Anthony Harvey/Getty ImagesEllie Goulding is a British powerhouse.
Following the release of her debut album Lights in 2010, the 27-year-old singer, songwriter and musician has gone on to perform for the likes of President Barack Obama, Prince William and Kate Middleton.
Even Beyoncé has told her she's a fan.
And she isn't the only one. Goulding's breathy, raspy voice with hints of a vibrato has garnered her a huge fan base, with Taylor Swift also gushing over the songstress' unique vocals, telling Capital FM, "Ellie is amazing and when she starts singing--I remember the effect she had on my band, they were all looking at each other like 'That's really what her voice sounds like!'"
Check out the five things to know about Ellie Goulding before she performs at Coachella Friday!
1. Lights made her a star.: Goulding's debut album, Lights, debuted at number twenty-one in the U.S. when it was first released in March 2010. When it was re-released that November as Bright Lights with six new tracks, including a cover of Elton John's "Your Song," her single "Lights" reached number two on the Billboard Hot 100 and became her most successful single in the U.S. She went on to release her second studio album Halcyon in October 2012, and toured with Bruno Mars last year.
2. She sang at the royal wedding: If that doesn't make Goulding a super star, we don't know what does. Prince William and Kate Middleton are huge fans of her music and she had the honor of performing cover versions of The Killers' "Mr Brightside", Stevie Wonder's "Superstition" and Elton John's 'Your Song'—the song for their first dance (!). "Performing the first dance of the night, 'Your Song,' was nerve-wracking," she told the Daily Mail. "But William and Kate were very appreciative. They are an awesome couple and told me how much they enjoyed it. My band and I stayed at the reception all night, and it's something I'll treasure forever."
3. She also sang at the White House: Goulding performed at the Christmas tree-lighting ceremony at the White House in 2011. "I turned around and I was just singing a song next to the president's daughters, and I thought, this is quite mental. This is quite surreal," she told the New York Times. When asked if the president said anything to her, she said, "He said he liked my coat. I was wearing quite a special coat. I looked a bit like a polar bear."
4. She taught herself the guitar at 14: She started playing the clarinet when she was nine years old. But, when she picked up the guitar for the first time at 14 "to impress a boy," she told Gibson.com, there was no turning back. "There was a boy I liked, and I really wanted him to like me. I wanted to be the only girl guitarist around. But after that fixation, I just really enjoyed playing guitar," she told the site. "I became obsessed about guitar quite quickly – teaching myself, getting tab, learning fingerpicking. And I discovered a lot more female guitarists in my school and around the area I grew up. We started little "collectives" playing together. Even if it was just hiring out the local village hall."
5. She has a ton of famous friends: Aside from her previous relationship with Skrillex (they split in 2012), Goulding has been spotted hanging with the likes of Katy Perry, Ed Sheeran, Kristen Stewart, Cara Delevingne and recently getting a friendly smooch from Lorde. "[Katy] "is just an amazing woman, she's very funny, she's very British actually, she told E! News. "She works really, really hard and when I think that I'm really tired or working too hard, I look at her and I think I'm not working too hard."