Mabel

Mabel draws from R&B origins while sustaining wide pop reach, and her thoughtful songwriting paired with dynamic vocals naturally spans multiple dance-music styles. Late in her teens she surfaced via the 2015 single “Know Me Better,” a yearning, moody breakbeat-soul recording that masked her youth. Just two years later she joined major-label Polydor and scored her commercial breakthrough with the Top Ten U.K. hit “Finders Keepers,” a track that paved the way for her similarly successful 2019 debut album High Expectations, a 2020 Brit Award for British Female Solo Artist, and repeated climbs into the upper tiers of the U.K. singles chart. Her sophomore LP arrived in 2022 and reached number two. Further singles such as “Vitamins” and the Shygirl-assisted “Look at My Body, Pt. II” followed in 2024.

Born in Spain and raised in London and Sweden, Mabel (Mabel Alabama-Pearl McVey) displayed an intense childhood fascination with music and trained in music production. Neneh Cherry and Cameron McVey, her parents, learned of her songwriting only when she turned 16. Before she reached 20 she uploaded her debut single, “Know Me Better.” After signing with Polydor she issued her second single, “My Boy My Town,” by the close of 2015 and soon earned a nomination in the BBC Sound of 2016 poll. In 2017 she released the Bedroom EP, which contained the multi-platinum number eight hit “Finders Keepers,” along with the mixtape Ivy to Roses. The following year she supported Harry Styles on a European tour, headlined her own shows, and placed four singles on the chart, coming close to the Top Ten once more with “Fine Line” and “Ring Ring,” both later featured on the expanded edition of Ivy to Roses issued in January 2019. Seven months afterward she entered the U.K. albums chart at number three with High Expectations, an album that included the Top Ten singles “Don’t Call Me Up” and “Mad Love.” That project earned her the 2020 Brit Award for British Female Solo Artist. Three additional 2020 Top Ten hits—“Boyfriend,” “West Ten,” and “Tick Tock”—appeared on a digitally expanded edition of the album. In 2021 she offered further singles including “Take It Home” and the number 38 hit “Let Them Know.” Early in 2022 she collaborated with British DJ Jax Jones and Swedish duo Galantis on the single “Good Luck.” Most of these recordings surfaced on her second full-length, About Last Night…, which arrived in July, reached number two in the U.K., and added guest appearances by 24kGoldn and Lil Tecca. After pausing in 2023 to concentrate on new material, she began 2024 with a guest spot on rapper Black Sherif’s track “Zero,” then released the solo single “Vitamins.” At the same time as her next single, “Look at My Body, Pt. II” featuring Shygirl, she received the BRIT Billion Award for surpassing one billion U.K. digital streams.