Ella Eyre

A British pop vocalist with a resonant, soulful sound, Ella Eyre first grabbed the public’s attention collaborating with Rudimental on the 2013 U.K. number and Brit Award-winning one single “Waiting All Night.” She has remained a dance favorite, duetting on singles with Sigala, DJ Fresh, and others, as well as issuing her debut album, Feline, in 2015. Born Ella McMahon in 1994, Eyre grew up in Ealing, West London, where she studied musical theater at the BRIT School for Performing Arts and Technology. By the age of 19, she had already been featured on the U.K. number one single “Waiting All Night,” which combined an intense performance from Eyre with the inventive production skills of fellow Londoners Rudimental. Issued to coincide with the drum’n’bass act’s debut album Home — also an instant number one — the success of both releases was reinforced by Eyre’s involvement in a spring 2013 Rudimental U.K. tour. While “Waiting All Night” wasn’t her first appearance on record, it significantly raised Eyre’s profile and also helped to vindicate Universal’s decision to sign her to their newly established Virgin EMI label. Those who were in anticipation of her debut solo material in the meantime sought out Other People’s Heartache, Pt. 2, a 2012 download-only mixtape by rising London alt rock act Bastille that featured Eyre on two tracks: “No Angels” and “Free.” Her own singles soon began to hit the charts, including 2013′s “Deeper” and a pair of Top 20 hits in 2014, “If I Go” and “Comeback.” By the end of the year, Eyre had finished work on her debut full-length Feline, featuring an array of producers (Ilya, DJ Fresh, Sigma, Sigala). The album appeared in February 2015, peaking at number four in the British chart; soon after, the single “Together” became her third Top 20 hit in less than a year. A 2017 collaborative single with Sigala called “We Came Here for Love” arrived in early 2017, reaching number six on the U.K. charts. It was followed later that year by the single “Ego,” which featured Ty Dolla $ign. Also in 2017, Eyre participated on the Artists for Grenfell charity recording of “Bridge Over Troubled Water.” Another single with Sigala, “Just Got Paid,” also featuring Meghan Trainor and French Montana, charted at number 24 on the dance charts in 2018. The following year, Eyre issued the single “Mama,” with Banx & Ranx and Kiana Ledé. ~ James Wilkinson