Corinne Bailey Rae doesn’t remember Lily Allen all that fondly (Picture: C Brandon/Redferns)
Noughties popstar Corinne Bailey Rae has accused Lily Allen of ‘starting a campaign’ against her that contributed to her reputation as a ‘boring’ artist.
Corinne, 45, hit the big time in 2006 when her hit single Put Your Records On went all the way to number two in the UK charts, with her self-titled debut album going to number one.
Put Your Records On was kept off number one by Madonna’s big mid-2000s comeback at the time, but it was a fellow Brit who went to war with Corinne in the press.
Lily and Corinne were both nominated for the 2007 best British female award at the Brits, and in the run-up to the ceremony Lily fired shots at the Like a Star singer.
Hoping to win the award, Lily – who herself had just burst onto the scene with her number one single Smile and her debut album Alright, Still – didn’t mince her words.
She told The Mirror: ‘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.’
Lily faced off against Corinne at the 2007 Brits (Picture: Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images)
Lily carried on: ‘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.’
The Fear singer needn’t have worried, because Amy Winehouse won the award that year after the massive success of her second and final album Back to Black.
But reflecting on that time, Corinne told The Independent that she was disappointed to hear Lily had such a negative assessment of her music.
Corinne had huge charts success back in 2006 (Picture: Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images)
The Put Your Records On singer performed at the Brits that year (Picture: Dave M. Benett/Getty Images)
Lily remains unafraid of letting people know what she thinks (Picture: Adela Loconte/Shutterstock)
‘In the British press, I was seen as boring and straight. I was making acoustic music, wearing these kinds of old-fashioned dresses. I was also married. I was so not interesting to them.’
She continued: ‘I remember Lily Allen started this campaign against me. She had started talking about me like that, but I wasn’t going to engage. Stevie Wonder liked me, so it wasn’t okay that Lily [didn’t].’
Another star of the mid-2000s who took aim at Corinne was Lady Sovereign, who also spoke to The Mirror at the time and referred to her contemporary as ‘Corinne Boring Rae’.
Corinne is up for the Mercury Prize 2024 on Thursday (Picture: JMEnternational/Getty Images)
Put Your Records On proved to be Corinne’s first and last major hit in the UK but her albums continued to perform well, reaching the top 10 in 2010 with her follow-up The Sea.
Just two years after her breakthrough success, her husband Jason died aged just 32 – the pair had been married for seven years at the time of his death.
Six years later, Corinne married her long-time friend and producer Steve Brown – the couple currently live in Leeds and have two children together.
After a few years out of the spotlight, she has recently enjoyed renewed success and interest, with her 2023 album Black Rainbows nominated for Thursday’s coveted Mercury Prize Award for 2024.
For the award, she’s up against Charli XCX’s Brat, Ghetts’ On Purpose With Purpose, and the debut album from The Last Dinner Party, Prelude to Ecstasy.
Metro.co.uk have reached out to Lily Allen for comment.
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