Celeste Epiphany Waite (born May 8, 1994 in Culver City, California), but best known by her stage name as solely Celeste is an Academy Award-nominated English singer-songwriter.

Born in Culver City, CA in 1994, she moved with her mother to England when she was three years old. Initially brought up in Dagenham in the outskirts of London, she settled in Brighton by the age of 5. Her father is Jamaican.

She started making music at age 16 and it was at that age that she “accidentally” wrote her first song with her former bandmates. It was that track that was found online by her first manager, who urged her to take professional writing classes while she completed her studies. At age 18, she started working in the studio and after she graduated, she began to take her music career seriously.

At age 22, she signed to Lily Allen‘s Bank Holiday Records, was named one of Annie Mac’s “New Names” (marking her first radio play in December 2016 on BBC Radio 1), and premiered her debut EP The Milk & The Honey, which was released March 10, 2017. Later signing to Polydor, she released the Lately EP in March 2019. The singles “Coco Blood” and “Strange” followed in June and September respectively; after winning the inaugural BRITs Rising Star Award that December, Compilation 1.1 was released featuring the two singles and previously-released EP tracks. January 2020 saw her place first on the BBC’s Sound of 2020 list, and the release of the single “Stop This Flame.” The singles “I Can See the Change” and “Little Runaway” were subsequently released. “A Little Love” soundtracked the year’s John Lewis Christmas advert, and featured on her debut album, Not Your Muse, set for release on February 26.