Anthems is the debut studio album by actress and singer Kerry Ellis which was released on 13 September 2010 by Decca Records. Produced by rock musician Brian May, the album comprises eleven tracks that tap into all the different areas that Ellis had been part of in her professional career between the years 2000 and 2010. Photography for the album's artwork was completed by Paul Rider with design and art direction by Tourist.

The album peaked at number fifteen on the UK Albums Chart and remained on the chart for two weeks. It also produced two singles, "I'm Not that Girl" (with a B-side of "Dangerland") and "Anthem", but both failed to chart on the UK Singles Chart. Despite its limited success on the UK chart, it was received positively by critics and spawned Anthems: The Tour which paired Ellis and May on a tour around Great Britain in the summer of 2011.

Rock musician Brian May "talent-spotted" Ellis when she understudied Martine McCutcheon in the musical My Fair Lady. May stated, "From the moment I first heard Kerry sing, I was entranced, and felt the conviction that I would one day make her album. The conviction never left me. The hard thing was to find the right medium to harness that amazing voice – the material and arrangements had to be worthy, and a musical style evolved to capture her unique magic."

He quickly snapped her up to star in the Queen musical We Will Rock You in 2002, and it was in between rehearsals and performances that the two of them found the time to begin work on some new ideas. May stated, "it was very exciting to work with someone with such a great female voice. I was just very inspired by the sound that Kerry could make and the interpretation that she could bring. So I started in odd moments to prepare tracks so that when she had an odd moment she could come down and try them out." At first, Ellis met May with disbelief when he declared, "I'd really like to work with you and do an album," but after recording material for the cast album, their first effort was an orchestral version of Queen song "No-One but You (Only the Good Die Young)" which was digitally released in 2005 but failed to chart on the UK Singles Chart.

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