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Lily Rose Beatrice Allen (born 2 May 1985) is an English singer-songwriter. Best known for her songs "Smile", "LDN", "Littlest Things", "Alfie", "Oh My God", "The Fear" and her Mockney style, Allen is the daughter of actor/musician Keith Allen and film producer Alison Owen. Allen also hosts her own BBC Three talk show Lily Allen and Friends.
Her single Smile reached number one on the UK Singles Chart in July 2006. In December 2006, her debut album Alright, Still was voted the third best album of the year by Mixmag.
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Encyclopedia
Lily Rose Beatrice Allen (born 2 May 1985) is an English singer-songwriter. Best known for her songs "Smile", "LDN", "Littlest Things", "Alfie", "Oh My God", "The Fear" and her Mockney style, Allen is the daughter of actor/musician Keith Allen and film producer Alison Owen. Allen also hosts her own BBC Three talk show Lily Allen and Friends.
Her single Smile reached number one on the UK Singles Chart in July 2006. In December 2006, her debut album Alright, Still was voted the third best album of the year by Mixmag. In 2007, it was nominated for the award of Best British Album at the BRIT Awards and for Best New Artist at the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards. The album was nominated for a 2008 Grammy Award in the category of "Best Alternative Music Album". Alright, Still has sold over 3,300,000 copies worldwide.
A second album entitled It's Not Me, It's You was released in the UK on 9 February 2009 and the United States on 10 February 2009. In the UK the album debuted at number 1, while the first single from the album ‘’The Fear’’ was number 1 in its first four weeks on the charts. In the United States the album debuted at the number 5 position.
Allen is known for using the internet, particularly her MySpace page, to market her music.
Allen's non-career activities have been the subject of extensive press coverage in both in the tabloid and mainstream media. In 2006 and 2007 Allen made comments critical of other musicians. 2008 saw public incidents that were described as rude, embarrassing or alcohol-fuelled. Allen used her MySpace blog to criticize press coverage and defend and criticize her own behaviour.
Childhood and discovery
Allen was born in Hammersmith, west London, daughter of Welsh-born comedian/actor Keith Allen and English, Portsmouth-born, film producer Alison Owen. She and her family eventually settled in the North London borough of Islington. She has an older sister, Sarah; a younger brother, Alfie Owen-Allen (who was the subject of her song Alfie); and a younger sister Rebecca. She also has a number of half-siblings. Lily Allen lived for a while with comedian Harry Enfield while her mother dated him. She is the god-daughter of Wild Colonials vocalist Angela McCluskey. The late Clash guitarist Joe Strummer is also referred to as a godparent. While not literally true, Strummer was close to and mentored Allen.
In 1988, at the age of 3, Allen appeared on The Comic Strip Presents... episode The Yob, which her father had co-written. When Allen was four years old, her father left the family. Allen claims to have grown up with her mother in a working class environment, living in a council house environment for most of her childhood. This seems at odds with the fact that she attended some of the UK's costliest public schools; Allen attended 13 schools in all, including Prince Charles's junior alma mater, Hill House School, Millfield and Bedales School, and was expelled from several of them for drinking, and smoking.
Allen told Loveline that, when she was 11, she was singing an Oasis tune in the school playground when a teacher overheard her and told her she had talent and suggested she do something with it. She took singing lessons with the teacher. She sang at a school play and claimed that the audience was brought to tears at the sight of a troubled young girl doing something good. At that point Allen said she knew that music was something she needed to do either as a lifelong vocation or to get it out of her system. Allen played piano to grade 5 standard and achieved grade 8 in singing. She also played violin, guitar and trumpet as well as being a member of a chamber choir. Her first solo was In the Bleak Midwinter. According to The Sunday Times the only school that seemed to have a positive impact on her was Cavendish, an all-girl Catholic school located in Camden Town. At Cavendish, Allen played a boy in a production of The Railway Children and sang Baby Mine in Dumbo.
Allen made an appearance as a lady-in-waiting in the 1998 film Elizabeth, co-produced by her mother. She dropped out of school at age fifteen, not wanting to "spend a third of her life preparing to work for the next third of her life, to set herself up with a pension for the next third of her life." After her family went to Ibiza on holiday, Allen told her mother that she was staying with friends but remained in Sant Antoni de Portmany instead. She earned money by working at a Plastic Fantastic record store and dealing in ecstasy.
At the age of 17, Allen became a member of the Groucho Club and in her free time she listened to artists such as The Specials, T.Rex and Happy Mondays.
Music career
Record label and MySpace interest
Allen met her first manager, George Lamb, in Ibiza when he saved her from several assailants and sent her home. Allen was rejected by several labels, which she attributed to her drinking and being the daughter of Keith Allen. Lily eventually used her father's connections to get signed to London Records a part of the Warner Music in 2002. When the executive who had signed her left, the label lost interest and she left without releasing the folk songs many of which were written by her father.
Allen studied horticulture with the intention of becoming a florist, but changed her mind and returned to music. She began writing songs, and her manager introduced her to production duo Future Cut in 2004. They worked in a small studio in the basement of an office building. In 2005, Allen was signed to Regal Records; they gave her £25,000 to produce an album, though they were unable to provide much support for it due to their preoccupation with other releases such as Coldplay's X&Y and Gorillaz's Demon Days.
Allen created an account on MySpace and began posting demos in November 2005. The demos attracted thousands of listeners, and 500 limited edition 7" vinyl singles of LDN were rush-released, reselling for as much as £40. Allen also produced two mixtapes — My First Mixtape and My Second Mixtape — to promote her work: they included tracks by Creedence Clearwater Revival, Dizzee Rascal, and Ludacris. As she accumulated tens of thousands of MySpace friends, The Observer Music Monthly (OMM), a magazine published in The Observer, took interest. Few people outside of her label's A&R department knew who she was, so the label was slow in responding to publications wanting to report about her.
In March 2006, OMM included an article about Allen's success through MySpace. She received her first major mainstream coverage, appearing in the magazine's cover story two months later. The success of her songs convinced her label to allow her more creative control over the album and to use some of the songs that she had written instead of forcing her to work with mainstream producers. Allen decided to work with producers Greg Kurstin and Mark Ronson, finishing the rest of the album in two weeks.
The social networking site was the primary hub for messages of support and condolence following her January 2008 miscarriage. Allen received a 2008 NME Award nomination for the category of "Best Band Blog". As of 9 February 2009, Allen's songs have been downloaded from her MySpace page more than 32 million times.
As of 9 February 2009, Allen had more than 448,000 MySpace friends. She was the fifth most popular musical act of the 2008 according to the social networking site.
Allen used her MySpace blog regularly to discuss personal issues and the controversies surrounding her. By February 2009 she had stopped the practice because "It's boring when people just pick stuff up and write about it. People get hurt, people get upset".
Alright, Still
Allen's debut album, Alright, Still, was released as a limited-edition 12" vinyl in the UK on 3 July 2006; the full CD release followed in the UK and the rest of Europe on 17 July 2006. The album features between 11 and 14 tracks (depending on the edition), most of which were previewed on her MySpace page, including the single Smile (the first song she wrote with Future Cut), LDN, Knock 'Em Out, and Alfie. Friday Night, co-written with Jonny Bull, was also included, alongside Littlest Things produced by Mark Ronson, help earn Ronson a "Producer of the Year - Non Classical" 2008 Grammy Award.
In September 2006, Smile was made available on the United States version of Apple Inc.'s iTunes Store. By December 2006, her music video for Smile had been played on various music channels as well as the song getting a little airplay. Entertainment Weekly named Alright, Still as one of the top 10 albums of 2006 despite the fact that it had not yet been released in the U.S. Allen also did several promotional ads for MTV as their Discover and Download artist of the month for January 2007.
On the week ending on 28 January 2007, British artists made chart history taking all top 10 places in the Official UK Albums chart for the first time since the chart was established in 1956, according to British record labels trade association the BPI, the album Alright, Still was number nine that week.
The album was released in the United States on 30 January 2007, landing at 20 on the Billboard Album Charts. Allen won a 2008 BMI songwriting award for Smile. Smile was the first single. The U.S. version contains three additional tracks: Nan, You're A Window Shopper, Blank Expression (on the iTunes version) and a new remix of Smile by Mark Ronson.
On 5 March 2007, Alfie was released. It reached 15 in the UK Singles-Chart. She sang on the Mark Ronson-produced Kaiser Chiefs' song Oh My God.
By January 2009 the album had sold 960,000 copies in the United Kingdom and 520,000 copies in the United States.
Allen said that she cringes when she listens to this album because it reminds her that she was a "sort of over-excitable teenager who desperately wanted attention" when she wrote it.
It's Not Me, It's You
In April 2008, Allen said she was heading in a "new direction". She posted two new song demos on her MySpace page and planned to release a mixtape to give her fans an idea of what the new direction was. Allen said the new direction was undertaken because: "I did a retro thing last time, and since I did that, a lot of other people did it too. I wanted to separate myself from the group and move forward". For this reason, Allen choose not not to work with Mark Ronson on It's Not Me, It's You.
Allen posted on her MySpace page a partial clip of a song, originally called both "Guess Who Batman" and "Get With the Brogram", but was eventually entitled "Fuck You". The song was originally written about The British National Party but ended up being about George W. Bush Allen had also posted early versions of "The Fear" (then titled "I Don't Know"), "I Could Say", and "Who'd Have Known". By 19 August, there were between 250,000 and one million plays for each song from the album that she has made available to listen to on her MySpace page.
After the release of her first album, her record company, EMI, was taken over by Terra Firma. Her management company, Empire Artist Management, was replaced by Twenty-First Artists although her core team remained in place. It's Not Me, It's You was first scheduled for an early 2008 release but her miscarriage and creative issues delayed the release date to the autumn. During autumn 2008, EMI was undergoing restructuring. According to Allen,this led to a situation were "everyone is terrified of losing their jobs. So no one wants to make decisions or give you their opinion in case it comes back on them. As an artist, that really is terrifying." Due to this negative environment, a decision with Allen's full approval was made to move the albums eventual release date in February 2009 by Regal/Parlophone."
Allen receives most of her music related income from touring and spin-off deals. She receives no income from sales.
The album was released on 9 February 2009 in the United Kingdom and the following day in the United States. The album debuted at the number 1 position in the United Kingdom,Canada,and Australia. It debuted at the number 2 position in Europe and the number 5 position in the United States. As of the 26 February the album was at the number 5 position on the Pan-European Charts.
The first single from the album The Fear was released digitally on 9 December 2008 and released on CD on 26 January 2009. It entered the chart at number 136 on limited edition and was number 1 for the first four weeks after its official release. As of 26 February the single was at the number 3 position on the Eurochart. This single also topped the first ever Mobile Downloads Chart which is based on sales of full-track downloads to mobile phones in the United Kingdom. The video for the single was released 4 December. Three weeks before its release the single was in top 20 on Nielsen Music Control's U.K. Radio Airplay. In the United States on 12 January, the single was "worked" to Triple A Radio formats then Top 40. The song is based on Allen’s fear that the world will become a sterile place where everything is sponsored. The single is described as an electropop track that discusses celebrity culture.
At the urging of her record company, Allen tried unsuccessfully to create the album with several writers and producers. Allen eventually returned to Greg Kurstin who had written three songs for Alright, Still. The album was produced by Kurstin at Eagle Rock Studios in Los Angeles. Before returning to Kus, Allen co-wrote the songs for the album with Kurstin who played piano on it. This is a change from her earlier work in which she wrote lyrics for finished tracks. . Allen released a statement saying "We decided to try and make bigger sounding, more ethereal songs, real songs... I wanted to work with one person from start to finish to make it one body of work. I wanted it to feel like it had some sort of integrity. I think I've grown up a bit as a person and I hope it reflects that."
Other songs on the album include He Wasn't There, a letter to her father one of three songs about immediate family members. Him is about God and includes her favourite line on the record: "Do you think he's ever been suicidal?/ His favourite band is Creedence Clearwater Revival". Not Fair, a humorous song about a lazy lover, includes the lyrics "feeling pretty damn hard done by, I spent ages giving head". Allen has played the song to the person in question and he did not realise the song was about him. 22 was written about a specific person but ended up as a more general song about females who rely on their looks and find at the age of 30, according to Allen, that "it hits them that they're not doing anything with their lives and it's too late". Who'd Have Known is a pastiche of the Take That song Shine. Take That allowed Allen to use the song on the album but turned down an offer to sing and do a video with Allen.. Chinese references take-away food.
On 23 October, Allen released Everyone's At It the first track from the album for download on her MySpace page. The song appears to be a commentary on the drug culture and is expected to cause controversy. It includes the lyrics "I'm not trying to say that I'm smelling of roses but when will we tire of putting shit up our noses... It's meant to be fun and this just doesn't feel right... So you've got a prescription, and that makes it legal. I find those excuses overwhelmingly feeble… The kids are in danger, they're all getting hurt. From what I can see, everyone's at it.".
An online game, Escape the Fear, was been created by Matmi as part of the viral marketing campaign targeted at people unaware of Allen or the album. Players playing the role of Allen must negotiate a series of obstacles standing in the way of Allen's dreams. Since it's release the game has topped the worldwide viral charts 3 times including the week of Christmas the most hotly contested week of the year. By 18 February, 2009 the game had been played over two million times.
On Allen's website there are remixes of songs from the album by fans who have been allowed access to individual parts of the songs.
Collaborations and other music
Allen provided backing vocals on the Basement Jaxx song Lights Go Down (from Crazy Itch Radio) and appears on tracks on Robbie Williams's latest album, Rudebox on the Manu Chao-cover Bongo Bong and Je Ne T'Aime Plus (produced by Mark Ronson) and also on Keep On. She also provides vocals on Rawhide by Jamie T. She performed a duet with rapper Dizzee Rascal on the song Wanna Be that appeared on Rascal's Maths + English album. Rapper Common has also collaborated with Allen.
On 30 June 2008, Allen and Klaxons singer Jamie Reynolds announced they were working on a new song and had completed a cover of Joe Jackson's Steppin Out.
Allen and New Young Pony Club provided backing vocals to the song Never Miss a Beat that appears on the Kaiser Chiefs' album Off With Their Heads. The song was released as a single on 6 October 2008. Allen's voice on the song was described as unrecognisable due to Mark Ronson's production. The album was released on the 13 October. Allen was expected to provide vocals for the track Always Happens like That.
Allen wrote a song for the 2008 Shockwaves Awards entitled From Barry to Billericay about comedian James Corden. She contributed the song She's So Lovely and Naive for the soundtrack of the 2008 British comedy film Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging.
Allen presented members of Squeeze with their Ivor Novello Lifetime Achievement Award. Glenn Tilbrook later remarked that he really like Allen's cover of Up the Junction.
On 12 December 2008, Mark Ronson premièred Allen's cover version of Britney Spears's song Womanizer on his radio show. Allen in her MySpace blog said Ronson was supposed to "talk all over it so it wouldn't get ripped". Instead Ronson played the song in its entirety and the cover within days had been heard worldwide causing Allen to get into "serious trouble" with her label.. Allen has played the song at gigs.
Touring
In 2007, she played the newly launched Park Stage at the Glastonbury Festival, replacing M.I.A who had cancelled. Saying "it's big shoes to fill, and we're doing it acoustically so it might sound a bit funny" she ended her set singing a cover of Blondie's Heart of Glass. Allen describes this performance as the highlight of the 2006-2008 period In concert, Allen performed a parody of 50 Cent's Window Shopper, called Nan, You're a Window Shopper, which was commercially released as a B-side to LDN, because approval was not given in time for the Alright, Still release. Nonetheless, the song appears on the U.S. version of the album.
Allen performed to positive reviews when Irving Plaza was rechristened as The Fillmore New York at Irving Plaza on 11 April 2007.
Allen cancelled a scheduled appearance at the 2008 Isle of Wight Festival telling festival promoter John Giddings the reason for the cancellation was that her album was behind schedule. Giddings said that the reason given was not acceptable and possibly a lie. Giddings decided not to sue her.
On 29 June 2008, Allen performed at the Glastonbury Festival alongside producer Mark Ronson. An emotional Allen dedicated her performance of Littlest Things to her grandmother who died the night before. On 3 July, in a surprise appearance with Ronson at the Wireless Festival, Allen appeared to perform Littlest Things and Oh My God. She forgot some song lyrics.
Allen's first concert to promote It's Not Me, It's You was held 28 January 2009 at Koko in London. It was her first London gig in 18 months. A few days later she played at a gay nightclub where she dressed up as Britney Spears while playing Womanizer. She also dressed up as The Pink Panther and wore a revealing Little Bo Peep romper suit. On 10 February Allen played the first of three scheduled “secret” shows at New York’s Bowery Ballroom sponsored by MySpace. The New York gig was also sponsored by Turbo Tax. Additional shows are scheduled for Tokyo, and London. In March, Allen will undertake a 9 date tour of Great Britain and Ireland. In April 2009, Allen is scheduled to play 14 United States cities and Toronto. She will be backed by Natalie Portman's Shaved Head.
Allen's MySpace page lists concert dates in Europe,Japan and Australia during May and June.
She has been confirmed for the Oxegen Festival and return trips to the T In The Park festival and the Glastonbury Festival.
Television and film
Allen signed a one series contract to present her own BBC Three TV show entitled Lily Allen and Friends based on the social networking phenomenon that helped to launch her music career. The singer asked her MySpace friends to suggest the name for the show. The guests on the first show that aired in February 2008 were Cuba Gooding Junior and David Mitchell, and later guests included Mark Ronson, Joanna Page, James Corden, Lauren Laverne, Roisin Murphy, Louis Walsh, and Danny Dyer. The show received a 2% share of the total multi-channel audience share despite a high-profile nationwide marketing campaign. Her third show received a 2.7% share. Allen was quoted in a British tabloid as rating the show "probably five out of 10” and said "I made a lot of money out of it".
On 1 April 2008, citing Allen's rapid development as a TV host and her popularity among its target audience BBC Three announced it was renewing Lily Allen and Friends for a second season. On 1 January 2009, she presented a 60-minute programme for 4Music called Lily Allen's 10 Best of British. On 12 January 2009, BBC Three chairman Danny Cohen said that the show will not air in the Spring of 2009 as originally scheduled because of music commitments. Cohen noted "She is on the record as doing a second series and we are looking forward to having her back but we don't know at the moment."
The BBC was criticized by several teacher unions for a video shown on Lily Allen and Friends that apparently showed a student running up from behind and pulling down his teachers trousers. The unions said broadcasting this clip was irresponsible and greatly added to the teacher's embarrassment. While introducing the clip Allen called it "kegging" and said "It's very childish, but very funny".
Performances
Allen performed for Jools Holland's Hootenanny his 2008 New Year's Eve Show. In February 2009, she performed The Fear on GMTV. In the United States she appeared on The Today Show on 10 February and was scheduled to appear on The Oprah Winfrey Show, The Tonight Show, Ellen DeGeneres Show later in the month.
Personal life
In a May 2007 MySpace blog, Allen wrote that she was "fat, ugly and shitter than Winehouse".
In her blog, Allen blamed the paparazzi for smashing the windows of her car. She wrote that her friend was cut when she sat in the car and that she was angered and upset by what she called a scary situation.
On 23 May 2008, in her MySpace blog, Allen responded to press reporting about her personal life. She denied specific reports about her relationships and behaviour as well as negative characterisations of her personality. She confirmed she likes to swim topless and drink saying this is not embarrassing behaviour for a 23 year old. She said the reporting was sexist and that sometimes she wonders if the journalists are still living in the 1950s.
A man described as a close friend of Allen's and another male were allegedly kidnapped in August 2008 and held for a week before being rescued by the Metropolitan Police. Three men pleaded not guilty to various charges related to the incident on 27 November. Allen thanked the police and gave details of the plot at the 2008 GQ Awards. Former Scotland Yard chief John O'Connor called Allen's releasing the details of the alleged plot "outrageous" saying it may jeopardise the case. The friend involved is also alleged to be upset with Allen's revelations.
Allen was cautioned for common assault in March 2007 after an altercation with the paparazzi. A blown up framed copy of the caution is hung in her home. The following August. Allen was detained at Los Angeles International Airport for five hours and questioned over the incident. At that time her U.S. visa was revoked. On 8 October 2008, her visa was reinstated.
On 2 February, 2009 six youths were arrested after allegedly pelting Allen with snowballs at London's Primrose Hill. Allen was rescued by her bodyguard after a fun day in the snow turned nasty. A man was badly beaten during the incident.
Allen has "Google blog alert on myself, and a Google news alert" on herself which she reads daily. She noted that "if there's anyone to sue, I'll forward it to my lawyer.". Allen claimed her biographical article in Wikipedia is riddled with lies. She disputed claims that were made in the article that she had Kawasaki disease, has paintings by Damien Hirst in her bedroom or ever was a size 12.
In March 2009 Allen claimed financial difficulties caused by her extensive spending combined with reluctance of banks to grant credit due to the Financial Crises. Allen had to sell her BMW she purchased in 2008. Allen expects to avoid going "broke" because of expected income from It's Not Me, It's You.
Physical and mental health
As a teenager, Allen spent four weeks at The Priory clinic under 24 hour watch after she took an overdose and tried to cut her wrists. It is claimed that she was distraught over a breakup with her first boyfriend about whom the song Smile was written.
In November 2007, the singer revealed that she has been diagnosed with a heart murmur. The singer sparked concern when she shed 19lbs (8.6 kg) in six weeks. Allen explained the weight loss as being the result of cutting back on the "crap" she was eating and going to the gym three times a week to do a "hardcore routine" as a reaction to the diagnosis.
On 16 January 2008, she suffered a miscarriage after returning from holiday with her baby's father, Ed Simons of The Chemical Brothers. The child would have been the first for both parties. Allen said that her miscarriage was "toughest thing I've had to go through in my life" and that it put her in a "very, very dark place". Following the miscarriage, Allen spent three weeks in a psychiatric clinic.
Allen was quoted as saying that attending counselling sessions with a therapist has been very helpful for her. While she was in the clinic, Allen lost her position as a juror for the Orange Prize for Fiction. Although the organisation said she resigned, Allen claims she was fired for not attending meetings. In January 2009, Allen told Billboard Magazine "As soon as I feel remotely depressed, I'm checked into a clinic and having intensive therapy". Allen confirmed she has used hypnosis to try to lose weight.
Relationships
Allen is heterosexual.
Allen dated Ed Simons of The Chemical Brothers from September 2007 until early 2008. They broke up shortly after Allen suffered her miscarriage.
Allen claims her romantic and sexual life has been inhibited by her fame. She stated that, if she has someone over to her home, she is paranoid about leaving home with him because after being photographed by the paparazzi she has to “justify” a relationship that is not yet understood. When Allen meets a person who is not in show business she wonders "Are they going to walk out of here and be straight on their phone?" Another fear is that the other party is in the relationship for the purpose of getting his picture taken with Allen.
In December 2008, Allen was quoted in a British tabloid as saying "What I really want out of my life is to have children". Allen was also quoted as saying despite enjoying her music career she "certainly wouldn’t want" to mix her music career and motherhood.
Allen claimed a long term estrangement from her older sister ended when the sister realized the song Back To The Start from It's Not Me, It's You was about her. Allen was jealous of her older sister. A temporary rift occurred with her brother Alfie over her song Alfie. Allen worries that other rifts will occurs over other songs she has written about family members on It's Not Me, It's You.
According to The Sunday Times, Allen is surrounded by and socialises with people who tend to be twice her age, a trait she has enjoyed since childhood.
Drug and alcohol use
Allen has told various interviewers that as a teenager she experimented with drugs, used ecstasy at age 14, and is a former cocaine user. In August 2008, Allen said "I'm not gonna say I'm never gonna do drugs again. I just know I'm not a good person on drugs".
Allen was a smoker before she gave up the habit during her pregnancy.
In November 2008, Allen briefly stopped drinking alcohol at the suggestion of her therapist and because "got fucking sick of people saying I was drunk all the time". She started to drink again in January 2009 when she started touring.
Religion
Allen, who went to Catholic School, was quoted as saying that she did not "like Christianity much" because of its stances opposing homosexuality, adultery, and drug usage. She noted that "All my mum’s friends were gay, my dad was having affairs and there were drugs in the house when I was a kid, so it was a bit cruel."
Fashion activities
In May 2007, Allen launched a line of dresses, shoes, and accessories entitled Lily Loves
Allen is reported to enjoy a "special relationship" with Chanel that is said to include borrowing clothes and jewellery and being flown in to sit in the front row of their shows.
Allen won the 2008 Glamour Woman of the Year Awards "Editors Special Award". Allen was nominated for a Highstreet Fashion Award in the category of "Best Dressed Celebrity". In a readers poll for the weekly British style magazine Look, Allen was named the ninth best style role model.
Allen has been described by the UK edition of Elle Magazine as a person who is not overly trendy in her fashion choices.
Public persona
Due to her outspokenness, Allen has been the subject of many controversies. Disparaging remarks about musicians Luke Pritchard of The Kooks, Bob Geldof, Cheryl Cole of Girls Aloud, Amy Winehouse, Kylie Minogue, and Katy Perryhave all garnered minor Press attention. She later expressed that making fun of other pop stars were a result of lack of confidence saying "I felt like 'Oh God, I'm short, fat, ugly and I hate all these people who flaunt their beauty'". Photos of her drunk and topless in the Cannes Film Festival were also widely covered in the Press. Her appearance at the 2008 Glamour Awards of the Year also generated criticism, as she showed up intoxicated with a dress depicting decapitated Bambi figures, and had an on-stage, expletive-laced exchange with Elton John. Allen has shown her third nipple on television. Allen feels like she has become a drunk character in a comic. "I wish my comic character wasn't that, but there's nothing can I do".
Allen's father has told her that "she needs to know when to fucking shut up."
On January 19, with an interview to MTV UK, she commented on a feud with Katy Perry, saying that nothing's actually going on.
In an interview with Q magazine saying "They’re just tits” Allen revealed she has been flashing people for years partially because of her aversion to bras.
Social activism
Lily Allen has taken an interest in environmental and social concerns. Allen has been credited with helping inspire a parliamentary rebellion against Prime Minister Gordon Brown when she wrote to all members of Parliament asking them to back an amendment to an energy bill. She records at Studio A which is currently the only solar powered studio in Europe.
Allen has been nominated with nine others for the title of Greenest Star in Playhouse for Disney Playhouse's inaugural Playing for the Planet Awards.
Allen performed at a benefit concert for War Child, an international child protection agency that works with children affected by war. Backed by Keane, Allen sang Smile and Everybody’s Changing. The singer and The Clash guitarist Mick Jones performed The Clash’s song Straight to Hell on a album for the charity Heroes scheduled for release 24 February 2009. Allen is scheduled to travel abroad in February 2009 to investigate how the money she earned for the charity is being used.
Allen spoke in favour of equality for gays in an interview with the Gay Times. Allen became the first female on the cover of that publication in 12 years.
Allen received support from the animal rights organization PETA after a faux fur coat she was spotted wearing was mistaken for a coat made of real fur.
Reception
Allen was included on the NME Cool List for 2006. She was voted the third coolest person of the year in NME Magazine. She ranked "Number One Reason to Love '07" and "Hottest Woman of Pop/R&B." in Blender magazine. Allen was also rated number 10 on BBC Three's list of Most Annoying People of 2006. Allen was voted fourth coolest celebrity in a poll taken of 20,000 teenagers by the social networking website Bebo that was released in December 2008.
Rapper Example has recorded a new version of Smile called Vile, which is an answer song written from the perspective of the ex-boyfriend (although he was never actually Allen's boyfriend). Both songs were then parodied by Chris Moyles on his Radio 1 breakfast show in a song called Piles. LDN has spawned an answer song by rapper Sway DaSafo and a remix by UK grime artist JME.
Evening Standard columnist Nick Cutis wrote that "Lily Allen and Madonna have arguably done more for female equality with their "unladylike" swearing in public than with their singing careers."
Allen, in an interview with The Word, said that the Press reports only the negative aspects of drug use saying "I know lots of people that take cocaine three nights a week and get up and go to work everyday, no problem at all". British Shadow Home Secretary, Dominic Grieve, called Allen's comments naive saying "There is no doubt that drugs fuel crime and wreck lives". David Haynes head of the British National Drug Prevention Alliance said Allen's remarks cause harm to young people by affecting an already major drug culture. Her spokesperson responding to the criticism said that Allen does not condone drug use and never said in the interview that she condones drug use or thinks it is a good thing. The spokesperson said Allen sympathizes with those affected by drugs and notes when Allen spots signs of people on drugs it terrifies her.
In 2009 Allen is the subject of cover stories for both Spin Magazine and Q Magazine.
MTV said in February 2009 "She seems less like the model of a 21st century pop star and more like the kind of girlfriend you'd have when you're 22 — the awesome kind you'd go backpacking around Europe with, wear a sarong with. She is perfectly imperfect. Which is why she's probably also the most interesting pop star ever created."
Allen's album It's Not Me, It's You has been praised for trying to define the times. Allen said that she does not write songs with a big picture in mind.
Discography
Awards and nominations
| Year | Award | Category | Result |
|---|
| 2006 | Q Awards | Best New Act | Nominated | | Digital Music Awards | Best Pop Artist | Won | | 2007 | BRIT Awards | British Female Solo Artist | Nominated | | Mastercard British Album (Alright, Still) | Nominated | | British Breakthrough Act | Nominated | | MTV Video Music Awards | Best New Artist | Nominated | | NME Awards | Worst Dressed | Won | | 2008 | Grammy Awards | Best Alternative Music Album (Alright, Still) | Nominated | | Highstreet Fashion Awards | Best Dressed Celebrity | Nominated | | Glamour Women of the Year Awards | Editors Special Award | Won | | BMI Awards | ("Smile") | Won | |
External links
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- Sydney Morning Herald 7 August, 2008
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- by Laura Terry for Female First 25 November, 2008
- by Robert Sandall for The Sunday Times 25 January, 2009
- By Rob Harvilla for The Village Voice 14 February, 2009
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