Ellie Goulding likes cats and running but isn’t so keen on Star Wars.
How the British pop star became the queen of electropop
Ellie Goulding’s Instagram account reveals everything you’d expect from one of the biggest pop stars in the world: stunning selfies, cool parties, cats and healthy smoothies. Although, unlike some Instagrammers who amp up their existence with fancy filters, Ellie really is living the dream.
Her life wasn’t always rosy though. Born Elena Jane Goulding in 1986, Ellie grew up with her three siblings on a council estate in a village near the Welsh border. When Ellie was five, her father abandoned her mother, an event that she admits left her traumatised. No longer speaking with her father, Ellie does credit him with passing on a love for the guitar, and by the time she was a teenager, Ellie was performing her own songs in small venues.
Ellie’s break came while attending university, when she was spotted at an open mic talent show, leading to her signing a record deal with Polydor. Her take on electropop has produced No 1 club anthems like Burn, the Calvin Harris-collab I Need Your Love and a heart-warming cover version of Elton John’s Your Song. As a result, Ellie’s sold more than six million albums and 20 million singles, performed at Prince William and Kate Middleton’s wedding, and landed a covetable place in Taylor Swift’s superstar girl squad.
Her success hasn’t gone unnoticed with the boys in the music biz either. She’s dated dubstep DJ Skrillex, BBC radio presenter Greg James, and Ed Sheeran. Last year, Ellie began dating McBusted’s Dougie Poynter, who she calls her “forever”. With her long- anticipated third album about to drop and whispers that she might have recorded the theme for the upcoming James Bond film Spectre, Ellie’s star power is shining brighter than ever.
September 24
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