Whatever happened to Estelle? (2025)

It's the song that had most of the world outside the UK going, "WTF is Ribena?" while at the same time shocking most Brits that those delicious blackcurrant-filled cartons don't exist beyond these shores. But more importantly, 'American Boy' launched Estelle to superstar status in 2008 with its bouncy production and Kanye West guest feature.

The British singer had been signed to John Legend's HomeSchool record label for her second collection Shine, and 'American Boy' proved to be the perfect breakout single. It scored a Grammy Award for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration, went Top 10 across the globe, and to this day remains an infectious bop you can't help but know all the words to.

Estelle had some of the biggest names on her side for her major label debut. Kanye West, Swizz Beats, Mark Ronson and Cee Lo Green were just a handful of the A-list names attached. It was an all-star effort to shine (excuse the pun) the brightest light on one of the UK's most talented soul singers.

For the best part of a year, Estelle looked like the best new thing in music. As well as the commercial success of 'American Boy', she also had the critics on side, scoring a prestigious Mercury Prize nomination for Shine back in 2009. The international rollout couldn't have gone more perfectly, but as it proved, the issuewas maintaining the momentum.

Back in 2010, as electronic dance music started to take hold of the charts in a big way both in the UK and the US, putting out David Guetta-produced 'Freak' seemed like a sure-fire success. Estelle's distinctive vocals switched between sing-speak fierceness and the soulful interpolation of Soul II Soul's 'Back To Life' on the bubbling track, which didn't have the instant appeal of 'American Boy', but felt like it could catch on nonetheless. But it was a disaster. It limped into the UK chart at 103, while not even denting the Hot 100 in the US.

Naturally, that immediately put plans for Estelle's third album All Of Me into freefall. Crisis management took hold, and within months the British songbird very quickly reverted to the R&B/soul of 'American Boy' with new single 'Fall In Love'. Some could argue that it was almost too similar to her biggest hit, though. A version with Nas failed to really take off, so John Legend also swooped in with a duet edition. They all fell flat, and performed even worse than 'Freak'.

An urgent reboot was needed, and so the following year 'Break My Heart' debuted as the official lead single for All Of Me. It leant more on Estelle's hip-hop and R&B influences, pulling in Rick Ross for a feature, and generally just being a very slick production that sounded perfect for her American audience. But at this point, anything that the star put out just wasn't connecting wide enough. 'Break My Heart' failed to break the Hot 100.

Estelle's record label pushed ahead with the release of All Of Me regardless in February 2012, and it managed a peak of 28 on the Billboard 200. Unfortunately it didn't chart in the UK, which was a massive shame for one of the country's best soulful voices. Unsurprisingly it also marked the end of her time at John Legend's record label.

The singer-songwriter used her newfound freedom to her own advantage, though, and announced the launch of New London Records in 2013. It was a joint venture with BMG, and one which would allow her to release her fourth studio album. But before that, Estelle took her first proper foray into acting.

In November 2013, Estelle began voicing Garnet in new animated series Steven Universe. The Emmy-nominated children's show for Cartoon Network has been widely praised for its portrayal of LGBT relationships. It has a very active following and has opened up Estelle to the Comic-Con crowd. It also helps that she sings the official theme song too. Oh there was her song 'Stronger Than You' which features in one of the episodes.

Soon after, in 2014, Estelle released the most seductive single of her career so far. 'Make Her Say (Beat It Up)' came with a suitably sexy music video too, seeing couple of all shapes and sizes basically get it on in the bedroom. But once again, Estelle found herself delaying her album.

It finally landed in fans' hands in February 2015. Titled True Romance, it had generally favourable reviews from critics, but failed to chart pretty much everywhere. However, Estelle used her newfound role as an actress to help get her music heard. Just a few months later, she guest starred in hit US TV show Empire, performing her single 'Conqueror' with Jamal Lyon (played by Jussie Smollett). Because of the huge popularity of the show, it saw her track climb to No.42 on the US Hot 100, logging her highest entry since 2008's 'American Boy'.

Since then, Estelle has continued to play shows across the world. Most recently she has taken a trip to Kenya to perform, while also featuring on many festival line-ups across the United States. Of course, her work on Steven Universe is ongoing, as the cartoon series continues to break boundaries and scoop awards. Oh and if you've noticed that Spotify recently took down 'American Boy', don't fret, Estelle is getting it sorted.