Lily Allen Fast Facts Lily 'Keith' Rose Beatrice Allen (born 2 May 1985) UK singer, daughter of Keith 'Fat Les' Allen. Signed to Regal / Parlophone records in December 2005, upsetting Polydor A&R man Seb Chew in the process (He described her as "The one that got away"). Her debut single LDN was released as a 500 copy limited edition vinyl on April 24th, 2006 in the UK. It was followed on July 10th, 2006 by Smile, which spent two weeks at number one and her debut album 'Alright, Still' was released in July 2006. The album reached number 2 in the charts. LDN was re-released as a single on September 25th, 2006. Lily's sound is ska-pop, with a dash of social commentary. Easy listening yet thought provoking at the same time, so they say. Her vocal style is casual and, at times, whimsical - in a similar manner perhaps to Mike Skinner (The Streets). Lily has been known to have many celebrity admirers, including Justin Timberlake, The-P, Jo Whiley of Radio One and the actress Keira Knightley.

Lily Rose Allen was born May 2, 1985, in London, England. The daughter of British comedian 'Fat Les' Keith Allen, she inherited both her father’s legendary sense of wit as well as his penchant for questioning authority. “I got expelled from various schools and was sent to boarding school as they thought it would be a restraining influence, but I ran away to Glastonbury and other places when I was 14,” she recalls. “I guess I knew from an early age that I could never do a job where I'd have to sit in an office all day long."

lily allen meets george lamb

That certainty prompted Lily to quit school one year later at the age of 15. “I started to feel like I could have a voice,” she explains. “But I wanted to write about my own world in an entertaining way."

Out of school and in need of work, Lily moved to Ibiza where she found employment in a local record store called Plastic Fantastic. It proved to be a fortuitous decision as it soon brought her into contact with George Lamb, an influential A&R man and the former manager of Audio Bullys. Impressed by her spunky attitude, as well as by some of the lyrics she had crafted, Lamb agreed to manage Lily’s fledging career. He also put her in touch with music producers Future Cat, who soon supplied her with some catchy backing tracks.

lily allen signs with regal records

Those very same tracks eventually landed Lily a deal in 2005 with Regal Records, a division of Parlophone/EMI. Although her new label had hoped to re-record some of her songs, Lily beat them to the punch by uploading three of the tunes to her MySpace page. The result was nothing short of astounding as she soon had 1.5 million people streaming her tracks while an additional 30,000 registered as friends.

“It's gone mad,” she fondly reports. “The online support I got for my music grew quickly, then the next thrill was hearing it on the radio. The reaction has been so positive it's left me reeling a bit. But I'm happy and I know the songs can live up to people's expectations.”

lily allen releases alright, still

Luckily, her debut album has also lived up to the public’s lofty expectations. Released in Europe on July 17, 2006, Alright, Still debuted at No. 2 on the UK album charts, thanks in part to hit singles like “Smile” and “LDN.”

“Everything is a bit weird,” she admits. “People recognize me all the time now and there’s lots of autograph hunting and smiling.”

She now has a 16 month half- sister called Teddy who is Keith's daughter.
Apparently this is bringing out the softer side in him

Lily's career has rocketed after appearing at many shows and gigs such as Glastonbury, Diana concert and the Swarovski Fashion Rocks Show for the Prince's Trust, having her own clothes range, becoming a hair and lingerie model and she is currently recording a brand new album. Definately a world class star!

What more reason do you need to love her?

Learn More About Lily Watch Lily Allen Videos to see for yourself her cockney charm. Listen to interviews she's given to get the inside scoop. Read expert reviews on her music.