Lily Allen is a popular English singer and songwriter. With an actor-comedian dad Keith Allen and film producer mom Alison Owen, Lily grew up surrounded by artists. In 1988, when Lily Allen was age 3, she appeared on the episode “The Yob” on “The Comic Strip Presents…,” which was co-written by her dad. Lily Allen found her calling at age 11 when a teacher heard her singing an Oasis song and encouraged her to hone her skills. She then took singing lessons with the teacher and began learning instruments, including the piano, violin, trumpet and guitar. At school, Lily Allen participated in school productions, such as “The Railway Children” and “Dumbo.”

After a small stint on the film “Elizabeth” in 1998, Lily Allen began searching for a record label until she was finally signed by London Records in 2002. When the person who signed Allen left London Records, most of her songs were left unrecorded. In 2004, she landed a deal with Regal Records and produced her album with a £25,000 budget. Since the label was more busy supporting bigger acts like Gorillaz and Coldplay, Lily Allen used the social network website MySpace in promoting her singles. Since November 2005, Lily Allen attracted thousands of listeners and several thousands of friends that caught the attention of ‘The Observer Music Monthly’ and featured Allen on their magazine cover in May 2006.

With Lily Allen proving to her record label that she could work on her album recording and promotion by herself, Regard Records agreed to give her additional creative control over her album. She then hired producers Mark Ronson and Greg Kurstin, who completed the rest of her album in two weeks. On July 2006, Lily Allen released her debut album “Alright, Still” with hits like “Smile,” “Alfie,” and “Knock ‘Em Out.” Although her second album was completed by early 2008, it was only until February 2009 did the album “It’s Not Me, It’s You” was released. By February 2009, Lily Allen ranked 5th most popular musical act on the website and her songs uploaded on MySpace have been downloaded 32 million times.

Lily Allen has collaborated with Basemet Jaxx, Robbie Williams, Jamie T., Dizzee Rascal, Common, Jamie Reynolds and New Young Pony Club, among others. She has received a Digital Music Award for ‘Best Pop Artist’ in 2006 and a BMI Award for her single “Smile” in 2008.