Lily Allen

Lily Rose Beatrice Allen is an English singer-songwriter and actress known for her chart-topping music releases and stage performances. Born on 2 May 1985 in Hammersmith, west London, she is the daughter of actor Keith Allen and film producer Alison Owen. Over the course of her career, her work has earned her a Brit Award as well as nominations for a Grammy Award and a Laurence Olivier Award.

Allen grew up in London and attended 13 different schools. During her youth, she learned to play the piano, violin, guitar, and trumpet, and sang in a chamber choir. Her vocal potential was noticed at age eleven when a music student heard her singing in a school playground and began giving her lunchtime vocal lessons. Allen eventually left school at age fifteen to pursue a path in music.

In her mid-teens, Allen worked in Ibiza and recorded early demos before signing with London Records in 2002 and Regal Recordings in 2005. She achieved widespread recognition after she began publishing her vocal recordings on the social networking platform Myspace in 2005. The popularity of her online demos led to airplay on BBC Radio 1. Her debut commercial single, "Smile," was released in 2006, reaching number one on the UK Singles Chart and receiving double Platinum certification from the British Phonographic Industry.

Allen released her debut studio album, Alright, Still, in July 2006. The record peaked at number two on the UK Albums Chart, sold more than 2.6 million copies worldwide, and earned a Grammy Award nomination for Best Alternative Music Album. Her second studio album, It's Not Me, It's You, debuted atop both the UK Albums Chart and the Australian ARIA Charts in 2009. Driven by singles such as "The Fear" and "Not Fair," the album earned her the Brit Award for British Female Solo Artist in 2010 along with multiple Ivor Novello Awards.

Beyond her early recordings, Allen hosted her own television talk show, Lily Allen and Friends, on BBC Three in 2008 and established her record label, In the Name Of, in 2011. She returned to the top of the UK Albums Chart with her third album, Sheezus, in 2014, followed by No Shame in 2018, which peaked at number eight. In 2018, she released her autobiographical book, My Thoughts Exactly. Her fifth studio album, West End Girl, was released in 2025 and reached number two on the UK chart.

Allen has also established a career in acting. She made an appearance in the 2019 film How to Build a Girl and made her West End theatrical debut in the 2021 play 2:22 A Ghost Story, receiving a Laurence Olivier Award nomination for Best Actress for her performance.