Ella Mai

Ella Mai Howell (born 3 November 1994) is a British R&B singer and songwriter. Her career began at London's British and Irish Modern Music Institute. In 2014, she auditioned as part of a trio on the 11th season of The X Factor. In 2015, she released her debut four-track solo extended play (EP), Troubled in October of that year. The EP and her performances on social media were discovered by American record producer DJ Mustard, who signed Mai to his label 10 Summers Records, an imprint of Interscope Records.

Her third EP, Ready (2017), spawned the single "Boo'd Up". A sleeper hit, the song peaked at number five on the Billboard Hot 100, and was followed by "Trip", which peaked at number 11. The former won Best R&B Song and was nominated for Song of the Year at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards; both songs preceded the release of her self-titled debut studio album (2018), which peaked at number five on the US Billboard 200.

Her second album, Heart on My Sleeve (2022), failed to reach the UK Albums Chart, but performed moderately on the US Billboard 200, promoted by the single "DFMU", which debuted on the Billboard Hot 100. Her third studio album Do You Still Love Me? was published in February 2026, promoted by singles "Tell Her" and "Little Things".

Mai was nominated for British Breakthrough Act at the Brit Awards 2019. That same year, she won three awards at the 2019 Billboard Music Awards, including Top R&B Artist, three IHeartRadio Music Awards, three NAACP Image Awards and two Soul Train Music Awards, including the Songwriter's Award.