Ella Feingold

Ella Feingold
Feingold playing guitar, 2026.
Feingold playing guitar, 2026.
Background information
Genres
Occupations
  • Guitarist
  • orchestrator
  • composer
  • producer
InstrumentElectric guitar
Websitefeingoldmusic.com

Ella Rae Feingold is an American session guitarist, orchestrator, composer, and music producer based in Massachusetts. Feingold has worked with Janet Jackson, Jay-Z, Erykah Badu, Queen Latifah, Nas, Destiny's Child, and George Clinton. In 2022, she was awarded a Grammy participation certificate for her performance on the single "Leave the Door Open" by Silk Sonic. Feingold released her solo album, Tell a Beautiful Lie With Sound, on February 14, 2026.

Early life

Growing up in Massachusetts, Feingold developed a love for R&B and funk guitar from the Motown music her father played in the car. She attended and graduated high school in Swampscott. In 2002, she attended Berklee College of Music but dropped out that same year in order to study under the mentorship of neo-soul guitarist Chalmers Alford.

Career

Feingold began her career in music as a high school sophomore in the late 1990s, playing guitar in clubs at night. She began recording music at home in 2002. She played guitar in Queen Latifah's band for the 2005 Sugar Water Festival tour. There, she met and worked with Erykah Badu for eight years until moving from Los Angeles to the Berkshire mountains of Massachusetts in 2014. Feingold then worked in music orchestration and arrangement for video games, including the series Destiny and movies, including the 2019 film Godzilla: King of the Monsters). She later worked on the 2021 debut studio album An Evening with Silk Sonic by Silk Sonic. She was credited with guitar, guitar effects, and/or the vibraphone on several tracks including "Leave the Door Open", which received four awards at the 64th Annual Grammy Awards in 2022 (Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Best R&B Performance, and Best R&B Song).

Feingold released her debut solo album, 4-Track Ephemera, in 2025. That same year she released a collaborative duo album, Different Strokes for Different Folks, with American guitarist Charlie Hunter via SideHustle Records. In 2026, she released her second solo album, Tell A Beautiful Lie With Sound, which was recorded in Jeff Buckley's bedroom in Memphis, Tennessee. Feingold is scheduled to perform at the 72nd Newport Jazz Festival on August 2, 2026 with Charlie Hunter.

Feingold is on Instagram and TikTok where she posts guitar tutorials. She plays guitar with inverted tuning.

Personal life

Feingold is a trans woman. She started transitioning in 2020 while working on An Evening with Silk Sonic and had undergone hormone replacement therapy for nine months before publicly coming out.

Discography

Solo albums

With Charlie Hunter

References

  1. 1 2 3 Millevoi, Nick (September 2, 2025). "Ella Feingold and Charlie Hunter: A Rhythmic Symposium". Premier Guitar. Archived from the original on October 15, 2025. Retrieved April 6, 2026.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Brakes, Rod (March 5, 2026). "Reverberations: Ella Feingold". BOSS. Archived from the original on April 6, 2026. Retrieved April 6, 2026.
  3. ↑ Borg, Janelle (November 12, 2024). ""Bruno would send me records, and I would send him records. Eventually, he asked, 'Would you want to play on a song?'" How Ella Feingold got working with Bruno Mars – and how it differed from her Prince audition". Guitar World. Archived from the original on February 9, 2026. Retrieved April 6, 2026.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Jacobson, Jeff (June 27, 2024). "Prince told her she was "too funky" and Bruno Mars sent her one of his signature Strats: Ella Feingold weaves magic with her funky playing, and this lesson in her style will sharpen up your rhythm work in no time". Guitar Player. Archived from the original on February 12, 2026. Retrieved April 6, 2026.
  5. 1 2 Feingold, Ella (February 14, 2026). "Tell A Beautiful Lie With Sound". Bandcamp. Archived from the original on April 6, 2026. Retrieved April 6, 2026.
  6. 1 2 3 Daly, Andrew (November 19, 2024). ""I stopped caring what people thought. I stopped trying to sound like other people and my sound emerged. It was literally timed with my transition": Ella Feingold gigged with Erykah Badu and jammed with Prince, but her transition made her a player". Guitar World. Archived from the original on March 2, 2026. Retrieved April 8, 2026.
  7. 1 2 Ottenhof, Luke (March 5, 2024). "How To Be a Work-at-Home Session Guitarist". Premier Guitar. Archived from the original on November 10, 2025. Retrieved April 8, 2026.
  8. 1 2 3 4 Watts, Michael (July 17, 2025). ""I choose guitars that stay out of the way of the vocals" how Ella Feingold became the most versatile rhythm guitar player on the planet". Guitar.com. Archived from the original on March 31, 2026. Retrieved April 6, 2026.
  9. ↑ An Evening with Silk Sonic (CD booklet). United States: Aftermath, Atlantic. 2021. 2-661922.
  10. ↑ Horton, Adrian (April 3, 2022). "Grammy awards 2022: list of winners". The Guardian. Archived from the original on April 10, 2022. Retrieved April 7, 2022.
  11. ↑ Glide (April 21, 2026). Glide Magazine https://web.archive.org/web/20260501164027/https://glidemagazine.com/324877/thundercat-herbie-hancock-flea-gary-clark-jr-robert-glasper-more-lead-2026-newport-jazz-festival/. Archived from the original on May 1, 2026. Retrieved May 1, 2026. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  12. ↑ "Newport Jazz: 2026 Lineup". Newport Jazz. Archived from the original on May 1, 2026. Retrieved May 1, 2026.
  13. ↑ Weller, Phil (November 3, 2025). ""A treasure trove of undiscovered harmonies": She's played with Bruno Mars and Jay-Z – now Ella Feingold's signature string set brings her wild inverted tuning to the masses". Guitar World. Archived from the original on December 5, 2025. Retrieved April 8, 2026.
  14. ↑ Feingold, Ella (August 29, 2025). "4-Track Ephemera". Bandcamp. Archived from the original on January 11, 2026. Retrieved April 6, 2026.