ELLE VARNER

Gabrielle Serene "Elle" Varner (born February 12, 1989) is an American Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Raised in Los Angeles, she studied at New York University's Clive Davis Department of Recorded Music. In October 2009, she signed with RCA Records along with a co-publishing agreement with Sony Music.

Varner released her debut album, Perfectly Imperfect, on August 7, 2012, preceded by the release of the single "Only Wanna Give It to You". The album debuted at number four on the US Billboard Hot 200.

Varner is of African American, White American and Cape Verdean descent and the daughter of Mikelyn Roderick and Jimmy Varner, songwriters and publishers. Roderick was a backup vocalist for Barry White; and has written and recorded with Tevin Campbell and Rahsaan Patterson. Roderick released an album on the Dome label in 2007. Jimmy Varner is a songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist who has collaborated with Gerald Alston, Kool & the Gang, and Will Downing. Her parents, together with Stan Sheppard, formed the group By All Means which was a minor success.

Elle Varner spent most of her childhood sleeping on studio couches, running around green rooms, and watching her parents struggle to make a name in the industry. At age six she began to play musical instruments, beginning with the flute, and later she moved on to piano and guitar. She attended several music programs including actress Wendy Raquel Robinson's Amazing Grace Conservatory starting at age 11 and Alexander Hamilton High School's Academy of Music's Vocal Jazz Group. It was there she penned her first song, “Thankful”. The song, which she played with one string on the guitar, scored the top prize at a local talent show. Earning a coveted spot in New York University’s Clive Davis Department of Recorded Music (which only accepts 24 students per year) was further proof that she was headed in the right direction. In 2008 Varner graduated from NYU's renowned Clive Davis Department of Recorded Music: “To be recognized for my talent in a program that only selects 24 students per class, out of thousands, was like, ‘Wow!’ I knew that I had really stepped up to the plate,” says Elle Varner.