Ella Eyre

Ella Norris McMahon was born on 1 April 1994 in Westminster, London and raised in Ealing, London.^[1] Her father was Jamaican and her mother is Maltese. Her father was a chef who lived in Jamaica and was unable to move to the UK with the rest of his family due to limited economics^[2] and her mother, who raised Eyre in London, is a cake designer.^[3][4] Eyre trained as a competitive swimmer before she began singing professionally.^[3]

Eyre was educated at Millfield School, a public school in Somerset. Refuting the idea that she came from a privileged background, she observed that her mother could not have afforded the fees, and she went there on a "massive swimming scholarship".^[2] She later attended the BRIT School for Performing Arts and Technology, where she studied musical theatre.^[5][6] Discovered by her management through a vocal coach in 2011, she 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, aged 16.^[7]

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", which appeared 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.^[8] In August 2013, Eyre 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. She also featured on rapper Tinie Tempah's album Demonstration on the track "Someday (Place in the Sun)", which entered the UK Singles Chart at number 87.^[9] Eyre’s first extended play (EP), Deeper, was released in December 2013, and the title track reached number 72.^[10][11] She was the runner-up for the 2014 BRIT Critics’ Choice Award and came second on the BBC Sound of 2014 shortlist.^[12] "Waiting All Night" also won the Brit Award for British Single of the Year that year.^[13] Her next three solo singles — "If I Go", "Comeback" (both 2014) and "Together" (2015) — reached the top twenty on the UK Singles Chart.^[14] She co-wrote the UK number one single "Changing" for drum and bass duo Sigma featuring Paloma Faith, released in September 2014. In October 2014, Eyre won Best Newcomer at the MOBO Awards 2014.^[15] In 2015, Eyre featured on DJ Fresh’s single "Gravity" and co-wrote "Black Smoke", performed by Ann Sophie at the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 for Germany.^[16] She supported Olly Murs on his arena tour and was announced as the face of Emporio Armani Diamonds.^[17][18]

Her debut album, Feline, was released in August 2015, following the single "Good Times", and featured contributions from Wayne Hector, Ilya, Paul O’Duffy and Jarrad Rogers.^[19][20] In September 2015, Eyre released a cover of "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" in association with England Rugby for the 2015 Rugby World Cup.^[21] In November, she won Best Female at the MOBO Awards 2015.^[22] She then embarked on a UK tour.^[23]

From 2015 to 2017, Eyre was in a relationship with Lewi Morgan of the British pop rock band Rixton.^[36] In April 2017, her father passed away.^[37] She revealed that she suffered from a kidney infection and a severe shellfish allergy during the filming of her "New Me" music video, which caused facial swelling and discharge.^[38] In interviews, she has stated that she prefers to keep her current relationships private and is cautious about discussing her romantic life publicly.^[39]

• Feline (2015)
• Everything, in Time (2025)

Headlining:

• Feline Tour (2014–2015)
• 2021 UK Tour (2021)

Supporting:

• Never Been Better Tour (2015) (Olly Murs)
• Summer Shout Out (2017) (Little Mix)
• Freedom Child Tour (2018) (The Script)
• Love Is Like Tour (2026) (Maroon 5)^[40]