Childhood and Early Life
Ella Henderson was born on 12 January 1996 in Tetney, a village under Lincolnshire’s East Lindsey district.
Her father, Sean Henderson, who was of Scottish descent initially worked as a car salesman but later on became a real estate developer in Dubai, amassing a huge fortune. Her mother, Michelle Henderson is of Swedish lineage. Ella has three siblings: brothers Fraser and Patrick, and a younger sister, Holly
She exhibited an extraordinary flair for music as a child and started singing when she was just three. She also trained herself to become an accomplished pianist before she was ten years old.
Ella took to staging events for her near and dear ones, especially during Christmas and the winter holidays. She struck a good rapport with Bill, her grandfather, and fostered an emotional bonding with him. Bill played a key role in helping Ella to hone her singing and songwriting skills by offering his support and encouragement.
Her penchant for the performing arts received a further shot in the arm when she started attending St. Martin’s Preparatory School in Grimsby, her primary school. After completing her primary education, she auditioned for getting a scholarship at ‘Tring Park School for the Performing Arts’, Hertfordshire in 2007.
She was successful in getting a grant as a boarder in the esteemed ‘Tring Park School for the Performing Arts’ where she remained till she was sixteen.
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Career
In 2012, Ella Henderson appeared as a guest singer in ‘Come Dance with Me’—a celebrity Christmas show on ‘Channel 4’—performing a cover of Mariah Carey’s, “All I Want for Christmas is you”. She decided to try her luck in the 9th rerun of ‘The X Factor’ when her GCSE examinations were knocking at the door.
She turned up at the studios to audition for ‘The X Factor’ series nine where Tulisa, one of the judges, acted as her guide. She crooned an original number, “Missed”, which she had composed in memory of her late grandfather at the live event. Afterwards, the song became a part of her first studio album.
James Arthur, a contestant who gradually progressed to the final stages, and Ella, performed poorly in the initial phases, finishing at the bottom in the 7th week of the show. Nevertheless, both the budding vocalists who were strong contenders for the crown, reached the quarter-finals, thanks to the solid backing by the judges.
The ultimate stage witnessed an impasse where both James and Ella were evenly poised to make it to the quarter-finals. James who received 13.7% of the popular votes made it through and Ella who garnered 12.1% of the votes was eliminated. Ella was the lone female to reach the last stages before getting eliminated.
Ella Henderson’s shock elimination was considered as a big upset. A number of eminent singers and celebrities including Cher, Nick Grimshaw, Lily Allen, Sarah Millican, and Simon Cowell extended support to Ella not only while the show was on but also after her elimination.
O’Leary, one of the judges on ‘The Xtra Factor’s’ panel deemed her the most gifted of all contenders he had reviewed for the entire period he was with the show. Following her elimination from ‘The X Factor’, Ella appeared on ‘The Saturday Night Show’ in December 2012 and vocalized the track, “Silent Night”.
She announced that she had entered into a pact with Sony Music Entertainment for a studio album while she was interviewed on the sidelines of the ‘Saturday Night Show’ in 2012.
In January 2013, she proclaimed that she had been contracted by Simon Cowell’s recording company Syco Music.
Ella joined The X Factor concert tour in 2013 belting out lilting songs, notable amongst these being, “You Got the Love”, “Missed”, “Rule the World” and “Believe”. The same year in January, she reprised her rendition of “Believe” in the 18th edition of the National Television Awards.
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In 2013, Ella uploaded several mashups and original songs on YouTube which she had performed during live concerts and TV shows. Noteworthy amongst the mashups were “Love Me Again” (John Newman) and “We’re Going Home” by rapper Audrey Graham while the originals included “The First Time”, “Evaporate”, “Five Tattoos” and “Waiting”.
Ella made it known in March 2014 that she would be naming her first studio album, ‘Chapter One’. She teamed up with numerous composers and producers while writing the lyrics of the album’s tracks, including Babyface, Salaam Remi, and Claude Kelly.
In the same month, she declared that “Ghost” co-composed with Ryan Tedder would be her first single. Shooting for Ghost’s music footage was done in New Orleans and the song was released commercially on 14 June 2014. The single’s release was preceded by a performance on ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ in May 2014.
Soon after the launching of ‘Ghost’, the single scaled to the top spot on ‘UK Singles Chart’. On 5 October 2014, Ella’s 2nd single, “Glow” that she and Camille Purcell composed jointly, was issued for sale. Just after 9 days, her studio record, ‘Chapter One’ was published.
Ella’s subsequent singles, “Yours” and “Mirror Man” co-scripted with Josh Record and Al Shux respectively were released in November 2014 and March 2015 respectively. She began her first countrywide tour in October 2015 during which time she also performed as an opening act for the British pop band ‘Take That’.
She went public on her Instagram profile in late 2016 by broadcasting that she was through with composing and recording another studio record. She had collaborated with Max Martin, a producer and Danny O’Donoghue of ‘The Script’ for scripting, recording, and producing her 2nd album.
In 2017, Ella Henderson revealed that she would perform as a warm-up act for James Arthur, winner of ninth series of ‘The X Factor’, when he embarked on his ‘Back from the Edge’ stadium tour. In June 2017, she covered, “Bridge over Troubled Water” by Simon & Garfunkel, along with other X Factor contestants.
The cover version of Bridge over Troubled Water was recorded in order to collect funds for those who suffered losses owing to the Grenfall Tower blaze that occurred in June 2017 in London. The single charted to the top of the ‘UK Singles Chart’ soon after the same was released.
Ella announced in the latter half of 2017 that she had performed a duet with X Factor finalist James Arthur. The duet is slated to become a part of her second studio record. She sang several new songs during Arthur’s musical tour that would feature in her upcoming album.
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