Corinne Bailey Rae

Corinne Bailey Rae (at birth she was named Corinne Jacqueline Bailey) is a young British jazz singer. Corinne was born to a black Kittitian father and a white English mother, and was the oldest daughter: she had two sisters - Candice Bailey and Rhea Bailey.

Corinne started to learn music when she was in school: she studied classical violin. Later Rae was interested in vocals, and she began to sing in Church. In her teens Corinne was fond of electric guitar, and she managed to start her own all-female band called Helen. They played indie music, inspired by Veruca Salt and L7, and everything was perfect. They even signed to heavy metal record label Roadrunner Records. Nevertheless, the band did not exist for a long time: the group was disbanded after the bassist became pregnant. As Corinne said in one of the interviews, at that period she was shocked and had absolutely no idea what to do next. Later Rae entered the University of Leeds where she studied English Literature, and she successfully graduated in 2000. During that period of education she opened for herself jazz and soul music. She was so impressed by these styles that it sent her to a new musical level. Soon she was working with funk group from her Native town The New Mastersounds: performing the song Your Love Is Mine, from their 2003 album Be Yourself. In 2004 she worked with another band from Leeds, Homecut Directive: Corinne had a part in Come the Revolution, the band’s first single.

Corinne Bailey Rae’s career started in 2004, after joint work with Mark Hill (Craig David's mentor). She took part in creation of his album Better Luck Next Time, and it made major label bosses pay their attention to the young singer. Her first single Like A Star was released in November 2005, and her debut album appeared in February 2006. The record soon became platinum: more than 500 thousand of copies were sold. Corinne was the fourth singer, whose first album got on top of Official British Chart. It is worth mentioning that for a long time Rae was performing in small clubs in Leeds. In the middle of 2006 Corinne went to her first world tour through Europe and North America. There were played 55 shows, including playing at different festivals like Rock in Rio Lisboa 2 and Live Earth.

After the album Corinne Bailey Rae was released in 2006, Rae got two awards at the MOBO Awards: Best UK Newcomer and Best UK Female. In 2007 Corinne received three Grammy Awards nominations: Song of the Year, Record of the Year - for her song Put Your Records On, and Best New Artist. In 2008 Like a Star was nominated for a Grammy (nomination Song of the Year). Corinne Bailey Rae also won in categories Album of the Year and Best Contemporary Jazz Album. After two-year brake in Corinne’s creative activity, connected with Jason Rae’s death, the second studio album of British singer appeared. It was released in 2010 and titled The Sea.