Emeli Sandé

Biography

After signing a solo contract with EMI, she moved to London and appeared on albums by Tinie Tempah, Professor Green, and Devlin, supported Solange Knowles on her U.K. tour, and scored a second Top Ten hit with Naughty Boy and Wiley on a cover version of White Town's "Your Woman." Her first solo single, "Daddy" was released in 2010. In 2011, Sandé won a raft of awards, including Best Breakthrough Act at the Brits and at the MOBO awards. After appearing on Professor Green’s smash hit "Read All About It" towards the end of October 2011, she followed with her debut album Our Version of Events in February 2012.

Released to critical and commercial acclaim, the singles "Heaven" and "Next to Me" received heavy radio airplay and achieved respectable chart positions across Europe and the U.K. Sandé's profile was given a further boost in the summer when she sang Henry Francis Lyte's Christian hymn "Abide with Me" at the opening ceremony of London's 2012 Olympics. Subsequently, an equally prestigious performance of "Read All About It" at the closing ceremony of the games led to Our Version of Events making a return to the top of the U.K. album charts that August. It ended the year as the top-selling album in the land, and also helped her win a pair of Brit Awards the following February (for British Female Solo Artist and British Album of the Year). Sandé has also written songs for Susan Boyle, Rihanna, Leona Lewis, Cheryl Cole, and Tinie Tempah, among others. ~ Jon O'Brien, Rovi