Estelle Biography

Summary

"Estelle Fanta Swaray" (born 18 January 1980) commonly known as "Estelle", and formerly as "Est'elle", is an English Grammy Award Winning R&B singer, rapper, and producer. She also has received the MOBO for 'Best Newcomer' and received three consecutive 'Best Female Artist' trophies from the UK Hip-Hop Awards.

Career

"The 18th Day"

In 2004 she broke into the charts with '1980' and 'Free' and won a Mobo Award for Best Newcomer. 'Free' was written with and produced by Jimmy Hogarth. Her first album,"The 18th Day" charted at number 35 in the UK Albums Chart.

2008 - present: "Shine"

In 2008, Estelle broke into international success with her collaboration with Kanye West, titled 'American Boy'. This song reached the top 10 many countries worldwide, including the United States and Canada, as well as achieving number-one status in the United Kingdom, Belgium and Israel. The song won a Grammy Award for "Best Rap/Sung Collaboration", as well as being nominated for "Song of the Year" and many other awards worldwide. This song was #7 on "Rolling Stone"'s list of the 100 Best Songs of 2008. "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. "Shine" sold enough copies to be certified gold by the British Phonographic Industry, and was shortlisted for the prestigious 2008 Mercury Music Prize.

Her follow-up single to 'American Boy', 'No Substitute Love' charted at number 30 on the UK Singles Chart. Despite the huge success of 'American Boy' and the moderate success of 'No Substitute Love' her next to singles didn't acheve much success, 'Pretty Please (Love Me)' charted at 103 on the UK Singles Chart and 'Come Over' didn't chart at all on that chart.

She won a Grammy for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration for 'American Boy' with Kanye West at the 2009 Grammy Awards.