 2010. This plan was ultimately scrapped to allow her cover of Elton John's "Your Song" to be released in conjunction with the John Lewis Christmas advert in the UK in 2010. The single became her second highest-charting single to date, reaching on the UK Singles Chart. It also charted in some European countries. In January 2011, it was announced that the title track from Lights would serve as the second single from Bright Lights. "Lights" reached on the UK Singles Chart, while becoming Goulding's first song to chart in the United States, as well as her highest-charting song to date, peaking at on the Billboard Hot 100 in August 2012.
Goulding toured in support of Lights and supported Passion Pit in March 2010 and John Mayer during his British tour in May 2010. During the summer she performed at a number of festivals. On 29 May she performed at the Dot to Dot Festival in Bristol. She performed a set on 25 June at the Glastonbury Festival 2010 on the John Peel Stage. Her third EP was a live recording of part of her set at the iTunes Festival 2010. The whole set was ultimately included as bonus content on the iTunes version of Bright Lights. She made her T in the Park debut on 11 July. In early 2011, she recorded an original song for the film Life in a Day. Ellie Goulding was on Rolling Stones annual hot list in February 2011. In February 2011, she returned to the Brit Awards where she was nominated for Best British Female and Best British Breakthrough Act but lost out to Laura Marling and to Tinie Tempah.
In April 2011, Goulding played live at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. She also made her American television debut on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on 7 April 2011 performing "Starry Eyed". She appeared as the musical guest on the 700th episode of the Saturday Night Live, broadcast 7 May 2011 and hosted by Tina Fey. She performed at the wedding reception of Prince William and Kate Middleton on 29 April 2011, and performed what she recalled as "about 14 songs", including her cover of "Your Song".
Goulding collaborated with American electronic artist and producer Skrillex on a song titled "Summit", included on his 2011 EP Bangarang. She travelled with Skrillex on his South American tour
She headlined the 2011 Wakestock Festival in Wales, performing on 8 July. In August, she performed at the V Festival for her second year in a row. Following the re-release of Lights and the American release of the album, Goulding said she would soon begin work on a second studio album with an expected release of September 2011. On 6 August 2011, she performed at Lollapalooza in Chicago. She performed at the annual Nobel Peace Prize Concert on 11 December 2011 in Oslo, Norway. On 1 December 2011, she performed at the White House during the National Christmas Tree lighting, alongside Big Time Rush and will.i.am. On 19 September 2011, it was announced that she would open for Katy Perry's California Dreams Tour, replacing Jessie J who withdrew due to a foot injury.
2012–2014: ''Halcyon'' and ''Halcyon Days''
In 2012, Goulding appeared on "Fall into the Sky" from Zedd's debut album Clarity and on Calvin Harris's song "I Need Your Love" which is included on Halcyon and also Harris's album 18 Months. On 10 July 2012, Goulding released a cover of Active Child's song "Hanging On", featuring Tinie Tempah, as a free download on her SoundCloud page. In late July 2012, it was announced that Goulding's second album is titled Halcyon and it would be released on 8 October 2012. The album was preceded by the lead single "Anything Could Happen" on 21 August. The lyric video for "Anything Could Happen" premiered on 9 August 2012, consisting of a series of fan-submitted Instagram pictures.On 19 November 2012, the music video for Goulding's second single from Halcyon, titled "Figure 8" was released. The single was released digitally in the UK on 12 December 2012. The song charted before it was released, and made its way into the top 40 in the UK, peaking at.
Goulding contributed a track titled "Bittersweet" to the soundtrack of The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2, released on 13 November 2012. It was announced on 12 February 2013, that in May 2013, she would be supporting Bruno Mars on his Moonshine Jungle World Tour on selected dates. On 20 May 2013, Goulding announced she would embark on a seven-date tour in the UK during October that year. On 28 May 2013, Goulding's cover of Alt-J's song "Tessellate" was released via her SoundCloud page. Goulding has also been reported to have filmed a music video for this track in Paris earlier that month. She claimed to be "making a video for a song that isn't on my record".
In June 2013, Goulding performed at previous festivals and concerts including RockNess festival in Inverness, and Firefly Music Festival at The Woodlands in Dover, Delaware. On 2 July 2013, Goulding premiered a song titled "You My Everything" in the first episode of Skins Fire and that same day Goulding confirmed to Elle magazine that Halcyon would be re-released later that year.
On 5 July 2013, Digital Spy confirmed the release of Halcyon Days, a repackaged edition of Halcyon, which was released on 23 August 2013. The re-release, featuring ten additional tracks, was preceded by the single "Burn", which had been uploaded to Goulding's SoundCloud page the previous day. On 7 July 2013, the official music video for "Burn" premiered on Goulding's Vevo channel on YouTube. "Burn" became Goulding's first single to top the UK's Official Singles Chart.
Goulding was performing at V Festival Chelmsford when news of her first UK broke; Rita Ora surprised Goulding with her Official Number 1 Award. On 9 September 2013, Goulding released a music video for "How Long Will I Love You" for the film About Time. Goulding appeared on the soundtrack for the film The Hunger Games: Catching Fire with the track "Mirror".
On 15 October 2013, Goulding confirmed on Fearne Cotton's radio show that "How Long Will I Love You" would be the next single for BBC's Children in Need. On the same day, the Active Child song "Silhouette", on which Goulding features, was also released. On 28 October 2013, Goulding posted an alternative video of "How Long Will I Love You" on her Vevo channel for the short film Tom & Issy, in which she also stars. On the final episode of The X Factor on 14 December, Goulding performed a duet with finalist Luke Friend.
On 5 January 2014, Goulding premiered the music video for her song "Goodness Gracious" on her Vevo channel, later confirming that it would be her sixth single released from Halcyon Days. On 22 January 2014, Goulding confirmed through her Facebook page that she had contributed the song "Beating Heart" to the soundtrack for the film Divergent, based on the novel of the same name by Veronica Roth.
On 3 February 2014, Goulding released a cover of the James Blake song "Life Round Here" featuring rapper Angel Haze through her SoundCloud page. On 19 February, Goulding won Best British Female Solo Artist at the 2014 Brit Awards.
On 20 October 2014, she stated via Facebook that she will appear on the new Calvin Harris album, Motion, with a new song called "Outside". The song was released as the album's fourth single on 20 October 2014. Goulding also featured in Iggy Azalea's song "Heavy Crown", which was released on 21 November 2014 on Azalea's Reclassified, a reissue of her debut album The New Classic.