All by myself

Kenya Grace has topped the UK chart with Strangers, a dance smash created alone in her bedroom. Rolling Stone UK meets the singer aiming to outlast her viral moment...

- WILL RICHARDS

KENYA GRACE ENTERED an elite club of just two when her single ‘Strangers’ hit the top of the UK singles chart in October. The track became just the second song entirely written and produced by a British female solo artist to hit number one. The other person to have achieved this feat? Kate Bush.

The song is a smouldering account of being ghosted on dating apps, set over skittering production that draws from garage, dubstep and dance. “How can we say that this is love when it goes like this?” she sings, speaking to society at large while sharing her specific experience. Since its release, it has also gone to the top of the Billboard Dance/Electronic Songs chart, the first track entirely produced and performed by a woman to ever do so.