Celeste

Celeste Epiphany Waite (born 5 May 1994) is a British singer and songwriter.

Celeste Epiphany Waite was born in Culver City, California, on 5 May 1994 to an English mother and a Jamaican father.

Her mother had been working as a make-up artist in the U.S., having initially worked in Hong Kong after graduating from beauty school in London.

Her father had moved to the U.S. from Jamaica to be with his mother while she studied at university.

Following her parents' separation, Celeste moved to her mother's native United Kingdom, settling in Dagenham at the age of three, before moving to the village of Saltdean on the outskirts of Brighton at the age of five, where she spent most of her early years.

At the age of 10, Celeste spent a year doing ballet at a performing arts school where teachers had offered her a scholarship.

She recalls becoming interested in music through discovering Aretha Franklin, Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald, whose music was played throughout her family home, before discovering her own music from names such as Thelonious Monk, KoKo Taylor and Sun Ra through YouTube and iTunes at the age of 14.

Celeste recalls singing hymns at church in Brighton as one of her earliest musical memories.

When Celeste was 16, her father died of lung cancer, aged 49.

As a teenager, Celeste would write music and perform in bands.

She "accidentally" wrote her first song, "Sirens", with her former bandmates at the age of 16.

The song was inspired by the death of her father and was published to YouTube where it got the attention of her current manager.

Her manager arranged studio sessions for her at Sarm West Studios in Notting Hill, where the crew were reportedly so impressed with Celeste's song-writing skills, that they would try to give her more time in the studio.

At 18, she started working in the studio after she graduated and began taking her music career seriously, whilst playing her first gigs in and around Brighton.

Celeste studied Music Technology at Varndean College for her sixth form education.

She began her career in 2014 providing vocals for electronic producers such as Avicii, Tieks and Real Lies, while also self-publishing content onto SoundCloud on the side.

Celeste published her first SoundCloud song, "Born Again" to the platform in July 2014.

The song, which was produced by Tev'n, was described by Jim Carroll of The Irish Times as "a striking blast of soulful, seductive vocals backed by a ghostly electronic r'n'b groove."

Throughout 2014, Celeste published more songs such as "DEVIL" and "What's Your Poison?", the latter of which is the only 2014 song that remains on her SoundCloud account.

In November 2014, she compiled those three songs into a four-track self-titled EP to the platform.

The EP which was described by Vice as a "combination of melancholic pop and glitchy electronic tracks."

Celeste also started her BBC musical journey when she uploaded her song "North Circular" onto the BBC Music Introducing website in 2014, where it gained support from DJs on BBC Radio 1.

She featured on British dance producer Tieks' 2014 debut single "Sing That Song" which reach No. 90 on the UK Singles Chart.

She also featured on Swedish musician Avicii's song "Touch Me" in 2015, prior to making her solo mononymous debut.

It was during this time that Celeste assisted electronic duo Real Lies as a vocalist while they toured with Foals in 2015.

Celeste completed her GCE Advanced Levels in Music and Textiles in 2016 before working at the local Black Horse pub in Rottingdean.

Celeste released her debut single "Daydreaming" under Lily Allen's record label, Bank Holiday Records, in October 2016.

The song was produced by London-based producer J. D. Reid and Tev'n.

She wrote the song while working in her local Black Horse pub in Rottingdean.

She told i-D: "I couldn't wait to leave! I was pulling pints and listening to Shirley Bassey imagining I was in Carnegie Hall doing a performance in floor length fur."

Celeste made her radio debut in December 2016 when BBC Radio 1 presenter Annie Mac played "Daydreaming" after announcing Celeste as one of her "New Names".

She made her solo debut via Lily Allen's vanity label Bank Holiday Records with the EP The Milk & the Honey (2017), and then released her second EP Lately (2019) after signing with Polydor Records in 2018.

The song was added to the BBC Radio 1Xtra playlist in February 2017.

Celeste released her debut EP, The Milk & the Honey, under Bank Holiday Records in March 2017.

The 3-track EP includes the tracks "Milk & Honey", "Chocolate" and "Daydreaming".

Celeste told Annie Mac that while her friends asked for driving lessons as their 18th birthday gift, she asked for a Macbook laptop which she would later use to begin recording herself on GarageBand.

In 2019, Celeste topped the BBC's annual Sound of... poll and won the Rising Star Award at the Brit Awards.

Her debut album Not Your Muse was released in 2021 and debuted atop the UK Albums Chart.

It earned her nominations for Album of the Year, Best Female Solo Artist and Best New Artist at the 2021 Brit Awards, as well as the 2021 Mercury Prize.

In the same year, Celeste was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song for co-writing her song "Hear My Voice" from the film The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020).