Elle King Bio
Tanner Elle Schneider, professionally known as Elle King, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actress born on July 3, 1989, in Los Angeles, California. She is the daughter of comedian Rob Schneider and model London King, and she uses her mother’s surname to establish her own creative identity. King blends alternative country, blues rock, and vintage Americana influences across her music and has remained active in film, television, and touring throughout her career.
Signed to RCA Records, Elle King first drew wide attention with her 2012 debut EP and later achieved major commercial success with her 2015 album Love Stuff, led by the hit single Ex’s & Oh’s. The song reached the top ten on the Billboard Hot 100 and earned her two Grammy Award nominations, cementing her reputation as a bold, genre-crossing performer. She has since released additional studio albums, toured internationally, and continued acting work in film and on television.
Early Life and Background
Elle King was born Tanner Elle Schneider in Los Angeles County, California, to actor and comedian Rob Schneider and American model London King. Her parents divorced when she was an infant, and she and her mother moved to Ohio, where she was raised in Columbus and Wellston. Her mother later remarried Justin Tesa in 2000, and King has described her early upbringing as a blend of music, acting exposure, and creative exploration shaped by both parents and her stepfather.
At around age nine, King’s stepfather introduced her to a record by the all-female hard-rock band the Donnas, an experience she has called the pivotal moment when she decided to become a musician. During the same period, she began listening to acts like the Runaways and Blondie and made her acting debut alongside her father in the 1999 comedy film Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo. These early experiences introduced her to both stage performance and recording artistry.
As a teenager, Elle King studied guitar, immersed herself in artists such as Otis Redding, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Etta James, Aretha Franklin, Al Green, Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, AC/DC, and Earl Scruggs, and learned the banjo. She attended Buck’s Rock camp in Connecticut, where she starred in several musicals, and later spent part of her teenage years in New York City. After graduating from the Little Red School House and Elisabeth Irwin High School, she moved to Philadelphia to study painting and film at the University of the Arts.
Path to Celebrity
Elle King’s path into the entertainment industry began almost by accident when she appeared as a child in her father’s 1999 film Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo. That brief on-screen moment gave her early exposure to a film set, but her real creative focus turned to music after her stepfather handed her a record by the Donnas. Encouraged by that experience, she began writing songs, learning multiple instruments, and performing wherever she could find a stage.
By 2005, at the age of sixteen, Elle King was already gigging around New York City, using a fake ID to gain entry into local nightclubs. She busked on the streets, joined the local songwriting scene, and sharpened her stage presence in front of live audiences. After college, she briefly lived in Copenhagen and Los Angeles before eventually returning to New York, determined to make music her full-time career.
Her growing reputation as a live performer eventually caught the attention of newly appointed RCA Chairman Peter Edge, who signed her to RCA Records. This signing set the stage for her professional recording career, leading to her debut single, her first EP, and a series of high-profile television appearances. Throughout these early years, King balanced acting projects with her expanding music career, laying the foundation for the breakthrough that would follow in the mid-2010s.
Elle King Career
Early Career (1999–2013)
Elle King’s earliest professional work was a small acting role in her father Rob Schneider’s 1999 comedy film Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo. For more than a decade after that appearance, she focused on developing her craft as a musician, gigging in New York City nightclubs from age sixteen and writing original songs. Her commitment to performing eventually brought her to the attention of major-label executives at RCA Records.
In 2012, Elle King released her debut single Good To Be A Man and followed it with the four-song The Elle King EP on RCA Records. The EP’s lead track, Playing for Keeps, was chosen as the theme song for VH1’s Mob Wives Chicago series. She was spotlighted as an Artist to Watch in 2012 by Esquire Magazine, made television appearances on VH1 Big Morning Buzz Live and the Late Show with David Letterman, and played major venues including the South by Southwest Festival and the Hammersmith Apollo, while opening for acts such as Of Monsters and Men, Train, and Ed Sheeran.
Breakthrough (2014–Present)
Elle King’s breakthrough arrived in 2014 with the single Ex’s & Oh’s, the lead track from her debut studio album Love Stuff, which was released on February 17, 2015. The song climbed to number ten on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming her first top-ten single in the United States, and earned two nominations at the 58th Grammy Awards for Best Rock Performance and Best Rock Song. Additional singles from the album, including Under the Influence and America’s Sweetheart, received airplay on rock and mainstream radio stations.
In 2016, Elle King partnered with country singer Dierks Bentley on the song Different for Girls, and the two performed it at the 50th CMA Awards, where they won Musical Event of the Year. That same year, her single Good Girls appeared on the soundtrack for the film Ghostbusters. She released her second studio album, Shake the Spirit, on October 19, 2018, made with her band the Brethren, and later released her third album, Come Get Your Wife, on January 27, 2023, which marked a stronger turn toward country music. Along the way, she collaborated with Miranda Lambert on Drunk (And I Don’t Wanna Go Home), served as a guest co-host on MTV’s Catfish: The TV Show, and contributed music to the DreamWorks Animation film The Bad Guys.
Notable Works and Milestones
Elle King’s signature work remains Love Stuff, the 2015 debut studio album that introduced her genre-blending sound to a global audience and produced the breakout hit Ex’s & Oh’s. Her 2023 album Come Get Your Wife signaled a confident move into country music and produced the popular collaboration Drunk (And I Don’t Wanna Go Home) with Miranda Lambert. Over her career, she has earned four Grammy Award nominations and honors from both the Country Music Association Awards and the Academy of Country Music Awards, including a CMA Musical Event of the Year win for Different for Girls with Dierks Bentley.
Elle King Award Nominations
Elle King has received four Grammy Award nominations across her career, with two nominations each in rock and country categories. Her first two nominations came at the 58th Grammy Awards for Best Rock Performance and Best Rock Song, both for the single Ex’s & Oh’s. She has earned additional nominations from country music organizations, including recognition from the Academy of Country Music Awards for her collaborative work with major country artists.
Elle King Awards Won
Elle King has won honors from both the Country Music Association Awards and the Academy of Country Music Awards for her work in country and country-rock crossover music. Her most prominent win came at the 50th CMA Awards, where she and country singer Dierks Bentley received Musical Event of the Year for their collaboration Different for Girls. She has also been recognized by the Academy of Country Music Awards for her contributions to the genre.
Elle King Family
Elle King is the daughter of American actor and comedian Rob Schneider and former model London King. Her parents divorced when she was an infant, and she was raised primarily by her mother in Ohio, with her mother later marrying Justin Tesa. King has spoken publicly about the challenges of growing up in the public eye as the child of a well-known comedian.
She has said that her relationship with her father has had an ebb-and-flow quality, noting that she would spend summers on his film sets but rarely spent extended time with him. In 2024, she discussed these experiences on the podcast Dumb Blonde, after which Rob Schneider issued a public apology for his shortcomings as a father. King has used her mother’s surname professionally in order to clearly distinguish her own career and identity from her father’s.
Personal Life
Elle King married Andrew Ferguson on February 14, 2016, after meeting him just three weeks earlier in a London hotel lobby. The couple briefly separated following a 2017 arrest, reconciled, and ultimately finalized their divorce in 2018. She became engaged to tattoo artist Dan Tooker in October 2020, and the two have had two sons together, Lucky Levi Tooker, born in 2021, and Royal Tooker, born in 2025. As of early 2023, Elle King has made her home in Nashville, Tennessee, where she continues to write, record, and perform.