Elena Jane "Ellie" Goulding (born 30 December 1986), is an English singer-songwriter. She became only the second artist to be named the number-one predicted breakthrough act of the year in the BBC's annual poll of music critics, Sound of 2010, and become the recipient of the Critics' Choice Award at the BRIT Awards in the same year, following Adele's win of both in 2008. After signing to Polydor Records in 2009, she released her first extended-play recording in 2009, An Introduction to Ellie Goulding, and her debut studio album Lights followed in 2010. Her album went on to debut at number one on the UK Albums Chart and sold over 380,000 copies by the end of 2010.
