Mabel's career: From Swedish fashion blogger to BRIT Award-winner
She's come a long way!
Mabel, the singer best known for her hits 'Don't Call Me Up', 'Tick Tock' with Clean Bandit and 24kGoldn, and 'Ring Ring' with Jax Jones featuring Rich the Kid, is a BRIT Award winner and has officially released her second album 'About Last Night...', but how did she start out in the music industry?
Here, we take a look at how the Spanish-born, Swedish/British singer, who is the daughter of iconic 80s singer Neneh Cherry and Massive Attack's Cameron McVey, became a Top 10 artist with a whole host of awards under her belt!
Mabel: Early career
As a child, Mabel grew up surrounded by music - with parents already in the industry. Mabel was born in Málaga, Spain, but moved to London when she was two and on to Sweden, when she was eight.
It was then at the age of 15 that she enrolled in a Stockholm music school called Rytmus Musikergymnasiet, where she took a course in songwriting, production and music theory.
Mabel also ran a Swedish style blog when she was growing up, charting her girl-gang's style. It was so successful that it landed her in the front row of HUGE runway shows with her mum, including the likes of Stella McCartney.
Now take a look through Mabel's career so far:
2014 - Mabel attends the Stella McCartney show as part of the Paris Fashion Week
Mabel attended the Stella McCartney show, as part of the Paris Fashion Week, with her mum. Mabel's Swedish style blog's success landed her in the front row of HUGE runway shows with her mum, including the likes of Stella McCartney.
2015 - Mabel starts her music career
According to Openmic.co.uk, Mabel self-released her first song 'Know Me Better' on Soundcloud in 2015. Despite having famous parents she found her own way in the music industry, cold calling management companies and studying music.
Eventually her perseverance paid off when her debut song was picked up and played on the radio. A few weeks after her first radio interview she was approached by Universal.
From there she supported Years & Years and appeared in Skepta's music video for 'Shutdown'.
2017 – Mabel released her breakthrough song ‘Finders Keepers’
'Finders Keepers' was Mabel's breakthrough song, getting her into the UK Top 10. The song was released on 26th May 2017 and was written by Mabel along with a songwriting team.
It featured British singer-songwriter and rapper Kojo Funds and was included on her album 'High Expectations'.
2018 - Mabel supported Harry Styles on tour
In 2018, Mabel joined Harry Styles on tour in support of his first solo album. Mabel supported Harry at all of his European dates including four gigs in the UK.
2019 - Mabel released her debut album ‘High Expectations‘
'High Expectations' was released in August 2019 and featured a number of Mabel's successful songs including: 'Don't Call Me Up', 'Mad Love', 'God Is a Dancer' with Tiësto, 'Boyfriend', 'West Ten' with AJ Tracey, and 'Tick Tock' with Clean Bandit and 24kGoldn.
2019 - Mabel did the world's first vertical gig
Mabel did the world's first vertical gig in 2019, designed especially to be filmed using a mobile phone. Speaking about the gig at the time, Mabel told us it was "incredible" and "such a cool thing to do".
She went on to explain how the show looked perfect on Instagram, but she did admit that her band weren't happy that the set shook with all their dancing! Sounds a bit scary!
2020 – Mabel won her first BRIT Award
Mabel won her first BRIT Award for British Female Solo Artist in 2020, having previously been nominated for the British Breakthrough Act in 2019, and Best New Artist and 'Don't Call Me Up' for Song of the Year, both in 2020.
2021 - Mabel appears on Love Island
Mabel appeared on the popular dating show Love Island. The singer did a special performance of 'Don't Call Me Up' and 'Mad Love' along with some other hits, poolside, especially for the Islanders.
Watch some highlights from her performance here
2021 - Mabel released 'Let Them Know'
'Let Them Know' was released in June 2021. The song was written by Mabel along with MNEK and a couple of other songwriters. The song was a Top 20 hit for Mabel.
2022 - Mabel released 'Good Luck'
Mabel released 'Good Luck', a collab with Jax Jones and Galantis. The song's inspiration was Mabel's emotional journey over the past couple of years. At the beginning of the first lockdown, Mabel moved back with her dogs to her parents, and threw herself into dance classes, but like many of us, she missed the social interaction with her friends.
2022 - Mabel performs at Platinum Party at the Palace
Mabel performed to a crowd of 22,000 people at the Platinum Party at the Palace as part of the Queen's Jubilee celebrations on 4th June. She put on an incredible show as she sang her hit song 'Don't Call Me Up'.
Speaking about the performance, she said: 'It was such an honour to perform and I'm so grateful I got to be part of the Queens Jubilee with so many other amazing artists.' (sic)
2022 - Mabel releases her second album 'About Last Night...'
On 15th July Mabel released her second studio album 'About Last Night...'! The album, which follows her 2019 debut 'High Expectations', includes huge singles 'Overthinking' featuring 24kGoldn, 'Let Them Know' and 'Good Luck'. Featuring collabs with artists such as Joel Corry and Jax Jones, it's safe to say the album is a certified hit!
2023 - New music tease
Mabel teased that new music could be in the works in January 2023! Sharing a video collage of what she'd been up to with the caption: 'Lately ☁️', Mabel could be seen singing her heart out in a recording studio, leading many fans to think that she could be working on something after the release of her 2022 album 'About Last Night...'
2024: Mabel releases 'Zero' with Black Sherif
In February 2024, Mabel released her first new music since July 2022, in the form of the track 'Zero' with Black Sherif.
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