50 facts about Ellie Goulding: performed at the wedding reception of Prince William and Catherine Middleton at Buckingham Palace

At 9, she began playing the clarinet and at 14 began learning guitar. Learn 50 facts about Ellie Goulding.

1. Her career began when she met record producer Starsmith and Frankmusik, and she was later spotted by Jamie Lillywhite, who later became her manager and A&R.

2. After signing to Polydor Records in July 2009, Goulding released her debut extended play, An Introduction to Ellie Goulding, later that year.

3. In 2010, she became the second artist to top the BBC's annual Sound of... poll and win the Critics' Choice Award at the Brit Awards in the same year.

4. She released her debut studio album, Lights, in 2010. It debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart and has sold over 850,000 copies in the UK.

5. Her cover of Elton John's "Your Song" reached number two in the UK in December 2010 and on 29 April 2011 she performed the song at the wedding reception of Prince William and Catherine Middleton at Buckingham Palace.

6. The album's title track, "Lights", was released in the US in March 2011, and peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 and was certified triple platinum in the US.

7. Goulding's second studio album, Halcyon, was released in October 2012. "Anything Could Happen" preceded the album as the lead single. Halcyon debuted at number two on the UK Albums Chart and after 65 weeks reached number one. Halcyon debuted at number nine on the US Billboard 200.

8. Halcyon Days, a repackaged edition of Halcyon, was released on 23 August 2013; it included new singles including "Burn", which became her first UK number-one single.

9. At the 2014 Brit Awards she received the award for British Female Solo Artist.

10. By the end of 2013, she had sold four million albums and fifteen million singles worldwide.

11. Elena Jane Goulding was born in Hereford and raised in Lyonshall, a small village near Kington, Herefordshire, the second of four children.

12. She has a brother and two sisters.

13. Her mother, Tracey, used to work at a supermarket, and her father, Arthur Goulding, came from a "family of undertakers".

14. When she was 5, her parents separated.

15. Later she had a stepfather who was a lorry driver.

16. At 9, she began playing the clarinet and at 14 began learning guitar.

17. She attended Lady Hawkins' High School in Kington where she won a lead part in a school production, the Wizard of Oz, as the scarecrow.

18. At 15, she started songwriting and while in college entered a singing competition and won.

19. After commencing drama, politics, and English courses at the University of Kent, where she was exposed to electronic music, she was spotted by Jamie Lillywhite of Turn First Artists at a university talent contest. After she successfully showcased for Turn First head Sarah Stennett, she was told to leave university and was set up in a house in West London.

20. Lillywhite became her manager and introduced her to the producer Starsmith who would become her chief collaborator and the primary producer of Lights.

21. Before the release of her debut album, Goulding won the BBC Sound of 2010 poll, which showcases the music industry's top choices for rising stars.

22. She also won the Critics' Choice Award at the 2010 Brit Awards, making her the second artist to win both in the same year.

23. Goulding co-wrote "Love Me 'Cause You Want To" for Gabriella Cilmi's second album, Ten, and three songs ("Remake Me + You", "Notice", "Jumping into Rivers") for Diana Vickers's debut album, Songs from the Tainted Cherry Tree.

24. Her song "Not Following" was used by German singer Lena on her debut album My Cassette Player.

25. Goulding was featured on rapper Tinie Tempah's single "Wonderman" from his debut studio album Disc-Overy.

26. Goulding toured in support of Lights and supported Passion Pit in March 2010 and John Mayer during his British tour in May 2010.

27. In February 2011, she returned to the Brit Awards where she was nominated for Best British Female and Best British Breakthrough Act, but lost out to Laura Marling and to Tinie Tempah.

28. In August/September 2010, she was an opening act for U2 on the U2 360 Tour in Zurich (two nights), Munich, and Vienna.

29. She made her American television debut on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on 7 April 2011 performing "Starry Eyed".

30. She performed at the wedding reception of Prince William and Kate Middleton on 29 April 2011 singing her rendition of "Your Song" for the couple's first dance as well as her hits "The Writer" and "Starry Eyed" and several of William's and Kate's personal favourites.

31. Goulding possesses the vocal range of a light-lyric soprano that spans 3.5 octaves, and is noted for her high piercing vibrato, breathy tone and emotive delivery.

32. Goulding has listed Björk, Joni Mitchell and Lauryn Hill as influences, as well as contemporaries such as Adele, Amy Winehouse, Florence and the Machine, Lady Gaga, Beyoncé, Christina Aguilera, and Rihanna, stating that she is "blown away" by them.

33. She also expressed admiration for rappers Kanye West, Drake and Nicki Minaj.

34. Goulding's musical style has been compared to that of Kate Nash, Lykke Li and Tracey Thorn.

35. The singer Bridgit Mendler cited Goulding as one of her biggest influences.

36. Goulding's debut album Lights (2010) experimented with genres including indie pop, synthpop, folktronica and indietronica. The album contained "sparkling pop with a folky heart and an electronic edge" and was noted as being infectious.

37. Goulding is a keen runner, aiming to run six miles every day and in 2010 announced plans to run a marathon.

38. In support of her second EP, Run into the Light, she invited a small number of fans through her Facebook pages to run with her in seven different cities on her UK tour, and has announced that she will be doing the same across Europe and the US.

39. Goulding ran the inaugural Nike Women Half Marathon in Washington, D.C. on 28 April 2013, earning a time of 1:41:35.

40. Goulding is close friends with American folk singer Lissie. The two toured the United Kingdom together in 2010.

41. She is also good friends with New Zealand indie pop singer Lorde and American pop singers Katy Perry and Taylor Swift (she appears in the music video of Swift's song "Bad Blood" released in May 2015).

42. In 2010, Goulding participated in the Bupa Great North Run for the British Heart Foundation.

43. In 2011, Goulding ran the She Runs LA event for charity Students Run LA, which aims to increase access to sport for less privileged children across the Los Angeles Unified School District.

44. In 2012, she partnered with Pandora Radio, one dollar for each sale of her mixtape was donated to the Free the Children charity.

45. On 1 June 2013, Goulding performed at Gucci's global concert event in London whose campaign "Chime for Change" aims to raise awareness of women's issues in terms of education, health and justice.

46. On 15 November 2014, Goulding joined the charity group Band Aid 30 along with other British and Irish pop acts, recording the latest version of the track "Do They Know It's Christmas?" at Sarm West Studios in Notting Hill, London, to raise money for the 2014 Ebola crisis in West Africa.

47. On 22 January 2014, Goulding confirmed through her Facebook page that she had contributed the song "Beating Heart" to the soundtrack for the film Divergent, based on the novel of the same name by Veronica Roth.

48. On 19 February 2014, Goulding won Best British Female Solo Artist at the Brit Awards.

49. On 20 October 2014, she stated via Facebook that she will appear on the new Calvin Harris album, Motion, with a new song called "Outside". The song was released as the album's fourth single on 20 October 2014.

50. In early 2015, Goulding released the song "Love Me like You Do" which was featured in the soundtrack to the movie adaptation of the hit novel Fifty Shades of Grey.

Source: Wikipedia.org