Mae Stephens

Known for her confessional songwriting, richly textured and soul-infused voice, and a lighthearted touch with beats and arrangements, Mae Stephens hails from England’s East Midlands. As a teenager she catapulted to attention in 2023 when the exuberant “If We Ever Broke Up” surged into the U.K. Top 15; an EMI contract and partnerships with the Chainsmokers and Meghan Trainor quickly followed. She opened 2024 by issuing the introspective solo single “ADHD.”

Born Anna Mae Kelly in Kettering, she began composing around age twelve, turning to music as an outlet during school bullying. She performed at open-mike nights, secured pub bookings, and, performing as Mae Stephens, issued the independent ballads “Infamous Kiss” in 2020 and “White Lies” the following year while steadily growing her audience on TikTok.

At nineteen, still employed at a supermarket, she watched late-2022’s tongue-in-cheek “If We Ever Broke Up,” a track about a former partner, ignite on the platform through its blend of groovy soul and catchy electro-pop. EMI scouts contacted her, issued the song officially on 1 January 2023, and watched it accumulate hundreds of millions of streams; it later peaked at number thirteen on the U.K. chart and appeared on Billboard’s Global 200. sped-up, acoustic, and numerous remixed editions soon appeared, and before year’s end Stephens unveiled joint releases with Meghan Trainor (“Mr Right”), Alok and the Chainsmokers (“Jungle”), and KUROMI (“Cheeky But Charming”).

Her first 2024 outing returned her to solo work with “ADHD,” a piece that sustained the emotionally liberating spirit of her worldwide breakthrough.