On the Verge: 'Ghost' gives Ella Henderson the spirit

A Ghost of a chance. Despite what she sings in Ghost, Ella Henderson has never gone to the river to pray. But nothing washes away the pain for a young act like a breakthrough record, and Ghost is currently No. 22 on Paste BN's Top 40 airplay chart, having topped the UK singles chart earlier this year. The British pop singer's album, Chapter One, released in November in the UK, is slated for a Jan. 13 release in the U.S. Henderson says the gospel-tinged Ghost is representative of Chapter One as a whole. "It's got such a soulful, anthemic feel to it, but it's still quite dark and atmospheric, which is something I bring to the table whenever I go into the studio to write."

A Factor in her success. The 18-year-old singer is the latest export of the UK's The X Factor, a show that also introduced One Direction, Leona Lewis, Cher Lloyd and Little Mix. Two years after finishing in sixth place on the show, she has expanded her audience beyond the show's viewers. "I have a fan base from when I was on the show, but also there are new fans that come to my performances," Henderson says. "They've just heard Ghost and Glow," her second UK single.

There's no place like home. Henderson hails from Tetney, a rural village near the seaport town of Grimsby in eastern England. "We have a fish-and-chips shop and a church, and that's about it," says Henderson, who calls Tetney "a place where you had to use your imagination to have fun."

Ghost writing. Henderson and Ghost co-writer Ryan Tedder began writing the song within the first half hour of meeting last year. "We ended up sitting at the piano, writing the chorus," she says. They finished writing and recording the song in Tedder's Denver studio on Jan. 12, Henderson's birthday. "I turned 18 in the booth with Ryan Tedder." Ghost has since sold 331,000 downloads, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

She'll take the ramp, thanks. Henderson made her stage debut at a dance festival when she was 6 or 7, singing the nursery rhyme Cobbler, Cobbler, Mend My Shoes. When she went into her planned dance routine, though, she tripped and face-planted on the stage. "The whole audience gasped," she says. "I immediately stood up and carried on. I remember coming in third place, so carrying on, that was my merit on that."

Warm-ups with a porpoise. If you think you hear a large aquatic mammal backstage before one of Henderson's show, it's probably just the singer warming up. "I often do crazy siren noises, or, like, a high-pitched dolphin, just to make sure that all my range is there," she says. "I make random noise and blurt out random sounds, to make sure I get rid of any bad nerves. I want to make sure to feel as confident as possible."