British singer Corinne Bailey Rae has claimed that during the height of her career, Lily Allen “started a campaign against me.”
Bailey Rae is best known for 2006 single “Put Your Records On,” and in 2010 she performed in the East Room of the White House at the invitation of then President Barack Obama. Fellow singer Allen—the daughter of actor Keith Allen and film producer Alison Owen—has had hits including “Smile,” “Not Fair” and “The Fear.”
During an interview with the Independent, Bailey Rae discussed the unjust expectations placed on female artists in the 2000s and the way the media treated them. She also alleged that when she and Allen were coming up in the music industry together, Allen was less than supportive.
“I remember Lily Allen started this campaign against me, ‘Oh Corinne is so middle of the road.’ She had started talking about me like that, but I wasn’t going to engage in [any back and forth]. I thought, ‘I’m not going to bother with that. Stevie Wonder likes me, so it’s OK that Lily Allen doesn’t like me. That’s fine,'” Bailey Rae told the publication.
Lily Allen, left, pictured on March 13, 2023, in New York City; right, Corinne Bailey Rae at a photocall for the 2024 Mercury Prize on July 25, 2024, in London, England. Bailey Rae has claimed Allen once “started a campaign against me.”
Dimitrios Kambouris/Jeff Spicer/Getty Images
Newsweek emailed spokespeople for Allen and contacted Bailey Rae’s talent agent for comment on Thursday.
This quote refers to comments Allen made ahead of the BRIT Awards in 2007. Allen, who is married to Stranger Things actor David Harbour, had been nominated for four awards, one of which was Best Female Solo Artist, which Bailey Rae had also been nominated for.
“Corinne Bailey Rae? I think she’s a bit boring, sorry. She’s a lovely girl but I don’t think her music stands out and I’d be a bit annoyed if she won,” Allen told The Mirror at the time.
“I’d be really happy if Amy Winehouse wins, though. She’s brilliant.”
The singer predicted that she wouldn’t win in any of the categories she was nominated for. While she was correct, neither did Bailey Rae, whose fans included Oprah Winfrey, Stevie Wonder, Mary J Blige and Prince.
“I’ll go home with nothing. I just know I will. When I heard about the nominations I felt like it was a bit of a burden. I hate being in competitions ’cause I never win,” Allen told The Mirror.
“I was disappointed that I didn’t get my Mercury nomination last year. When you do get nominated it’s really nice, but at the same time I’m going to have to put on my ‘Oh, I’m really happy Corinne won’ face.”
Elsewhere in her interview with the Independent, Bailey Rae said she “was just seen as boring” by the press in the 2000s. During this time, they were fixated on the goings-on of Winehouse.
“They wanted to see you falling out of bars and clubs. There was so much focus on that sort of thing, and Amy kind of absorbed all that press; I was very much in the shadows in terms of that,” she said. “Because of the way I presented myself, they infantilized me like I was this young, innocent girl.”
This all changed when her husband Jason Rae died of an accidental methadone overdose in 2008.
“It was a drug-related death and so suddenly everyone was so interested in me. There were rows of photographers outside the house. It really gave me a strong measure of the British press and who they were—as if I needed it,” she explained.
The singer told the publication that after his death, her record label was “hands-off” when she was working on her album The Sea because she was so vulnerable. However, when it came time to record her third LP, The Heart Speaks in Whispers, she was “heavily controlled” by those determined to make a hit.
Bailey Rae’s fourth studio album, 2023’s Black Rainbows, is on the shortlist for the 2024 Mercury Prize award in the U.K., with the award show taking place on the evening of September 5.
