Lily Allen

Lily Rose Allen was born on May 2, 1985, in the family of Keith Allen, a comic actor. Due to constant moving from one school to another, Lily did not have close friends and spent most of her time on her own. She would read books and play music a lot. After participating in the celebrated Gladstonbury festival at fourteen years, Lily realized music was her way of life. She was a poor student and had no plans to enter a university or a college. Instead, the girl started writing and performing her own songs along with her favorite compositions of prominent artists. She registered her own account in MySpace to showcase the music skills she owned. In 2005 Lily posted some of demos on-line including her own songs and a number of covers. These efforts amassed hundreds of Lily’s friends and fans and attracted the interest of critics. Some of them received airplay on the national radio stations and made Allen a well know singer across the country before her debut official release.

The same year, Lily Allen singed her first professional contract with Regal/Parlophone. The management of the label wanted her to instantly start working on the long player. However, Lily was interested in maintaining her page on MySpace and kept recording songs for that site. The number of people visiting her page grew rapidly. Lily did not only post her music there, but also left wit comments on her art and music in general. Soon, he words were cited by the British music magazines and in TV shows along with continuous play of her songs on the radio. Many of the compositions that the singer had recorded independently were featured on her unofficial compilations. Having prepared the wide audience for the professional album, Lily went to the studio to create the new material. In the beginning, she release the LDN single. It was a very rare release distributed only in the amount of five hundred copies on vinyl. It took the hits LDN, and Smile just a week to climb the leading positions in the British charts. It was the perfect time to deliver a long player. Alright Still hit the stores in summer 2006 and met a warm welcome from experts and ordinary listeners. Lily Allen presented music based on ska and pop easy and pleasant to listen. Her lyrics were to a high degree ironical although devoted to many urgent social issues. In a few months, the album became two times platinum. Lily was a much anticipated visitor at any event or festival. The release of the album was followed by a massive tour.

Allen held a long streak of performances in the UK and several European countries up to spring 2007. The packed schedule, road life and unexpected fame took their toll on the young artist. She was extremely tired and confused which made her cancel many concerts to be given in the States. Lily kept in touch with her fans through her page on MySpace. She kept a diary to register memories and impressions from her gigs and opinions on many music events and figures. Lily felt free to openly express her feelings and comments. She was regularly accused of criticizing her colleagues in a very sharp and ironical way. Besides, Allen was said to have problems with drugs and alcohol which might be the reason for her occasional public incidents. However, Lily remained a highly ranked singer. Her new and much awaited album is titled It’s Not Me, It’s You. It took a slightly different approach, both lyrically and musically and featured a blend of unlikely musical styles – Eurodisco, country, folk, Britpop, 80s synth-pop. Behind It’s Not Me, It’s You’s breezy melodies, Allen sounded melancholic and world-weary at times. The subjects of her songs were about dark side of drug use, family relationships and her father’s parental abilities, George Bush, God, celebrities and vanishing youth.