Stella Cole comes naturally to her repertoire “I grew up on old movie musicals,” she remembers. “When I was two years old, my parents sat me down in front of the TV and turned on the VHS of The Wizard of Oz. I've just been obsessed with that movie my whole life, and because of it, I started singing before I could even talk.”
As an artist, Stella found a way of thriving – and launching a musical career – at a moment when most performers were struggling. In 2020 and 2021, Cole began posting videos of herself singing on YouTube, Tiktok, and other social platforms. Her performance of “Everybody Says Don’t” (Anyone Can Whistle), hit 40,000 views right out of the gate.
After lockdown, she moved to New York, where her career really went up a notch. She began working live all over the city, and was soon seen at Birdland, the Café Carlyle, and even Carnegie Hall and Madison Square Garden. In 2023, she worked with Scott Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox, with whom she toured the entire country, as well as Australia and New Zealand. Her interpretations of Billy Joel’s “Uptown Girl” and Miley Cyrus’s “Flowers” added over ten million more views and streams to her list of accomplishments.
Reflecting on her pandemic success, Cole shares: “During the lockdown, thousands of people were sending me messages saying, ‘You don't know how much you've helped me,’ and ‘your music is the one thing cheering me up right now.’That’s the most gratifying thing of all, experiencing how this music can actually help people.”
