September 30 – Hiro Ballroom, New York [Buy Tickets]

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The British singer-songwriter shot to fame this year after winning the Critics Choice Award at the BRITs. Ellie has enjoyed success with her debut album Lights and her single Starry-Eyed.

She performed at the world famous Glastonbury music festival in June and says she loves nothing more than singing her songs to a friendly crowd. The star sometimes experience nerves before she goes on stage so prepares for her performance by doing a quick workout behind the scenes.

“Before I go on stage, I do press-ups to pump myself up,” Ellie revealed. “People criticise Madonna’s manly arms but I think she looks great.”

The 23-year-old also confessed she finds fame “embarrassing” and often feels self-conscious when she attends showbiz events. Although she doesn’t have many celebrity friends yet, she has revealed she may be teaming up with Cheryl Cole for a collaboration. Ellie is a huge fan of the singer and would love to work with her in the future.

“Cheryl Cole is one of the loveliest people I’ve ever met,” Ellie said. “She said she loved my album and we’ve even talked about working together, which would be amazing.”

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She is dating Radio 1 DJ GREG JAMES, her bank balance is starting to bulge and she has even managed the impossible – making fitness cool to young people.

But the 23-year-old singer, who had a No1 with her debut album Lights, isn’t Starry Eyed about her path to success.

The odds were stacked against her making it in the cut-throat music industry after a tough upbringing.

Her dad walked out when she was just five, leaving her mum to bring up four children.

Ellie hated the man who became her stepdad and witnessed some traumatic scenes growing up, including visits from bailiffs who repossessed the TV as she sat watching it with her brother and sisters.

In an exclusive interview with The Sun, Ellie, from Hereford, said: “There was me, my older sister, my younger sister and my brother living with my mum and stepdad. I shared a room with my sisters in this tiny little council house.

“We didn’t have much money and my stepdad was horrible. He wasn’t strict and he wasn’t drunk, he just wasn’t very intelligent.

“He had no brains at all. He was a lorry driver with a tattoo of a bulldog smoking a spliff. The other tattoo he had was a snake with a dagger through it.

“If I ever saw him again I think I’d punch him in the face. I don’t know why my mum was with him, to be honest.

“I think it was because he was willing to take on four kids. But they never got on. She was with him for about 15 years.
Passion

“It was horrible. I was desperate to get out so I got really stuck in at school and tried my best to get a great education.”

And it worked for Ellie. She left home at 16 and then funded herself through university.

Ellie added: “I never remember having a plan. All I could think about was how I was going to afford to get into college or where I was going to stay because I hated being at home. I didn’t really have time to think about anything in the future. I didn’t think about a career or anything.

“I went to uni, got a couple of jobs, so I sort of funded it myself.

“I managed to buy myself a laptop and started writing music on it. I went home one weekend and the laptop was taken by bailiffs who came round when I was out.

“Things like that would happen, but it only made me want to stand on my own two feet even more.

“You get to a certain age and you can’t judge yourself on your dad or your parents.

“My mum is cool. She is really supportive now, she is a cool mum. She is fascinated by what is happening with me and my career. She is proud.

“I think a lot of people would be closed about such a weird childhood but I just want other girls and boys in my situation to know they can do something and they can break away from it like I did.”

After studying two years of a three-year drama degree, Ellie left the University Of Kent, Canterbury, to focus on her up-and-coming pop career.

Her determination and hard work finally landed her a big break when she was signed to Polydor Records last year. Even before that she had a publishing deal and wrote songs for the likes of GABRIELLA CILMI and DIANA VICKERS.

Ellie went on to win The Critics’ Choice Award at The Brits this February as well as the BBC Sound Of 2010 gong.

Her second single, Starry Eyed, has become one of the biggest pop hits of the year and her new release, The Writer, out this week, is heading for the top five on Sunday.

Her boyfriend Greg is tipped for big things at Radio 1 and a television career is blossoming – as is his and Ellie’s relationship, which was revealed in The Sun in June.

Ellie said: “Greg has incredible passion for music and he is very intelligent and switched on. And he’s beautiful. I have a lot of girls saying, ‘Oh, you bitch!’

“Greg just really makes me laugh. It’s medicine. I have been invited to all sorts of red carpet events and now we are a couple it is happening even more.

“It’s not really for me but I do like getting dressed up and putting all the make-up on. I just can’t be ar*ed with it all the time.

“I’m much more comfortable in my jogging gear.”

Now Ellie has become famous, her dad John has resurfaced, calling her to wish her well.

She said: “He was in a band that almost got signed when he was young and I wonder if that’s partly to do with the call.”

Before her dad left home he worked in a mortuary, which sparked a morbid fascination in Ellie when she was young.

He once brought home a murder file which she looked through until her mum discovered it.

She burned it in the back garden during a row with Ellie’s dad.

Ellie said: “It really sparked quite a dark interest in me. Some of my songs have been influenced by it.

“I was really interested in death and I have always been really aware of mortality.

“As I grew up I got interested in William Wallace, beheadings and all things like that. The Tudors as well and a lot of the gore.”

Ellie is an incredibly talented performer, but a lot of people are unaware of her darker side.

She is hooked on an author called Haruki Murakami – an obsessive marathon runner who dreams up dark stories.

Ellie said: “He writes about sex and passion, murder – really dark things, but then he kind of intertwines it with really beautiful imagery.

“He does ultra marathons and the dark thoughts when he is in the worst pain provide some of the best material for his books.

“I suffer panic attacks which has made me really conscious about my fitness and I have become addicted to jogging.

“It might sound odd but a lot of good has come out of it. My fans send letters saying they have taken up jogging because I do it.

“Some people criticise me for jogging because they think it isn’t very rock ‘n’ roll. But my philosophy is caning and training – you can enjoy a drink more if you earn it by doing some exercise.

“It helps me to write songs and keeps my head clear. I probably wouldn’t be able to sleep if I didn’t run.”

Ellie only realised her talent for singing when she was in her late teens and started mimicking pop stars she heard on the radio.

She explained: “I could always sing, from a really young age, but my voice was really weird.

“I used to make my mum turn up the radio every day in our house. She was well into music so I got that from her.

“I discovered BEYONCE and BJORK at the very same time and it clicked. I had a DESTINY’S CHILD album and I had a Bjork album and I taught myself to do all the little inflections.

“I could basically sing anything and imitate any singer so I just used to do cover songs.

“Then I discovered all this new music at uni and all of a sudden my voice just came out of nowhere.”

And what a voice it is, Ellie.

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