Lily Allen

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Biography

Lily Rose Beatrice Cooper (born 2 May 1985), better known as Lily Allen , is an English recording artist and fashion designer. She is the daughter of actor and musician Keith Allen (actor)|Keith Allen and film producer Alison Owen . In her teenage years, her musical tastes evolved from glam rock to alternative rock|alternative . Allen abandoned school and concentrated on improving her performing and compositional skills. Afterwards, she created several demo songs and, near the end of 2005, she created a profile on MySpace where she made some of her recordings public.

A contract was signed with the label Regal Recordings , as the views on MySpace rose to tens of thousands. In 2006, she began to work on completing what would be her first studio album and its first mainstream single " Smile (Lily Allen song)|Smile " reached the top position on the UK Singles Chart in July 2006. Her debut record, Alright, Still , was well received on the international market, selling over 2.6& nbsp;million copies and brought Allen a nomination at the Grammy Awards , BRIT Awards and MTV Video Music Awards . She then began hosting her own talk-show, Lily Allen and Friends , on BBC Three .

Her second major album release, '' It's Not Me, It's You '', saw a genre shift for her, having more of an electropop feel, rather than the ska and reggae influences of the first one. The album debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart and the ARIA Charts|Australian ARIA Charts and was appreciated by the critics, noting the singer's musical evolution and maturity. It spawned the hit singles " The Fear (song)|The Fear " and " Fuck You (Lily Allen song)|Fuck You ", popular mostly in Europe. Allen and Amy Winehouse have been credited with starting a process that led to the media-proclaimed "year of the women" in 2009 that has seen five female artists making music of "experimentalism and fearlessness" nominated for the Mercury Prize ., The Sunday Times 25 July 2009

During the autumn of 2010, Allen opened a fashion rental shop "Lucy in Disguise" with her sister Sarah, followed by the 2011 launching of her own record label.

Life and career

Childhood and youth

Allen was born in Hammersmith , west London, daughter of Welsh-born comedian and actor Keith Allen (actor)|Keith Allen and English, Portsmouth -born, film producer Alison Owen .Barratt, Nick.. The Daily Telegraph . 19 May 2007. Retrieved 23 June 2007. She has an older sister, Sarah; a younger brother, Alfie Owen-Allen (who was the subject of her song " Alfie (Lily Allen song)|Alfie "); and a younger sister Rebecca. She has a number of half-sibling s. At the age of three, Allen appeared on The Comic Strip Presents... episode "The Yob", which her father had co-written.. Internet Movie Database . Retrieved 25 June 2007. When Allen was four years old, her father left the family.Walker, Andrew. . BBC News. 21 July 2006. Retrieved 23 June 2007. Allen grew up with her mother living on a council estate during her early childhood. Her family settled in the North London borough of Islington . Allen lived for a while with comedian Harry Enfield while her mother dated him. She is the god-daughter of Wild Colonials vocalist Angela McCluskey. The late The Clash|Clash singer and guitarist Joe Strummer was close to Allen. Allen has fond memories of the week and a half they would spend together at Glastonbury Festival as part of a regular collective centred on Strummer and her father. Strummer's musical past would not come into focus for Allen until after his death., The Telegraph 16 January 2009

She attended some of the UK's most expensive fee-paying Independent school (UK)|public schools ; Allen attended 13 schools in all, including Prince Charles's junior alma mater, Hill House School , Millfield , Bedales School and was expelled from several of them for drinking and smoking.. Rolling Stone . 24 May 2007. Retrieved 25 June 2007. When Allen was 11, former University of Victoria music student Rachel Santesso overheard Allen singing Wonderwall (song)|Wonderwall by Oasis (band)|Oasis in the school's playground; impressed, Santesso, who later became an award-winning soprano and composer, called Allen into her office the next day and started giving her lunchtime singing lessons. This would lead to Allen singing Baby Mine from Disney's Dumbo at a school concert. Times Colonist 4 July 2009 Allen would tell Loveline that the audience was "brought to tears at the sight of a troubled young girl doing something good". At that point Allen said she knew that music was something she needed to do either as a lifelong vocation or to get it out of her system. Allen played piano to Music examination|grade 5 standard and achieved Music examination|Grade 8 in singing. She also played violin, guitar and trumpet as well as being a member of a chamber choir. Her first solo was " In the Bleak Midwinter ." Allen made an appearance as a lady-in-waiting in the 1998 film Elizabeth (film)|Elizabeth , which was co-produced by her mother.. Internet Movie Database . Retrieved 25 June 2007. She dropped out of school at age fifteen, not wanting to "spend a third of her life preparing to work for the next third of her life, to set herself up with a pension for the next third of her life."

2002–05: Career beginnings

When her family went to Ibiza on holiday, Allen told her mother that she was staying with friends but remained in Sant Antoni de Portmany instead. She earned money by working at a Plastic Fantastic record store and dealing methylenedioxymethamphetamine|ecstasy . Allen met her first manager, George Lamb (presenter)|George Lamb in Ibiza .Swift, Jacqui. . The Sun (newspaper)|The Sun . Retrieved 23 June 2007. She was rejected by several labels, which she attributed to her drinking and being the daughter of Keith Allen. However, she eventually used her father's connections to get signed to London Records in 2002. When the executive who had signed her left, the label lost interest and she left without releasing the folk music|folk songs many of which were written by her father.Sisson, Patrick. . URB (magazine) , issue 143. 29 March 2007. Retrieved 23 June 2007. She then studied horticulture to become a florist, but changed her mind and returned to music. Allen began writing songs, while her manager introduced her to production duo Future Cut in 2004. They worked in a small studio in the basement of an office building.

In 2005, Allen was signed to Regal Recordings ; they gave her £25,000 to produce an album, though they were unable to provide much support for it due to their preoccupation with other releases such as X& Y (Coldplay) and Demon Days (Gorillaz). Allen then created an account on MySpace and began posting demos that she recorded in November 2005. The demos attracted thousands of listeners, and 500 limited edition 7" vinyl singles of " LDN (song)|LDN " were rush-released, reselling for as much as £40. Allen also produced two mixtapes — My First Mixtape and My Second Mixtape — to promote her work. As she accumulated tens of thousands of MySpace friends, The Observer Music Monthly (OMM), a magazine published in The Observer , took interest in March 2006. Few people outside of her label's A& R department knew who she was, so the label was slow in responding to publications wanting to report about her. She received her first major mainstream coverage, appearing in the magazine's cover story two months later.

2006–08: Alright, Still and television

The success convinced her label to allow her more creative control over the album and to use some of the songs that she had written instead of forcing her to work with mainstream producers. Allen decided to work with producers Greg Kurstin and Mark Ronson , finishing the rest of the album in two weeks. Allen's debut album, Alright, Still , was released in July 2006. Most of the tracks had been previewed on her MySpace page, – Lily Allen MySpace page including the singles " Smile (Lily Allen song)|Smile ", " LDN (song)|LDN ", "Knock 'Em Out", and "Alfie". In September 2006, "Smile" was made available on the United States version of iTunes Music Store|iTunes Store . By December 2006, her music video for Smile had been played on various music channels as well as the song getting a little airplay. Entertainment Weekly named Alright, Still as one of the top 10 albums of 2006 despite the fact that it had not yet been released in the U.S. Allen also did several promotional ads for MTV as their Discover and Download artist of the month for January 2007. The album was released in the United States on 30 January 2007, landing at 20 on the Billboard Album Charts. By January 2009, the album had sold 960,000 copies in the United Kingdom and 520,000 copies in the United States.

In 2007, she played the newly launched Park Stage at the Glastonbury Festival , replacing M.I.A. (artist)|M.I.A. who had cancelled. During the festival she reunited two members of The Specials an act that guitarist Lynval Golding claimed played a "massive part" in the group's 2009 reunion., The Coventry Telegraph , 15 May 2009 She also sang the vocals on the top ten single, " Oh My God (Kaiser Chiefs song)|Oh My God ", a cover of the Kaiser Chiefs song by Mark Ronson . The single, "Littlest Things" from Allen's album produced by Ronson, helped earn him a "Producer of the Year – Non Classical" 2008 Grammy Awards|2008 Grammy Award . Los Angeles Times She also provided background vocals to a couple of songs on the Kaiser Chief's third album in 2008. Allen won a 2008 BMI songwriting award for "Smile". People 8 October 2008 Allen began dating musician Ed Simons of the Chemical Brothers in September 2007, and in December, Allen announced that she and Simons were expecting a child. Allen suffered a miscarriage in January 2008.

Due to her outspokenness, Allen was the subject of many controversies early in her career. Disparaging remarks about musicians Luke Pritchard of The Kooks , Bob Geldof , Amy Winehouse , Kylie Minogue , and Katy Perry , New Musical Express , 9 December 2008 have all garnered minor press attention. She later said that making fun of other pop stars was a result of a lack of confidence, saying "I felt like 'Oh God, I'm short, fat, ugly and I hate all these people who flaunt their beauty.'" On 28 June 2007, Allen was arrested in London for allegedly assaulting photographer Kevin Rush while she was leaving a nightclub in London's West End. Prior to this, she had expressed discomfort with attention from the paparazzi on her MySpace blog. By February 2009 she had stopped addressing controversies about herself on her blog because she found it "boring when people just pick stuff up and write about it. People get hurt, people get upset." Melbourne Herald 5 February 2009 In September 2009, she shut down her MySpace account and stopped social networking completely in December due to the abuse she was taking. this is nottingham 4 December 2009

Allen signed a one series contract to present her own BBC Three TV show entitled Lily Allen and Friends based on the social networking phenomenon that helped to launch her music career.. BBC News. Retrieved 27 November 2007. Guests included Mark Ronson, Joanna Page , James Corden, Lauren Laverne , Roisin Murphy , Louis Walsh , and Danny Dyer . Daily Mail 9 February 2008 NME 12 February 2008 The show received a 2% share of the total multi-channel audience share despite a high-profile nationwide marketing campaign. The Hollywood News 14 February 2008 Allen was quoted in a British tabloid as rating the show "probably five out of 10" and said "I made a lot of money out of it". The Sun 17 December 2008 Citing Allen's rapid development as a TV host and her popularity among its target audience BBC Three announced it was renewing Lily Allen and Friends for a second season., The Times 2 April 2008 BBC Three controller Danny Cohen later said that the show will not air in the Spring of 2009 as originally scheduled because of music commitments. The Guardian , 13 January 2009

Allen performed at a benefit concert for War Child (charity)|War Child , an international child protection agency that works with children affected by war. Backed by Keane (band)|Keane , Allen sang "Smile" and " Everybody’s Changing "., The Guardian , 11 October 2008 Although the singer is a staunch supporter of the Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party , Lily Allen: I'll still vote for Gordon Brown, New Musical Express , 15 May 2009 she has been credited with helping inspire a parliamentary rebellion against Prime Minister Gordon Brown when she wrote to all Members of Parliament asking them to back an amendment to an energy bill.Lydall, Ross (2 May 2008) , The Scotsman She has since confirmed her support for the UK Labour Party and for Prime Minister Gordon Brown in particular.

2008–09: ''It's Not Me, It's You

After the release of her first album, her parent record company, EMI , was taken over by Terra Firma Capital Partners|Terra Firma . Contactmusic 8 January 2009 She also changed her management company from Empire Artist Management to Twenty-First Artists, although her core team remained in place. At the urging of her record company, Allen tried unsuccessfully to create the album with several writers and producers. Allen eventually returned to Greg Kurstin who had written three songs for Alright, Still. The album was produced by Kurstin at Eagle Rock Studios in Los Angeles. Before returning to Kus, Allen co-wrote the songs for the album with Kurstin who played piano on it. This is a change from her earlier work in which she wrote lyrics for finished tracks., Papermag Magazine 20 August 2008 Allen released a statement saying "We decided to try and make bigger sounding, more Ethereal being#Etymology|ethereal songs, real songs ... I wanted to work with one person from start to finish to make it one body of work. I wanted it to feel like it had some sort of integrity. I think I've grown up a bit as a person and I hope it reflects that." She posted two new song demos on her MySpace page and planned to release a mixtape to give her fans an idea of what the new direction was.Salmon, Chris (25 April 2008). , The Guardian Yagga Yo 17 April 2008 Indo Asian News Service 19 April 2008, The Guardian 18 April 2008 People 18 April 2008

Allen cancelled a scheduled appearance at the 2008 Isle of Wight Festival telling festival promoter John Giddings the reason for the cancellation was that her album was behind schedule. Giddings said that the reason given was not acceptable and possibly a lie. Giddings decided not to sue her., BBC 5 March 2008 Photos of her drunk and topless in the Cannes Film Festival were also widely covered in the press. Her appearance at the 2008 Glamour Awards also generated criticism, as she showed up intoxicated wearing a dress covered in decapitated Bambi figures, and had an on-stage, expletive-laced exchange with Elton John . On 29 June 2008, Allen performed at the Glastonbury Festival alongside producer Mark Ronson. An emotional Allen dedicated her performance of " Littlest Things " to her grandmother who died the night before. contactmusic.com 30 June 2008 ''It's Not Me, It's You'' was first scheduled for an early 2008 release, but her miscarriage and creative issues delayed the release date to the autumn. During autumn 2008, EMI was undergoing restructuring. Due to this environment, a decision was made to move the album's eventual release date. An online game, Escape the Fear, was created by Matmi as part of the viral marketing campaign targeted at people unaware of Allen or the album. 18 December 2008 Since its release, the game has topped the worldwide viral charts three times, including the week of Christmas—a highly contested time of the year. By 18 February 2009, the game had been played over two million times. Newswire Today 18 February 2009 The singer and The Clash guitarist Mick Jones (The Clash)|Mick Jones performed The Clash’s song " Straight to Hell (song)|Straight to Hell " on an album for the charity Heroes (2009 album)|Heroes . Spin Magazine , 12 January 2009

''It's Not Me, It's You was released in February 2009. It debuted at the number 1 position in the UK, Canada, and Australia and the number 5 position in the United States. Billboard'' 16 February 2009 Billboard 18 February 2009 NME 29 October 2008 JAM!Showbiz 18 February 2009 Sydney Morning Herald 4 March 2009 The album has been certified platinum in the United Kingdom. Billboard 22 May 2009 The release of the album was a factor in EMI ’s more than trebling its earnings. The Telegraph 7 May 2009 The first single from the album, "The Fear", was number 1 for the first four weeks in the UK after its release. Billboard 23 February 2009 Billboard 9 February 2009 The second single released from the album, " Not Fair ", reached the number 9 position. Billboard April 2009 She began her It's Not Me, It's You World Tour in March, touring throughout the next two years until September 2010. Her work on this album with Greg Kurstin earned her the Songwriters of the Year at the 2010 Ivor Novello Awards . In addition, she won with Kurstin Best Song Musically and Lyrically and Most Performed Work for "The Fear". Allen appeared overwhelmed by this recognition from what she considered "real awards". Billboard , 20 May 2010 In October 2010, Allen was awarded by the United States music licensing organization Broadcast Music Incorporated for extensive United States radio airplay of her song, "The Fear". Allen has been named the face of the National Portrait Gallery (London)|National Portrait Gallery as part of the gallery's marketing campaign. London Evening Standard , 1 June 2009 The picture was photographed by Nadav Kander emblazoned with the words, "Vocalist, Lyricist, Florist" ., Marie Claire, 2 June 2009 Allen and Jamie Hince, guitarist for The Kills , raised £48,350 for the children’s charity The Hoping Foundation. The pair sang " Dream a Little Dream of Me (song)|Dream A Little Dream Of Me " at a karaoke auction fundraiser., The Telegraph , 19 June 2009 Karl Lagerfeld , the head designer for Chanel personally hired and photographed Allen for a campaign to promote a luxury line of handbags due to launch in September 2009. Elle UK 29 July 2009

In May 2009, French football magazine So Foot published a fake interview in which Allen was quoted as making derogatory remarks about David Beckham|David and Victoria Beckham and Ashley Cole|Ashley and Cheryl Cole . Some of the material was reprinted in the British tabloid The Sun (United Kingdom)|The Sun . Both publications later apologized and paid damages to Allen.

2009–present: Musical hiatus, marriage and motherhood

Allen began dating Sam Cooper, the owner of a building company, in the summer of 2009. In September 2009, Allen announced that she was considering a career in acting and that she would not renew her record contract. Allen additionally stated that she has "no plans" to make another record. NME 24 September 2009 After the British government's plans to implement a three strikes (policy)|three strikes policy for file sharing copyright infringement, Lily Allen came out in strong support for disconnecting offenders. Creating a blog entitled ''"It's Not Alright"'' against file sharing, it subsequently came to light that she had copied text directly from the Techdirt website of an interview with 50 Cent . This led to an exchange on the Internet, which culminated in accusations being made that Allen had infringed on other artists' copyrights by creating mix tapes early in her career, that she then made available via her website. A group of supporters of filesharing launched a denial of service attack dubbed Operation Payback that shut down Allen's website and targeted other critics. On 1 October 2009, Allen and several other musicians released the world's first digital musical petition aimed at pressuring world leaders attending the December 2009 climate change summit in Copenhagen. The petition included a cover of the song " Beds are Burning " by Midnight Oil . She featured on the UK top five single, " Just Be Good to Green " by Professor Green in June 2010.

In August she began a musical hiatus following a performance at the Big Chill Festival in Herefordshire, England . On 5 August 2010, Allen announced that she was pregnant with her and Cooper's first child, later confirmed to be a boy due early in 2011. Allen and her sister opened their own clothing store entitled "Lucy in Disguise" on 15 September 2010. Allen's pregnancy involved early complications, including "about a week and a half of really heavy bleeding." Six months into her pregnancy, Allen contracted a viral infection which caused her to suffer a Stillbirth|pre-term delivery . On 6 November, Allen was rushed to the hospital, where she responded well to treatment for the blood poisoning condition septicaemia .

Citing invasion of privacy and copyright infringement , in November 2010 Allen took legal action against Associated Newspapers , the parent company of the Daily Mail after the Daily Mail published photographs of Allen's home. Allen and Cooper became engaged over the Christmas holidays in December 2010 while vacationing in Bali . In January 2011, Allen launched her own record label In the Name Of , financially backed by Sony Music . The first act signed to the label was New York noise pop duo Cults (band)|Cults . In February 2011, Allen started penning songs for the Bridget Jones's Diary (Musical)|musical version of ''Bridget Jones's Diary'' which is scheduled to open in London's West End theatre|West End in 2012. Allen and Cooper wed on 11 June 2011 at St. James church in Cranham, Gloucestershire , England . The designer of Allen's wedding dress confirmed she was several months pregnant on the wedding day. Allen gave birth to a daughter, Ethel Mary, on 25 November 2011.

Musical style

Allen's early released songs saw her take on a thick Cockney accent while singing against retro productions. Her music was used as part of an exhibition at the British Library tracing the history of Cockney English . Her songs also featured other elements, such as the ska influence on second single, "LDN". She was also noted for her liberal use of crude words in her lyrics., The Evening Standard, 14 November 2008 Allen has said she cringes now when listening to tracks from Alright, Still , as it reminds her that she was a "sort of over-excitable teenager who desperately wanted attention" when she wrote it. Wanting to move on from the retro sound that many other artists had since adapted after her debut, on '' It's Not Me, It's You '' Allen ventured in a new direction sonically and lyrically, the first single from the album was an electro-pop track denouncing consumerism. Digital Spy 2 December 2008 While Allen did not set out to make a revolutionary record, her new music direction and willingness to write lyrics that tackled less common subjects were lauded by critics. The Guardian , 4 January 2010 Allen's song Who'd Have Known was sampled in T-Pain 's single '' 5 O'Clock (T-Pain song)|5 O'clock '' because of her accent.

Discography

Alright, Still (2006)

'' It's Not Me, It's You (2009)

Pop & Rock Music Artists