Ella Eyre

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.

McMahon 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. She trained as a competitive swimmer before she began singing professionally.

McMahon 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.

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.

Albums

Studio albums

Extended plays

Singles

As lead artist

As featured artist

Other charted songs

Guest appearances