Ella Mai

Ella Mai has a son with basketball player Jayson Tatum. Their son was born in 2024.

Ella Mai was born in London to a Jamaican mother and an English-Irish father. Her mother, who loved American jazz, named her after singer Ella Fitzgerald.

Mai moved to New York City with her mother at the age of 12 after her mother took a teaching job there. She found the transition difficult and was bullied because of her accent. She graduated from Queens High School of Teaching in Glen Oaks, Queens, before returning to England at 17.

She studied at the British and Irish Modern Music Institute London in 2014 and auditioned for the 11th season of The X Factor as part of the trio Arize. The group did not progress beyond the initial audition and broke up shortly afterwards.

In 2015, Mai released the four-track EP Troubled on SoundCloud. She was discovered on Instagram by American producer DJ Mustard, who signed her to 10 Summers Records, an imprint of Interscope Records.

Mai followed Troubled with the EPs Time in 2016, Change in 2016 and Ready in 2017. The latter included "Boo'd Up", which gradually gained popularity on social media, in nightclubs and through radio airplay. She toured as an opening act for Kehlani on the SweetSexySavage World Tour.

"Boo'd Up" became Mai's first top-ten song on the US Billboard Hot 100 and eventually peaked at number five. It also set a record for the most weeks at number one on the R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart for a song by a woman. Her follow-up single "Trip" reached number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Mai released her self-titled debut studio album on 12 October 2018. The 16-track album featured "Boo'd Up" and guest appearances from Chris Brown, John Legend and H.E.R. It reached number five on the US Billboard 200.

She performed on Saturday Night Live in November 2018 and joined Bruno Mars on his 24K Magic World Tour. She also headlined The Debut Tour from 2019 to 2020 and appeared in a sketch on Nickelodeon's All That.

"Boo'd Up" earned Mai the Grammy Award for Best R&B Song at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards. In 2019, she won three Billboard Music Awards, including Top R&B Artist, and received awards from the iHeartRadio Music Awards, NAACP Image Awards and Soul Train Music Awards.

Mai released the single "Not Another Love Song" in 2020. Her second studio album, Heart on My Sleeve, followed on 6 May 2022 and debuted at number 15 on the US Billboard 200. The album was promoted by the single "DFMU".

She toured North America with the Heart on My Sleeve Tour in 2023. Her other opening-act credits included Ariana Grande's Sweetener World Tour European leg and Mary J. Blige's Good Morning Gorgeous Tour.

In November 2024, Mai released the surprise EP 3 to commemorate her 30th birthday. Its lead single, "Little Things", became a top-ten hit on the R&B charts and preceded her third studio album, Do You Still Love Me?, released in February 2026.

Mai's music is associated with contemporary R&B and draws on the sound of 1990s R&B. She has named Lauryn Hill, Chris Brown, Brandy, Beyoncé, Destiny's Child, Alicia Keys and Mariah Carey as major influences.