Mae Stephens

Northamptonshire singer-songwriter Mae Stephens (born Anna Mae Kelly in 2003 in Kettering) established herself as a next-generation pop star in the early 2020s. Stephens began writing songs when she was 12, and she channelled her frustration from being bullied at school into those works. She began her career releasing ballads like the forthright “I Want You To Be Here” and the sweeping “Infamous Kiss”, but she broke through in late 2022 with the gently groovy “If We Ever Broke Up”. That track, which finds Stephens anticipating the need for post-relationship resiliency over an undulating disco beat, first became a hit on social media and then crossed over to the pop charts worldwide, reaching No. 13 in the UK and the Top 20 on several European charts. Collaborations with the pop retroist Meghan Trainor and the DJ duo The Chainsmokers followed; Stephens released the vulnerable “ADHD” in early 2024.