Estelle

Estelle Fanta Swaray (born 18 January 1980 commonly known as Estelle, and formerly as Est'elle, is an English R&B singer-songwriter, rapper and record producer. In 2009, she won a Grammy Award for her song "American Boy" featuring Kanye West in the category for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration as well receiving the MOBO for 'Best Newcomer' and received three consecutive 'Best Female Artist' trophies from the UK Hip hop Awards.

In 2004 she broke into the charts with "1980" and "Free" and won a MOBO Award for Best Newcomer. Both of the videos were directed by Andy Hylton and received much airplay on music channels. "Free" was written by Estelle and produced by Jimmy Hogarth. Her first album,The 18th Day charted at number 35 in the UK Albums Chart. Estelle teamed up with short lived pop band 3SL for their single "Touch Me Tease Me. In 2008, Estelle rose to fame with her collaboration with rapper Kanye West, titled "American Boy".

This song reached the top 10 in many countries worldwide, including the United States and Canada, as well as achieving number-one status on the UK Singles Chart and in Belgium and Israel. The song won many awards worldwide, including Best Rap/Sung Collaboration. It was also nominated for Song of the Year at the 51st Grammy Awards. "American Boy" was Number 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. Estelle has also released a new single with American rapper Busta Rhymes called "World Go Round", from his album Back on My B.S., which was released on 19 May 2009. Estelle confirmed the third album will be titled All of Me and will feature the lead single "Freak" featuring Kardinal Offishall. The video premiered on her website on February 26, 2010. In 2010, she modeled at Naomi Campbell's Fashion For Relief runway show for The White Ribbon Alliance to raise funds for mothers in Haiti. In May 2010 it was confirmed that 'Freak will no longer be the first single from the third album, after it only reached #103 on the UK Album Charts, and it is now being replaced with the official first single 'Fall In Love', and 'Freak' is now being named as only a buzz single.

In 2010 she featured on Reflection Eternal's new album with the song Midnight Hour. Estelle is featured on the last track of Gucci Mane's album The Appeal: Georgia's Most Wanted.

Official Website: http://www.estellemusic.com