Hayden Silas Anhedönia^{[pronunciation?]} (born March 24, 1998), known professionally as Ethel Cain, is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and model. She became known for her ambient and Southern Gothic-style music and lyrics. She began releasing recordings under various aliases, before releasing multiple extended plays including Inbred (2021) which garnered various singles including "Crush".

Cain released her debut studio album, Preacher's Daughter (2022), to acclaim from critics and garnered a cult following. After a vinyl release in 2025, the album debuted at number ten on the US Billboard 200 chart, making Cain the first transgender artist to reach the top ten. She released the studio recording Perverts (2025), which saw her experimenting with drone music. Later that year, she released her second studio album, Willoughby Tucker, I'll Always Love You (2025), which served as a lyrical prequel to her debut album.

Hayden Silas Anhedönia was born on March 24, 1998, in Tallahassee, Florida, and raised in Perry. She is the eldest of four children in a Southern Baptist family. Her father was a deacon, and she was involved in the church choir from a young age, like her mother. At age 8, Anhedönia began studying classical piano, with musical influences from a variety of Christian music, as well as Florence Welch, who served as Anhedönia's inspiration as she wrote her first album as a teenager. The church was Anhedönia's first exposure to music: "My whole life was always singing, always, always music all the time", she said. She left the church at the age of 16. Anhedönia was homeschooled.

Anhedönia officially started making music in 2017, experimenting with "dreamy bedroom pop demos" under different monikers. As White Silas, she first published Gregorian chant-inspired singles and mixtapes to SoundCloud and Tumblr, the latter now having been deactivated and no longer associated with the artist. In 2019, Anhedönia started recording music as Ethel Cain, which became her current main project. For the new moniker, she thought of a "womanly, matronly, old American name", while also taking inspiration from the biblical figure of Cain. Her first extended play as Ethel Cain, Carpet Bed, consisted of four songs and was released on September 13, 2019. Months later, she released her second EP, Golden Age, on December 1. After the latter's release, she was backed by the artist Wicca Phase Springs Eternal, who praised her for her "mature songwriting and understanding of melody". In January 2020, after recommendation from Wicca Phase Springs Eternal, Cain was discovered by the rapper Lil Aaron while headlining a show with Edith Underground, Girlfiend, and Lil Bo Weep in Los Angeles. She was then invited by him to meet with the publishing company Prescription Songs and signed with them soon after.

In February 2021, Cain released her debut single as Ethel Cain while under the new publishing contract, "Michelle Pfeiffer", which featured Lil Aaron. The song was described by Billboard as alternative rock, folk, pop and "even country". Her second single, "Crush", followed on March 18 and received a music video on August 3. The two singles were part of her third EP, Inbred, which was released on April 23. The ambient-folk and slowcore EP was named by Pitchfork as one of The 49 Most Anticipated Albums of Spring 2021 and received a score of 7.6 out of 10 by the website. Later on August 24, a stripped version of "Crush" was also published. On March 8, 2022, she released a cover of the song "Everytime" by Britney Spears as part of Spotify Singles, in observance of International Women's Day.

On March 17, 2022, Cain released the single "Gibson Girl" and subsequently announced her debut album, titled Preacher's Daughter and released on May 12, 2022, through her own record label, Daughters of Cain. A concept album that creates a narrative "centered around the character Ethel Cain", it received a positive reception from music critics and was named one of the best albums of the year. It was also preceded by the release of the singles "Strangers" on April 7 and "American Teenager" on April 21, the latter receiving a music video on July 21. In support of the album, Cain embarked on the Freezer Bride Tour in 2022 and the Blood Stained Blonde Tour in 2023. She was also an opening act at one concert of Florence and the Machine's Dance Fever Tour and Caroline Polachek's Spiraling Tour.

Cain performed at the 22nd Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in April 2023. On June 3, 2023, Cain fainted on stage while performing at the Sydney Opera House in Sydney, Australia, as part of Vivid Live, resulting in the show's cancellation. She returned to performing the next day. She also performed at Reading Festival and Gunnersbury Park with Boygenius and Muna in August 2023. On December 5, 2023, Cain announced the Childish Behaviour Tour, an eight-show tour that began on June 3, 2024 and was slated to end on June 27, 2024. After sharing the song on SoundCloud a year before, on July 21, 2023, she released "Famous Last Words (An Ode to Eaters)", inspired by Luca Guadagnino's film Bones and All, along with 1017 ALYX 9SM. With a "darkly poignant" music video, it was included in the project's first compilation album. In that year, Cain appeared as a guest vocalist on the songs "Dying Star" by Ashnikko and "222" by Angel Diaz (also known as Vyva Melinkolya) from the albums Weedkiller and Unbecoming, respectively.

Cain placed on the Forbes 30 Under 30 2024 for Music. She opened for Mitski's 2024 concert tour in support of her album The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We (2023). On February 14, 2024, she released a song titled "من النهر” (meaning "From the River"), which she described as a "prayer" for Palestinians. On September 5, 2024, Cain released a cover of the track "For Sure", which appeared on American Football: Covers, a cover album by the American emo band American Football in tribute to their 1999 record of the same name. Days later, they performed the track together at the El Rey Theatre in Los Angeles.