Elle Varner

At 35 years old, Elle Varner has this physical status:

Gabrielle "Elle" Varner, born February 12, 1989, is an American singer.

Varner, who was born in Brooklyn, New York, and raised in Los Angeles, studied at the Clive Davis Department of Recorded Music at New York University.

She signed with RCA Records in October 2009 along with a Sony Music co-publishing contract. Varner unveiled her debut album, Perfectly Imperfect, in August 2012, which was followed by the release of the single "Only Want to Give It to You."

The album debuted at number four on the US Billboard Hot 200.

Early life

Varner, a Cape Verdean, African American, and Swedish descent, has said, "my father is half Swedish and half black, and my mother is 100% Cape Verdean." Mikelyn Roderick and Jimmy Varner, authors and publishers, is the daughter of an author and illustrator. Roderick was a back-up singer for Barry White, and he's written and recorded with Tevin Campbell and Rahsaan Patterson. In 2007, Roderick released an album on the Dome label. Jimmy Varner, a guitarist, producer, and multi-instrumentalist who has performed with Gerald Alston, Kool & the Gang, and Will Downing. Her parents, as well as Stan Sheppard, formed By All Means, a modest success.

Varner spent the majority of her childhood on sofas, running around green rooms, and watching her parents struggle to make a name for herself in the industry. She began playing musical instruments at age six, beginning with the flute, and then moved to piano and guitar. Wendy Raquel Robinson's Incredible Grace Conservatory started at age 11 and Alexander Hamilton High School's Vocal Jazz Group attended many music workshops, including actress Wendy Raquel Robinson's Amazing Grace Conservatory, as well as actor Wendy Raquel Robinson's The Academy of Music's Vocal Jazz Group. Varner also attended the Clive Davis Department of Recorded Music at New York University.

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Career

Varner picked up a guitar for the first time at the age of 16. She quit the guitar and joined the Alexander Hamilton High School's Vocal Jazz Group. Ella Fitzgerald learned about the intricateness of the voice, jazz music, and talented jazz artists once she was there. Varner was pleasantly surprised to learn that she had been chosen to be a part of the Schools Mentoring Program. She was taken weekly to the Fox Studio, where she worked with mentor Kelly Burgos and Fox Music's President, Robert Kraft, during this series. Varner hesitantly applied to NYU with her C average and was eventually accepted. Not only did she enroll, but she was also accepted into the Clive Davis Department of Recorded Music's second class. "She was the most likely to be signed" and "most likely to win a Grammy" after graduating. She is now a well-rounded and cultured singer-songwriter. Varner graduated from the Clive Davis Department of Recorded Music at New York University in 2008. She signed with MBK/J-RCA Records in October 2009 as part of a joint publishing agreement with Sony Music. Varner became one of the first artists to be included in BET's Music Matters campaign for 2010.

Varner's debut single, "Only Want to Give It to You," was released on August 6, 2011. J. Cole, an American rapper, appears in the song, which serves as the lead single from her debut studio album Perfectly Imperfect (2012). The song peaked at number 20 on the US Billboard R&B/Hip Songs chart, with the song debuting at #20. She was named as one of the '15 Artists to Watch' on TheBoomBox in October 2011 and was one of the artists included in BET's Music Matters campaign. RCA Music Group, Arista Records, and Jive Records announced on October 7, 2011, RCA Music Group announced that J Records, Arista Records, and Jive Records would be disbanding J Records. Varner (and all other artists who have previously signed to these three labels) will debut her future work on RCA Records after the shutdown. Varner launched Conversational Lush as a preview for her debut studio album on January 23, 2012. Varner's debut album "Refill" was released on iTunes on January 31, 2012, and it debuted at #78 on the US Billboard R&B/Hip Songs chart, ranking second on the second single. Varner and The Roots performed at the House of Blues in Los Angeles on February 11, 2012, dedicated to Whitney Houston for the Roots Pre-Grammy Jam Session. Varner said in a tweet that she should be expecting from her debut: "a lot of color, a lot of range." There are amusing songs, emotional songs, and deep songs on the record; all you could imagine is on there."

Perfectly Imperfect, Elle Varner's debut album, debuted at number four on the United States on August 7, 2012. Billboard 200 chart, with first-week sales of 33,000 copies in the United States. It also debuted on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, ranked second on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. Perfectly Imperfect has been charted on the Billboard 200 for ten weeks as of October 20, 2012. Varner was credited with co-writing "Use Me" for fellow American R&B singer Miguel, whose second album Kaleidoscope Dream was released in September 2012.

Varner has been producing artists such as Pop & Oak, Eric Hudson, DJ Dahi, Da Internz, and Hit-Boy for her second studio album. Varner said that she has crafted her own style on record, which she refers to as "trap jazz." Varner referred to her second album as "definitely sexier" than her predecessor, "Rover" which featured American rapper Wale. Four Letter Word was eventually shelved, and Elle was then removed from RCA Records, despite several pushbacks.

Varner's debut EP Ellevation, in 2019, marked Varner's first appearance since 2012's Perfectly Imperfect. The 2019 version of the artist's works of art evokes nuanced inspirations from alternative RnB, indie, and soul, with sprinklings of homages to Jill Scott and Erykah Badu.

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