British singer Ellie Goulding has spoken about her return to the recording studio following her separation from her husband, Caspar Jopling.
In November, the singer released Destiny, her first solo track since her 2023 album, Higher Than Heaven, marking a new chapter in her music career.
Speaking in an interview with NME, Goulding revealed that the song was deeply influenced by the emotional turmoil and unanswered questions that followed her divorce, which was finalised in 2024.
“I first heard this track when I had recently separated from my husband,” she said. “This was at a really turbulent time for me because I was trying to navigate what felt like a separation of all separations.”
Reflecting on the experience, the singer explained that music became her only outlet during the difficult period.
“It was a marriage, not just a relationship. I didn’t know what else to do other than make music,” she added.
Ellie Goulding also described the emotional toll of the breakup, likening it to a grieving process.
“Yeah, it doesn’t matter how strong a character you have, when it comes to separating from your husband, you can never be strong enough for that,” she shared. “It’s like a grieving process because you’ve lost not just the person, but the life that was projected for you.”
The 39-year-old explained that returning to the studio played a vital role in her healing journey.
“It was a long process, and it felt really triumphant to start waking up in the morning and, little by little, starting to feel it less,”Ellie Goulding told the publication. “It’s never gone away, and only time will tell if it ever will… but it’s been a process of everyday feeling a little bit better. That to me was such a victory.”
She added that transforming her emotions into music gave her a renewed sense of pride and purpose.
“To be able to channel things like that into poetry and lyrics, and then put it into songs like Destiny, it just felt like a triumph,” she said. “I felt proud that I’d taken these steps to feel myself again.”
Ellie Goulding and art dealer Caspar Jopling, who share a four-year-old son, tied the knot in 2019 and announced their separation in February 2024.
The Burn hitmaker is currently expecting her second child, her first with actor boyfriend Beau Minniear.
