Ellie Goulding turns 30 today.
Born in 1986 in Hereford, the singer-songwriter grew up in Lyonshall, Herefordshire. She got her first break while studying at the University of Kent, being discovered by Sarah Stennett – who still manages Goulding, in addition to Iggy Azalea and Zayn Malik – and instructed by Stennett to leave university to focus on a music career.
Goulding’s debut album, ‘Lights’, was released through Polydor in 2010, going to Number One on the UK album chart, selling nearly 2 million copies worldwide and kickstarting a hugely successful career to date. A prolific and versatile writer and performer, Goulding has collaborated with a myriad of other artists from Skrillex and Major Lazer to Taylor Swift, and contributed songs to numerous films, including 2015’s Fifty Shades of Grey.
A vegan and keen runner, Goulding has also been romantically linked with One Direction’s Niall Horan, and Ed Sheeran. The latter reportedly wrote his 2014 hit ‘Don’t’ as a response to Goulding cheating on him with Horan.
