Gabriella Michelle "Ella" Henderson (born 12 January 1996) is an English singer and songwriter. She competed in the ninth series of The X Factor UK in 2012, being the eighth contestant eliminated despite being a strong favourite to win. She signed with Syco Music shortly after, and released her debut studio album, Chapter One (2014), which reached number one in the UK. The album spawned the chart-topping single "Ghost", as well as the top 20 singles "Glow" and "Yours". Henderson went on a four-year hiatus in 2015. Her second studio album, Everything I Didn't Say, was released in 2022.
In addition to solo material, Henderson recorded a string of successful collaborations, including the UK top 10 singles: "Glitterball" with Sigma, "This Is Real" with Jax Jones, "Let's Go Home Together" with Tom Grennan, "Crazy What Love Can Do" with David Guetta and Becky Hill, "21 Reasons" with Nathan Dawe, "React" with Switch Disco and "0800 Heaven" with Dawe and Joel Corry.
Early life
Gabriella Michelle Henderson was born in Tetney, Lincolnshire, on 12 January 1996, the daughter of Michelle and Sean Henderson. She has two brothers and a sister.
She began singing when she was around three years old and taught herself to play the piano a few years later. She put on Christmas shows for her family and was encouraged to pursue her love of music and songwriting by her paternal grandfather. Her interest developed further at St Martins Prep School in Grimsby, and she subsequently decided to audition for a scholarship place at Tring Park School for the Performing Arts in Tring. She boarded at the school between the ages of 11 and 16. She attended the school at the same time as Dan Ferrari-Lane, who later became a member of the boyband District3 which appeared on The X Factor alongside Henderson in 2012. In early 2012, she made a singing appearance on a celebrity Christmas special of the Channel 4 series Come Dine with Me, where she performed "All I Want for Christmas Is You".
Career
2012: The X Factor
Henderson auditioned for series nine of The X Factor in 2012, with the original song called "Missed", which was later included on her debut studio album. She reached the live shows and was mentored by Tulisa. Henderson and James Arthur were controversially in the bottom two in week seven and sang for survival. Tulisa and Louis Walsh voted to send Henderson through to the quarter-final and Nicole Scherzinger and Gary Barlow voted to send Arthur through to the quarter-final. The result went to deadlock and Arthur advanced to the quarter-final receiving 13.7% of the vote and Henderson received 12.1%. She consequently was the eighth contestant eliminated, despite being a strong favourite to win.
Presenter Dermot O'Leary described Henderson's exit as "one of the biggest shocks we've ever had on the results show". During the show and following her exit, a number of celebrities stated their support and praise for Henderson, including Adele, Lily Allen, Cher, Simon Cowell, Stephen Fry, Nick Grimshaw, Sarah Millican, and Chloë Grace Moretz. On a 2013 episode of The Xtra Factor, O'Leary said that he viewed Henderson as the most talented performer he had seen during his seven years on the show.
2012–2015: Chapter One
In December 2012, Henderson made an appearance on Ireland's RTÉ The Saturday Night Show, singing "Silent Night". While being interviewed on the show, she revealed that she had signed a record deal with Sony Music Entertainment. She also performed "Last Christmas" and "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" on the Myleene Klass Heart FM show that month. In January 2013, Henderson confirmed she had signed to Simon Cowell's record label Syco Music. During January and February 2013, she took part in The X Factor live tour, where she sang four songs: her X Factor audition song "Missed", "Believe", "Rule the World" and "You Got the Love". She also performed "Believe" at the 18th National Television Awards in January, and appeared as a special guest at the Capital Summertime Ball in June, where she performed a duet of "Beneath Your Beautiful" with Labrinth.