12 Things you don’t know about Elle Varner

1.  Gabrielle SereneVarner professionally known as Elle Varner

2.  Elle Varner was born February 12, 1989 in Los Angeles

3.  Elle Varner is a 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

4.  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.

5.  At age six she began to play musical instruments, beginning with the flute, and later she moved on to piano and guitar.

6.  Elle Varner’s first song was, “Thankful”which she played with one string on the guitar, scored the top prize at a local talent show.

7.  Elle Varner was surprised to discover that she had been chosen to be a part of the Grammy in the Schools Mentoring Program. Through this program she was taken weekly to the Fox Studio, where she met with mentor Kelly Burgos, and President of Fox Music, Robert Kraft. Soon after, Varner hesitantly applied to NYU with her C average and was surprisingly accepted.

8.  After honing her skills even further, Elle Varner became one of the first artists featured in BET’s Music Matters campaign for 2010

9.  In September 2012, Elle Varner was credited for co-writing the song “Use Me”, for fellow American R&B singer Miguel, taken from his second album Kaleidoscope Dream.

10.  Varner stated that she has made her own genre while recording the album which she titles “Trap Jazz.”

11.  Ellen Varner’s major musical influence is soul and hip-hop as she always wanted to combine them together so she looks up to Adele and Kanye West

12.  Elle Varner is being compared to the like of Adele, Rihanna and Erykah Badu