| Estelle | |
|---|---|
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Estelle Fanta Swaray |
| Born | 18 January 1980 |
| Origin | Hammersmith, London, England |
| Genres | R&B, soul, hip hop, hip hop soul, reggae |
| Occupations | Singer-songwriter, rapper, record producer, model |
| Years active | 2004–present |
| Labels | V2, Atlantic |
| Associated acts | David Guetta, Sean Paul, Kanye West, John Legend, will.i.am, Talib Kweli, Karl Hinds, Keezo Kane |
| Website | www.estellemusic.com |
Estelle Fanta Swaray (born 18 January 1980[1][2]) commonly known as Estelle, and formerly as Est'elle, is an English Grammy Award winning R&B singer-songwriter, rapper and record producer.
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Estelle was born 18 January 1980 in Hammersmith, London, England. Born of a Senegalese mother and father from Grenada, Estelle grew up in West London in a large family of eight brothers and sisters and an extended family of cousins. During childbirth, Estelle’s mother had a near death experience, which influenced Estelle's choice for her first album title, The 18th Day.[3]
In 2004 she broke into the charts with "1980" and "Free" and won a MOBO Award for Best Newcomer. Both of the videos were directed by Andy Hylton[4] and received much airplay on music channels. "Free" was written by Estelle and produced by Jimmy Hogarth. Her first album,The 18th Day charted at number 35 in the UK Albums Chart.[5] Estelle teamed up with short lived pop band 3SL for their single "Touch Me Tease Me".
In 2008, Estelle rose to fame with her collaboration with rapper Kanye West, titled "American Boy". This song reached the top 10 in many countries worldwide, including the United States and Canada, as well as achieving number-one status on the UK Singles Chart[5][6] and in Belgium[7] and Israel. The song won many awards worldwide, including Best Rap/Sung Collaboration. It was also nominated for Song of the Year at the 51st Grammy Awards. "American Boy" was Number 7 on Rolling Stone's list of the 100 Best Songs of 2008.[8] Shine was released following the single on John Legend's HomeSchool label, reaching the albums chart in most countries worldwide, including number 6 in the UK.[5] Shine sold enough copies to be certified gold by the British Phonographic Industry, and was shortlisted for the prestigious 2008 Mercury Music Prize. Estelle has also released a new single with American rapper Busta Rhymes called "World Go Round", from his album Back on My B.S., which was released on 19 May 2009.
In February 2009, the song "Star" was released; it is also used for Crystal Light commercials. In 2009, Estelle started working on her upcoming third studio album, All of Me. On 21 August it was confirmed that Estelle was working with David Guetta on the upcoming album.[9] Estelle recently made a cameo appearance in the video for new star Mr Hudson for his single "Supernova". Estelle made an appearance on the 11 August 2009 episode of The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien. She performed the song "Good Girls Go Bad" with Cobra Starship in Leighton Meester's absence. Estelle also appears on the song "Rollacoasta", co-written by her and American singer-songwriter Robin Thicke, with whom the song appears on his album, Sex Therapy.
Estelle confirmed the third album will be titled All of Me and will feature the lead single "Freak" featuring Kardinal Offishall. The video[10] premiered on her website on February 26, 2010. In 2010, she modeled at Naomi Campbell's Fashion For Relief runway show for The White Ribbon Alliance to raise funds for mothers in Haiti. In May 2010 it was confirmed that 'Freak will no longer be the first single from the third album, after it only reached #103 on the UK Album Charts, and it is now being replaced with the official first single 'Fall In Love', and 'Freak' is now being named as only a buzz single. The second single, "Break My Heart", which features Rick Ross, was released to US urban radio stations on May 17, 2011.[11] The song peaked at 33 on the U.S. Hip-Hop/R&B, the week of 2 July 2011.[12] The following week the song rose to 37.[13] In 2010 she featured on Reflection Eternal's new album with the song Midnight Hour. Estelle is featured on the last track of Gucci Mane's album The Appeal: Georgia's Most Wanted
Estelle confirmed on Twitter that All of Me will be released on February 28, 2012[14].
Her mum was a huge reggae fan and her dad built home made speaker cabinets. She spent her childhood listening to her parent’s reggae records and her aunt’s soul collection. Then she discovered Hip Hop. “I got into Hip Hop from my uncle, he was always playing us Kool G Rap and Big Daddy Kane; he was a bad boy and my mum wasn’t really happy that I was hanging out with him”.[3]
| Year | Ceremony | Award | Nominated work | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | BET Awards | Best New Artist | Herself | Nominated |
| BET J Virtual Awards | Female Artist of the Year | Nominated | ||
| Soul Approved - Best New Artist | Won | |||
| Song of the Year | "American Boy" | Nominated | ||
| Mercury Music Prize | Shine | Shortlisted | ||
| MOBO Awards | Best UK Female | Herself | Won[15] | |
| Best Song | "American Boy" | Won[15] | ||
| Best Video | Nominated | |||
| Best Album | Shine | Nominated | ||
| Best R&B Act | Herself | Nominated | ||
| MTV Video Music Awards | Best UK Video | "American Boy" | Nominated | |
| UMA Awards | Best Album | Shine | Nominated | |
| Best Collaboration | Herself | Won | ||
| Best Crossover Chart Act | "American Boy" | Nominated | ||
| Best R&B Act | Herself | Nominated | ||
| World Music Awards | World's Best New Artist | Nominated | ||
| Best New R&B Act | Won | |||
| Vodafone Live Music Awards | Best Female | Nominated | ||
| The 02 Silver Clef Awards | Download of the Year | "American Boy" | Won | |
| 2009 | BRIT Awards | British Female Solo | Herself | Nominated |
| British Single | "American Boy" | Nominated | ||
| Grammy Awards | Song of the Year | Nominated | ||
| Best Rap/Sung Collaboration | Won | |||
| Producer Of The Year, Non-Classical | will.i.am; "American Boy" | Nominated | ||
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