Lily Allen

Inheriting a rebellious personality from her actor/comedian father Keith Allen and raised in an artistic household by her film producer mother Alison Owen, Lily Allen was expelled from various schools before dropping out at completely at the age of 15. She played a lady-in-waiting in one of her mother's movies, 'Elizabeth' (1998), and after several abortive attempts to launch a music career she finally started attracting a major groundswell of support through demos on her MySpace page.

In 2006 she released her debut album 'Alright, Still' which included her first hit single 'Smile', taking revenge on an errant ex-boyfriend. Other hits swiftly followed including 'Alfie' and a cover of the Kaiser Chiefs' 'Oh My God' produced by Mark Ronson. She continued to court controversy with outspoken blog messages and drunken public appearances, but she presented a TV chat show, launched her own fashion line and overcame the heartbreak of a miscarriage to resume her successful recording career with the 2009 album 'It's Not Me, It's You'.

In 2010 she won a BRIT Award for British Female Solo Artist and gave her last performance for more than two years, announcing a hiatus to allow her to work on her acting career. After the acting failed to take off, Allen returned to the studio with songwriter and producer Greg Kurstin to work on new music. She recorded a version of Keane's 'Somewhere Only We Know' which became the theme to John Lewis's Christmas advertising campaign, scoring Allen a number one when it was released as a single. She revealed her third studio album 'Sheezus' in 2014 which she followed with 'No Shame' in 2018.