Cat Ellington (born Kimberly Monique Hart to parents Linda Hart and Ezell Ellington-Jenkins on November 28, 1970, in Chicago, IL) is an American songwriter known for her work in 24 music genres. Since the age of 10, the age she completed her first song titled "The Baby's Song," Cat Ellington has written hundreds of songs covering a wide range of categories, including Gospel, Jazz, Heavy Metal, Country, R&B, Pop, Reggae, Show Tunes, etc.

Ellington was given the nickname Cat, in 1980, by one of her educators and later added the surname of her father to provide the moniker with a more syllabic flair. And after writing her first song in 1981, she would write her third work titled "Gluttony (The Shell)" in 1982 - inspired by her struggle with obesity. When speaking of the latter, a song she originally wrote for Barbra Streisand, via her official website, Cat Ellington calls it her "At Seventeen," a classic made famous by Janice Ian - one of her biggest songwriting influences - in 1975. Over many years, Ellington - an ASCAP member, respectively - would draw on every inspiration possible where it concerned the subject matter of her songs - whether it was bullying, or loneliness, or fear, or joy. And each song work that she has ever written is an entity in itself, a unique storyline to which any individual can relate.

After meeting her husband, filmmaker, and fellow songwriter, Joseph Strickland, in 1992, her career would begin its launch. As the couple grew closer, Ellington would read the second draft of the Joseph Strickland screenplay titled "Dual Mania." And together, they worked to bring the work to fruition for the big screen. It was in 1993 that Strickland hired Cat to take over the casting process on "Dual Mania." And while the job had its strenuous moments, Ellington completed her first assignment as an executive casting director in 1996. Soon after, Strickland would commission her creative input once more for the film soundtrack. He wanted at least six original R&B songs from the Cat Ellington song catalog to place on the soundtrack. And Cat delivered. She furnished the filmmaker with seven tracks originally, which included "I Do," "Something In Your Eyes," "The Book Of Us," "Free," I'm Still In Love," and "You're Not Where I Belong." In the end, though, only four were selected for scenes in the film. And Ellington, together with Strickland, would compose the heavy metal track, "Gett Out," to replace "You're Not Where I Belong."

Following the initial release of "Dual Mania" at a slew of international film festivals in 2018, the film would rack up over one dozen awards from around the world. And "I Do," a song that Cat originally wrote for R&B songstress Rachelle Ferrell, would win the 2019 Vegas Movie Award for Best Song - as well as an Honorable Mention from the famed festival in recognition of excellence in filmmaking.

Working with a great team of collaborators, including producers Princeton Brown and Greg Schutte, vocalist Jaki (Jaki Cavins), and a horn section consisting of the trumpet and saxophone duo of DeCarlo Jackson and Josh Johnson, Cat Ellington produced the soundtrack for "Dual Mania." And Vital Vision Records released the soundtrack on October 20, 2020 - under the executive production of Joseph Strickland.

In addition to her music and film career, Cat Ellington is also a published author and poet. Her first book, Reviews by Cat Ellington: The Complete Anthology, Vol. 1, was released in 2018.