Elena Jane Goulding(born 30 December 1986), better known as Ellie Goulding, is an English singer-songwriter and guitarist. She rose to fame after topping the BBC Sound of 2010 poll and winning the Critics' Choice award at the 2010 BRIT Awards. After signing to Polydor Records in 2009, Goulding released her first extended play An Introduction to Ellie Goulding, followed by her debut full-length studio album, Lights, in 2010. Later that year Goulding recorded a re-release of Lights entitled Bright Lights. Goulding is currently working on her second album which will be released later on this year. As of January 2011, Goulding has been nominated for two 2011 BRIT Awards for British Female Solo Artist and British Breakthrough Artist. Her album, Lights, will be released from Cherrytree Records in the US on March 8, 2011.
Background
Goulding was born in Hereford, England, her parents are Arthur and Tracey Goulding (née Clark).When she was a toddler she suffered from a skin condition from which she has never fully recovered. Goulding is the second of four children.She was educated at Lady Hawkins School in Kington, Herefordshire and Hereford Sixth Form College before moving on to the University of Kent, where she was advised to take a gap year to pursue her talent.
Goulding began playing the clarinet and writing her own pop-inspired music at the age of nine, at fourteen she learned to play the guitar. While attending the University of Kent to study drama, and exposed to electronic music, she developed her sound initially with the help of Frankmusik on the track "Wish I Stayed", and then later with Starsmith, who went on to become her chief collaborator and primary producer of her debut album, Lights. This resulted in her leaving university after two years of study under a gap year arrangement with her tutors,and moving to West London.
MUSIC CAREER
Early career
Signed to Polydor Records in September 2009,her debut single "Under the Sheets" was released on independent label Neon Gold Records rather than Polydor so that she would not be put under too much pressure.Premiered on BBC Radio 1 on 30 September 2009, it has since gained heavy airplay. It was released digitally in the United Kingdom on 15 November 2009 and peaked at number fifty-three on the UK Singles Chart.In October 2009 she toured the UK supporting Little Boots,and on 30 October 2009 performed "Under the Sheets" and "Guns and Horses" as a guest on Later... with Jools Holland."Wish I'd Stayed" was single of the Week on the UK iTunes Store from 22–28 December 2009[10]—and she provided the vocals for the Starsmith remix of Passion Pit's "Sleepyhead".
2009-Present: Lights and Bright Lights
Prior to the release of her debut studio album, it was announced that Goulding topped the BBC Sound of 2010 poll, which showcases the critics, broadcasters and music industry insiders' top choices for rising stars and artists for the coming year.She also won the Critics' Choice Award at the 2010 BRIT Awards which makes her the second artist to win both the poll and win the Critic's Choice award in the same year, after Adele won both awards two years previous.
Goulding's debut album, entitled Lights, was through Polydor on 1 March 2010, preceded by its second single, "Starry Eyed", which was released 22 February 2010 and reached number four on the UK Singles Chart.For the majority of the album, Goulding worked with English producer Starsmith.It reached number one on the UK Albums Chart and number twelve on the Irish Albums Chart in March 2010."Guns and Horses" was released as the album's third single on 17 May 2010, peaking at number twenty-six on the UK chart. Released on 9 August 2010, "The Writer" followed as the album's fourth single, reaching number nineteen in the UK.Alongside the release of her debut album, Goulding co-wrote a song with George Astasio, Gabriella Cilmi, Jason Pebworth and Jon Shave for Cilmi's second album, Ten, titled "Love Me Cos You Want To". She also co-wrote three songs for Diana Vickers's debut album, Songs from the Tainted Cherry Tree, entitled "Remake Me + You", "Notice" and "Jumping Into Rivers" (all three co-written with Vickers and Guy Sigsworth). Goulding embarked on her Lights Tour in the United Kingdom, accompanied by support act Primary 1. She also supported John Mayer on his British tour in May 2010. She performed on June 25 at the 40th Glastonbury Festival and is expected to perform at numerous other music festivals across the United Kingdom including V Festival 2010 and Bestival. A track from Lights, "Everytime You Go", was featured in the television hit The Vampire Diaries. The song was featured in season 1, episode 22 titled "Founder's Day". The track "Your Biggest Mistake" was used on an episode of The Inbetweeners.Goulding penned some lyrics for Tinie Tempah's album Disc-Overy, and later, sang guest vocals on his song Wonderman.
On 29 November 2010, Lights was re-released as Bright Lights, including six brand-new tracks. The first single from the re-release was Goulding's cover of Elton John's 1970s classic "Your Song", released on 12 November 2010, which became her highest-charting single to date when it reached number two on the UK Singles, topping Olly Murs and Rihanna on the chart on the 28th of November. It is featured in the John Lewis Christmas 2010 TV advert in the UK. After touring most of the year in 2010 Goulding says in early 2011 she plans to take about a month off to disappear and write songs for her second album.In 2011 she will take on her first American tour after the American release of Bright Lights and see the release of her collaboration with Tinie Tempah when his single "Wonderman" is released.In a blog entry for her American record label Goulding confirmed the title track from Lights would be the title track "Lights", originally only available as an iTunes Bonus Track, would now serve as her album's sixth single, the second for Bright Lights.The music video for Lights surfaced on Monday 17 January across many blog and forum sites. In early 2011 she recorded an original song for the film Life in a Day that debuted at the Sundance Film Festival in late January 2011. Goulding was featured as number five artist on Rolling Stone Magazine's hotlist in February 2011.
Personal Life
Goulding is currently dating BBC Radio 1 DJ Greg James and is good friends with fellow singers Marina Diamandis and Lissie and actress Kristen Stewart as well as producer Starsmith with whom she collaborated on her debut album.
On 4th February 2011, someone hacked Goulding's twitter account.Goulding confirmed that "those twitted on that day" were not written by her.
Background
Goulding was born in Hereford, England, her parents are Arthur and Tracey Goulding (née Clark).When she was a toddler she suffered from a skin condition from which she has never fully recovered. Goulding is the second of four children.She was educated at Lady Hawkins School in Kington, Herefordshire and Hereford Sixth Form College before moving on to the University of Kent, where she was advised to take a gap year to pursue her talent.
Goulding began playing the clarinet and writing her own pop-inspired music at the age of nine, at fourteen she learned to play the guitar. While attending the University of Kent to study drama, and exposed to electronic music, she developed her sound initially with the help of Frankmusik on the track "Wish I Stayed", and then later with Starsmith, who went on to become her chief collaborator and primary producer of her debut album, Lights. This resulted in her leaving university after two years of study under a gap year arrangement with her tutors,and moving to West London.
MUSIC CAREER
Early career
Signed to Polydor Records in September 2009,her debut single "Under the Sheets" was released on independent label Neon Gold Records rather than Polydor so that she would not be put under too much pressure.Premiered on BBC Radio 1 on 30 September 2009, it has since gained heavy airplay. It was released digitally in the United Kingdom on 15 November 2009 and peaked at number fifty-three on the UK Singles Chart.In October 2009 she toured the UK supporting Little Boots,and on 30 October 2009 performed "Under the Sheets" and "Guns and Horses" as a guest on Later... with Jools Holland."Wish I'd Stayed" was single of the Week on the UK iTunes Store from 22–28 December 2009[10]—and she provided the vocals for the Starsmith remix of Passion Pit's "Sleepyhead".
2009-Present: Lights and Bright Lights
Prior to the release of her debut studio album, it was announced that Goulding topped the BBC Sound of 2010 poll, which showcases the critics, broadcasters and music industry insiders' top choices for rising stars and artists for the coming year.She also won the Critics' Choice Award at the 2010 BRIT Awards which makes her the second artist to win both the poll and win the Critic's Choice award in the same year, after Adele won both awards two years previous.
Goulding's debut album, entitled Lights, was through Polydor on 1 March 2010, preceded by its second single, "Starry Eyed", which was released 22 February 2010 and reached number four on the UK Singles Chart.For the majority of the album, Goulding worked with English producer Starsmith.It reached number one on the UK Albums Chart and number twelve on the Irish Albums Chart in March 2010."Guns and Horses" was released as the album's third single on 17 May 2010, peaking at number twenty-six on the UK chart. Released on 9 August 2010, "The Writer" followed as the album's fourth single, reaching number nineteen in the UK.Alongside the release of her debut album, Goulding co-wrote a song with George Astasio, Gabriella Cilmi, Jason Pebworth and Jon Shave for Cilmi's second album, Ten, titled "Love Me Cos You Want To". She also co-wrote three songs for Diana Vickers's debut album, Songs from the Tainted Cherry Tree, entitled "Remake Me + You", "Notice" and "Jumping Into Rivers" (all three co-written with Vickers and Guy Sigsworth). Goulding embarked on her Lights Tour in the United Kingdom, accompanied by support act Primary 1. She also supported John Mayer on his British tour in May 2010. She performed on June 25 at the 40th Glastonbury Festival and is expected to perform at numerous other music festivals across the United Kingdom including V Festival 2010 and Bestival. A track from Lights, "Everytime You Go", was featured in the television hit The Vampire Diaries. The song was featured in season 1, episode 22 titled "Founder's Day". The track "Your Biggest Mistake" was used on an episode of The Inbetweeners.Goulding penned some lyrics for Tinie Tempah's album Disc-Overy, and later, sang guest vocals on his song Wonderman.
On 29 November 2010, Lights was re-released as Bright Lights, including six brand-new tracks. The first single from the re-release was Goulding's cover of Elton John's 1970s classic "Your Song", released on 12 November 2010, which became her highest-charting single to date when it reached number two on the UK Singles, topping Olly Murs and Rihanna on the chart on the 28th of November. It is featured in the John Lewis Christmas 2010 TV advert in the UK. After touring most of the year in 2010 Goulding says in early 2011 she plans to take about a month off to disappear and write songs for her second album.In 2011 she will take on her first American tour after the American release of Bright Lights and see the release of her collaboration with Tinie Tempah when his single "Wonderman" is released.In a blog entry for her American record label Goulding confirmed the title track from Lights would be the title track "Lights", originally only available as an iTunes Bonus Track, would now serve as her album's sixth single, the second for Bright Lights.The music video for Lights surfaced on Monday 17 January across many blog and forum sites. In early 2011 she recorded an original song for the film Life in a Day that debuted at the Sundance Film Festival in late January 2011. Goulding was featured as number five artist on Rolling Stone Magazine's hotlist in February 2011.
Personal Life
Goulding is currently dating BBC Radio 1 DJ Greg James and is good friends with fellow singers Marina Diamandis and Lissie and actress Kristen Stewart as well as producer Starsmith with whom she collaborated on her debut album.
On 4th February 2011, someone hacked Goulding's twitter account.Goulding confirmed that "those twitted on that day" were not written by her.