Lily Allen

Lily Allen (born 2 May, 1985) is a pop artist from the United Kingdom signed to Regal/Parlophone (EMI), and known for songs such as "Smile" and "LDN". She is the daughter of actor/comedian Keith Allen and film producer Allison Owen. Her official debut single "Smile" reached #1 on the UK singles charts in July 2006.

Early life

Allen was born in Hammersmith, London; her parents separated when she was 4 years old, which resulted in her moving around, eventually settling in Islington. Between the ages of 5 to 14, she attended 12 different schools. At the age of 15 she stayed on after a family holiday in Ibiza. She told her parents that she was staying with friends but actually stayed in a hostel and made a living working in a record shop and selling Ecstasy to clubbers. It was whilst she was in Ibiza that she met A&R man George Lamb who introduced her to music producers Future Cut who wrote backing tracks, after having read lyrics she had written.

Regal Records & MySpace

Following a deal with Warner Music, which she states she scored thanks to the influence of her father, which she got out from, prior to releasing any music, Allen signed to Regal Records (part of Parlophone/EMI) in late 2005. Despite (alleged) resistance from the label, who wanted to send her off to "hit factories" to record her album, she uploaded the tracks she had written (and that had got her signed) to community website MySpace, in November 2005, regularly updating the growing number of visitors with the latest developments in her life. More and more people discovered her profile, with links to her tracks being e-mailed around universities and offices, eventually reaching UK music publication NME, reviews site musicOMH.com and online music blog Popjustice, all of which gave her and her demo tracks positive reviews and publicity. Following this exposure, way ahead of the proposed album release date, The Observer published a short report on Allen, and soon after, the demo of her track "LDN" was played on BBC Radio One by DJ Jo Whiley. Because of the buzz generated, her release dates were changed, and "LDN" was released - on limited edition 7" vinyl only - as Allen's first single on 24 April 2006, accompanied by album track Knock 'Em Out on the B-side. She also took a spot at the Notting Hill Arts Club in London, in early May, performing every Thursday night for 4 weeks.

Alright, Still

Her debut album, Alright, Still, was released as a strictly limited edition 12" vinyl in the UK on 3 July 2006, with the full CD release released in the UK and Europe on 17 July 2006.

A track entitled "Nan, You're A Window Shopper" (a parody of 50 Cent's "Window Shopper"), which Allen performs live and uploaded to her MySpace page, was intended to be on the album, but was not included because the sample could not be cleared in time to meet the new release date. The track entitled Friday Night was co-written with Jonny Bull, former guitarist and producer of Britpop band Rialto, at his studio in south-west Portugal.

Discography

Albums

Alright, Still (2006)

Singles

"LDN" (Rare 7") (2006)
- "LDN"
- "Knock 'Em Out"

"Smile" (CD, Maxi CD, 7", Rare 12") (2006) #1 UK (2nd Week), #19 NZ
- "Smile"
- "Cheryl Tweedy"
- "Absolutely Nothing"
- "Smile" Gutter Mix (by Aaron LaCrate)

Title	Chart Positions		Album
Title	UK Singles Chart	NZ Chart	Album
"LDN"	-	-	Alright, Still
"Smile"	#1 (2 weeks)	#19	Alright, Still

Demos

"Nan, You're A Window Shopper" (Satire of 50 Cent track, "Window Shopper" - clearance for the sample used did not come through in time for the album release)
"Truth" (Played in "My Second Mixtape")
"Oh My God" (Cover of the Kaiser Chiefs track, played in "My Second Mixtape")
"Sunday Morning" (Produced prior to her record contract with Regal, and uploaded to her MySpace, as it was being considered for the album)
"Friday Night (Remix)" (also known as "You're Gonna Get Burned")
"Blank Expression" (played in "My Second Mixtape")

Trivia

Lived with Harry Enfield when he dated her mother.
When she was 15, and signing with London Records, they wanted to put her in a girl group, but she wanted to be a solo artist. That girl group eventually becam the Sugababes.
Went to school with Luke Pritchard of The Kooks. She said some disparaging comments about them and covered their song "Naive" on Jo Whiley's Live Lounge to show there were "no hard feelings".

External links

References

1985 births | Living people | British pop singers

Lily Allen | Lily Allen

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