Ella Eyre

Ella Eyre

Biography

Ella McMahon (born 1 April 1994), known by her stage name Ella Eyre, is an English singer and songwriter, signed to Virgin EMI Records. She is best known for her collaborations with Rudimental on their UK number one single "Waiting All Night" (2013), which won the 2014 Brit Award for British Single of the Year, and with DJ Fresh on his single "Gravity" (2015). Her debut EP, Deeper, was released in 2013 and her debut album, Feline, was released in 2015. Eyre's musical influences include Lauryn Hill, Etta James, Basement Jaxx and Hans Zimmer.

Early life and education

Eyre was raised in Ealing, west London. Her father is Jamaican, and her mother is Maltese and British. Her father is a chef, and her mother is a cake designer. Eyre trained as a competitive swimmer before she began singing professionally.

Eyre was educated at Millfield School and the BRIT School for Performing Arts and Technology, where she studied musical theatre. Discovered by her management through a vocal coach in 2011, McMahon juggled school with songwriting. She signed to the publisher Warner/Chappell Music in July 2012 and a record deal with Virgin EMI followed shortly after.

Music career

In December 2012, Eyre featured on Bastille's cover and mash up of TLC's "No Scrubs" and the xx's "Angels". Titled "No Angels", the song featured on the band's 2012 mixtape, Other People's Heartache, Pt. 2. In April 2013, she featured on drum and bass band Rudimental's single "Waiting All Night", which peaked at number one on the UK Singles Chart, becoming Eyre's first chart entry. In August 2013, she appeared alongside rapper Wiz Khalifa on the track "Think About It" from producer Naughty Boy's 2013 album Hotel Cabana. The song was released as the fourth single from the album in November 2013. Eyre also features on rapper Tinie Tempah's album Demonstration on the track "Someday (Place in the Sun)", which entered the UK Singles Chart at number 87 but was never released as a single.

Eyre's first EP, Deeper, was released in December 2013, and the title track reached number 72. She was the runner-up for the 2014 BRIT Critics' Choice Award and came second on the BBC Sound of 2014 shortlist. Her next three solo singles—"If I Go", "Comeback" (both 2014), and "Together" (2015)—reached the top twenty on the UK Singles Chart. She co-wrote the UK number one single "Changing" for drum and bass duo Sigma featuring British recording artist Paloma Faith, which was released in the United Kingdom in September 2014. The following month, Eyre won Best Newcomer at the MOBO Awards 2014.

Eyre featured on the DJ Fresh single "Gravity", released in February 2015. In May 2015, a song Eyre co-wrote, "Black Smoke", was used by Ann Sophie, the German participant of the Eurovision Song Contest 2015. Also during mid 2015, Eyre supported Olly Murs on his 2015 arena tour and was announced as the "face" of the advertising campaign for an Emporio Armani Diamonds fragrance. Her debut album, Feline, was released in August 2015 (following the single "Good Times") and features contributions from Wayne Hector, Ilya, Paul O'Duffy, and Jarrad Rogers. In September, Eyre released a cover of "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" in association with England Rugby, to coincide with the 2015 Rugby World Cup. In November, Eyre won Best Female at the MOBO Awards 2015. She then embarked on a UK tour. In 2016, she appeared on Drive. On 18 February 2017, Eyre announced her comeback concert at KOKO, London on 4 April 2017. At the comeback concert at KOKO, Eyre performed four new songs: LOV(E), Drink With Your Name on It, I Swear and Ego. On 29th May 2017 Ella and Sigala announced a new collaborative single, 'Came Here For Love' to be released on 9th June 2017.

Discography

Albums

Studio albums

Title Details Peak chart positions Certifications
UK BEL (FL) IRE SWI
Feline
  • Released: 28 August 2015
  • Label: Virgin EMI
  • Formats: CD, digital download
4 35 35 70
  • BPI: Silver

Extended plays

Title Details
Deeper
  • Released: 15 December 2013
  • Label: Virgin EMI
  • Format: Digital download
Ella Eyre
  • Released: 10 February 2015
  • Label: Virgin EMI (US release)
  • Format: Digital download

Singles

As lead artist

Title Year Peak chart positions Album
UK BEL Tip (FL) IRE
"Deeper" 2013 72 14 Feline
"If I Go" 2014 16 54 80
"Comeback" 12
"Together" 2015 12 2 82
"Good Times" 37 5
"Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" 134 non-album single
"Came Here For Love (with Sigala)" 2017 TBA
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

As featured artist

Title Year Peak chart positions Certifications Album
UK AUS BEL (FL) IRE NL NZ SWI
"Waiting All Night"
(Rudimental featuring Ella Eyre)
2013 1 6 13 4 26 9 67
  • BPI: Platinum
  • ARIA: Platinum
  • BEA: Gold
  • RMNZ: Gold
Home
"Think About It"
(Naughty Boy featuring Wiz Khalifa and Ella Eyre)
78   Hotel Cabana
"Gravity"
(DJ Fresh featuring Ella Eyre)
2015 4 16 67 86
  • BPI: Gold
TBA
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

Other charted songs

Title Year Peak chart positions Album
UK GER SWI
"Someday (Place in the Sun)"
(Tinie Tempah featuring Ella Eyre)
2014 87 88 61 Demonstration
"We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off" 2015 54 Feline
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

Guest appearances

Title Year Other artist(s) Album
"No Angels" 2012 Bastille Other People's Heartache Pt. 2
"Free" Bastille, Erika
"We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off" 2013 None Virgin Records: 40 Years of Disruptions
"Someday (Place in the Sun)" Tinie Tempah Demonstration
"Too Cool" 2015 Rudimental We the Generation
"Up" Olly Murs Never Been Better (special edition)

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