Mae Stephens: from Kettering Asda worker to global singing sensation

Just weeks ago Kettering’s Mae Stephens was working on the checkouts at the town’s Northfield Avenue Asda.

The 19-year-old regularly posted clips of herself singing at home on TikTok, often getting a few thousand views online.

But now she’s signed to a record label and her alt-pop bop is BBC Radio One’s tune of the week after one video went viral.

Her rapid rise to fame came after she shared a snippet of ‘If We Ever Broke Up’, described as the ‘perfect kiss-off to an ex’, which was viewed by more than 10 million people worldwide.

She’s now a global sensation but says she’ll always remember where her music career started – and she would love to do a big gig in Kettering.

Mae told this newspaper: "The town has been a big help for me. I've made so many friends in Kettering and it's somewhere I just love.

"It feels like home to me – every time I come home from London I'm excited to be back at Kettering train station. The town is great, the people are great and I love it.

"I'm really happy and I feel like Kettering deserves more recognition. There are some incredible people and there's some insane talents. It's just a town full of good people."

Mae and her family moved to the area when she was six and they have spent time living on the Kettering Leisure Village estate as well as in Burton Latimer and Barton Seagrave.

The music star went to Meadowside Primary School in Burton Latimer before attending Latimer Arts College in Barton Seagrave. She started writing music when she was 12, spending hours every day after school writing songs and playing her family’s piano as a coping mechanism because she was bullied by some pupils.

Mae described being kicked down flights of stairs, having her shoes filled with water, her hair cut and items being stolen from her bag, with pupils mimicking her when she uploaded her songs to YouTube.

But she was full of praise for school staff – and described her music teacher Caroline Eyley as an ‘angel’.

She said: “Staff at the school were really helpful. They allowed me to have some time where it could be just me, where I used to sit and I could get away from people.

"They were just really supportive, in particular my GCSE music teacher. She was an angel…she listened to me. She was one of the only teachers that I really, really trusted."

Mae was determined not to let the bullies win and her dad spent countless hours helping her learn about the industry and social platforms as she tried to increase her profile online.

She started hitting every open mic night she could, performing at The Stirrup Cup in Barton Seagrave and The Domino in Corby. She also worked as a vocal assistant at Beccy Hurrell Voice and Arts in Market Street, where Beccy Hurrell was her vocal coach.

Then, on New Year’s Eve, everything changed. As she was preparing to celebrate the start of 2023, she made a last-minute decision to post a TikTok video of herself dancing to a demo of a song she had recorded in just three hours – and she never imagined how much it would blow up.

She said: “I woke up the next morning and I was getting spammed. My dad was messaging me, my phone wouldn't stop going off.

"I checked my numbers and had a freak out. It was just insane. I'd had one viral video before that but not as quick as this one was going. It was gaining easily like 700 views every couple of seconds of refreshing."

The song – written about telling the dad of an ex how his son treated you – was in huge demand with many eagerly awaiting its full release. It finally came out this month to a huge reaction and more than 200,000 monthly listeners are now flocking to her Spotify to tune into her previously released songs.

But she said she still finds it surreal that so many people are listening to her work.

She said: "I didn't expect the reaction to be that big. I think I have a bit of imposter syndrome because for me that's just a song where I'm singing.

"It's just me and to have that played as track of the week and to have all this hype around it and people who love my music is very surreal. It's very hard to get used to the fact that this is happening."

Mae had dreamed of signing to a record label since she was little and has now signed with EMI Records. She said it was an emotional day when she went with proud parents Steve and Alex to sign the contract. She also heaped praise on her boyfriend and ‘hype-man behind the scenes’ Adam, who she said has provided incredible support to her.

Mae now wants to get the track into the charts and release a music video before writing more tracks – focusing on songs that give people ‘boss energy’.

Her music is now known by social media users around the world. But Mae, who wants to be a champion of the underdogs, said she’ll never forget her Kettering roots.

She said: "It's my hometown and I love it."