Ella Mai | |
|---|---|
 Ella Mai at the 2019 iHeartRadio Music Awards | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Ella Mai Howell |
| Born | 3 November 1994 London, England |
| Genres | R&B[1] |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 2014–present |
| Labels |
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| Formerly of | Arize |
| Website | ellamai |
Ella Mai Howell (born 3 November 1994) is an English R&B singer-songwriter. Her musical career began at London's British and Irish Modern Music Institute in 2014, during which time she auditioned as part of a trio on the 11th season of The X Factor. In 2015, she released her debut four-track solo extended play (EP), Troubled in October of that year. The EP and her performances on social media were discovered by American record producer DJ Mustard, who signed Mai to his record label 10 Summers Records, an imprint of Interscope Records.
From 2016 to 2018, she released three additional EPs on the label, including Time, Change, and Ready. Her self-titled debut studio album (2018) was preceded by the singles "Boo'd Up" and "Trip", which peaked at numbers five and 11 on the Billboard Hot 100, respectively. The former won Best R&B Song and a nomination for Song of the Year at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards, while Mai herself was a nominee for British Breakthrough Act at the Brit Awards 2019.[2] That same year, she won three awards at the 2019 Billboard Music Awards, including Top R&B Artist. Her second studio album, Heart on My Sleeve (2023) failed to reach the UK Albums Chart, but performed moderately on the US Billboard 200.[3][4]
- ^ "Ella Mai Songs, Albums, Reviews, Bio & More". AllMusic.
- ^ Daly, Rhian (12 January 2019). "IDLES, The 1975, and Dua Lipa amongst stars nominated for 2019 BRIT Awards". NME. Retrieved 24 January 2019.
- ^ Lynch, Joe (1 May 2019). "2019 Billboard Music Awards Winners: The Complete List". Billboard.
- ^ "Ella Mai Unveils Tracklist for Sophomore Album, 'Heart on My Sleeve'". 31 March 2022.