At the age of 14, Lily Allen took part in the Glastonbury Festival. And it became clear that she would be a girl with a passion for music and with a difficult character.
She soon left school to work on demos. When her MySpace page reached tens of thousands of listeners, the music industry took notice.
The beginning of Lily Allen's musical career
She signed with a record label and released her debut album, Alright, Still. It featured the first single, Smile, a fun summer classic that took the UK by storm in July 2006.
“The first song I ever wrote was Smile,” said the young star. “We just looked at about 7-8 sample lyrics, found the rhythm, overdubbed it all ... it was, of course, not very smart, but it turned out cool!”.
“No one stands behind Lily Allen. It's all her," praised Mark Ronson, who produced her album. Lily recorded a number of hits - these are LDN, Knock 'Em Out and Alfie. However, looking back at her first release, she said she was embarrassed as she sounded like "kind of a flustered teenager who desperately wanted attention".
But it was the attention and respect she received. It was not only her music, but also the recognition of fans. Lily's penchant for ball gowns paired with sneakers has made her a new style icon. And her unusual antics have earned her a place in the tabloids.
“I have always firmly believed that your role models should be your parents or your sister, and not someone who looks like me ... This is what always gave me trouble,” she said of the controversy associated with substance abuse, celebrity fights (with Cheryl Cole and Katy Perry).
Fame and money Lily Allen
Lily, who started as a talk show host on BBC Three, had her own fashion line and a special relationship with fashion house Chanel.
At the end of 2007, the artist announced that she was with Ed Simons (Chemical brothers) is expecting a baby.
Unfortunately, during a romantic getaway in the Maldives, Lily suffered a miscarriage. The couple broke up just a few weeks later. And Lily was rebuilding her life and recording a new album.
The first single The Fear was released in December 2008 and took the 1st position. Thanks to the composition, the pop star won the Ivor Novello Awards.
The singer was spotted aboard a yacht on St. Barts Island with multimillionaire art dealer Jay Joplin, who was 45 years old.
“I think I like older men,” she said. “I hang out with adults, go to posh places for dinner, and talk about art. I meet more interesting people who work my brain."
She then started dating Sam Cooper. “I rethought my life and my behavior, for example, spending two grand on a new pair of shoes ... well, this is too much,” she said. Sam helped her a lot because he said, “Stop! What are you doing? This money is your future!
The singer wanted to take a break from recording. She also got tired of the Internet and announced her departure from Twitter with the words: "I'm not luddite, goodbye."
She later explained, “I don't have a BlackBerry or a computer. I don't even read emails. I used the internet in a destructive way. In the same way, I believe that alcoholics and drug addicts should stop using drugs or alcohol to see how it negatively affects them.”
Charity Lily Allen
In 2010, she traveled to Brazil to help raise awareness about saving the rainforest. She wanted to do it sooner, but couldn't because of her busy schedule. "It's such a big issue and I just wanted to help as much as possible, but it's really been difficult and challenging," she said.
"The main goal of the project was to re-educate the local communities in order to stop the deforestation that is destroying the area."
“This is not going to last forever,” she said. “I want to enjoy it and try to get some stability. So I can get some rest in my early 20s and have a country house, quad bikes, land, time to just pick flowers, keep pigs, raise a family. I've had enough noise and chaos in my life already."
Lily and Sam spent the money on a £3m country house in the Cotswolds. They announced that they were expecting their first child. Lily was delighted with the prospect of becoming a mother. “I can't wait,” she said.
She was running a vintage clothing store in Covent Garden with her half-sister Sarah Owen.
“When I got pregnant, I decided to change the usual pace of life a bit… At first it was a fashion store, but because of our passion for vintage clothes, we thought it would work better,” she said. “It got to the point where I didn’t even know how many clothes I had. Opening a store was the best way to get rid of that!”
Unfortunately, in November 2010, the singer's press secretary released a statement that she had lost a boy after six months of pregnancy.
But the following year, Lily and Sam made their dream come true and became the parents of a daughter in November 2011. And in 2013, another daughter was born.
Interesting facts about Lily Allen
- Lily became a sensation in the UK. She released demo tracks to the community site MySpace.com in November 2005.
- Allen was named the third coolest person of the year by NME magazine in 2006. And was also recognized by BBC Three ("The Most Annoying People of 2006").
- She is a cricket "fan" and appeared on the Test Match Special.
- Lily Allen is a supporter of the English Premier League football club Fulham.
- She was 16 weeks pregnant at the time of her marriage to Sam Cooper.
- In 2010, thanks to the successful second album, the artist received a British award in the nomination "British Female Solo Artist".
- Lili published her memoir My Thoughts Exactly on September 20, 2018.
- Allen suffers from bipolar disorder.
