2001–2005: Career beginnings When 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
ecstasy at the age of 15. Allen met her first manager,
George Lamb, in Ibiza. and was featured in the 2002 song by her father's group Fat Les, "Who Invented Fish and Chips". She started to work with music producers, and recorded a demo. 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. She then studied horticulture to become a florist, but changed her mind and returned to music. Allen began writing songs, while her manager introduced her to production duo Future Cut in 2004. They worked in a small studio in the basement of an office building. Allen then created an account on Myspace and began posting demos that she recorded in November 2005.
2006–2008: Alright, Still The success 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 working with mainstream producers. Allen decided to work with producers
Greg Kurstin and
Mark Ronson, finishing the rest of the album in two weeks. By January 2009, the album had sold 960,000 copies in the UK and 520,000 copies in the US. In 2007, she played the newly launched Park Stage at the
Glastonbury Festival, replacing
MIA who had cancelled. During the festival she reunited two members of
The Specials, an act that guitarist
Lynval Golding claimed played a "massive part" in the group's 2009 reunion. She also sang the vocals on the top ten single, "
Oh My God", a cover of the
Kaiser Chiefs song by
Mark Ronson. On 1 July 2007, Allen appeared at the
Concert for Diana held at
Wembley Stadium, London, to celebrate the life of
Princess Diana. She sang "LDN" and "Smile". Allen's single "Littlest Things" from her album produced by Ronson helped earn him a "Producer of the Year – Non Classical"
2008 Grammy Award. She also provided background vocals for a couple of songs on the Kaiser Chiefs' third album in 2008, co-produced by Ronson. Allen won a 2008 BMI songwriting award for "Smile". In October 2007, Allen contributed a cover of
the Pretenders' "
Don't Get Me Wrong" for the covers compilation album
Radio 1: Established 1967, in celebration of the fourtieth anniversary of
BBC Radio 1 signing on air. Allen later 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".
2008–2011: ''It's Not Me, It's You'' and musical hiatus in August 2009 After the release of her first album, her parent record company,
EMI, was taken over by
Terra Firma. She also changed her management company from Empire Artist Management to Twenty-First Artists, although her core team remained in place. 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. 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." 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. 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 also generated criticism, as she showed up intoxicated wearing a dress covered in decapitated
Bambi figures, and had an on-stage, expletive-laced exchange with
Elton John. 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. ''
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. In autumn 2008, EMI underwent a restructuring. Due to this environment, a decision was made to move the album's eventual release date. An online game,
Escape the Fear, was created by Matmi as part of the
viral marketing campaign targeted at people unaware of Allen or the album. Since its release, "The Game" has topped the worldwide viral charts three times, including the week of Christmas—a highly contested time of the year. By 18 February 2009, "The Game" had been played over two million times. The singer and
the Clash guitarist
Mick Jones performed the Clash's song "
Straight to Hell" on an album for the charity
Heroes. in
Zagreb,
Croatia, 24 June 2009 ''It's Not Me, It's You'' was released in February 2009. It debuted at the number 1 position in the UK, Canada, and Australia and the number 5 position in the United States. The album has been certified platinum in the United Kingdom. The release of the album was a factor in
EMI more than trebling their earnings. The first single from the album, "The Fear", was number 1 for the first four weeks in the UK after its release. The second single released from the album, "
Not Fair", reached the number 9 position. She began her
It's Not Me, It's You World Tour in March, touring throughout the next two years until September 2010. Her work on this album with
Greg Kurstin earned her the
Songwriters of the Year at the 2010
Ivor Novello Awards. In addition, she won with Kurstin
Best Song Musically and Lyrically and
Most Performed Work for "The Fear". Allen appeared overwhelmed by this recognition from what she considered "real awards". In October 2010, Allen won her second BMI Pop Song Award by the United States music licensing organisation
Broadcast Music Incorporated for extensive United States radio airplay of her song, "The Fear". Allen and Jamie Hince, guitarist for
The Kills, raised £48,350 for the children's charity The Hoping Foundation. The pair sang "
Dream a Little Dream of Me" at a
karaoke auction fundraiser. In September 2009, Allen announced that she was considering a career in acting, that she would not renew her record contract, and that she had "no plans" to make another record. In September 2010, she gave her last performance for two and a half years, supporting
Muse at
Wembley Stadium in
London, England. She featured on the UK top five single, "
Just Be Good to Green" by
Professor Green in June 2010. The following month, she started writing songs for the
musical version of ''Bridget Jones's Diary'' which was scheduled to open in London's
West End in 2012. Also in 2011,
T-Pain used a verse from Allen's "
Who'd Have Known" as the chorus to the song "5 O'Clock", which became the second single from his album
Revolver. The song, which also features
Wiz Khalifa, was released in September 2011, and reached number ten on the
Billboard
Hot 100 chart, making it Allen's first Top 10 single in the United States.
2012–2018: Sheezus and No Shame In June 2012, Allen confirmed she was in the studio working with
Greg Kurstin on new music. She later changed her professional name from Lily Allen to Lily Rose Cooper and appeared on the track "
True Love" on
Pink's sixth studio album,
The Truth About Love, released in September 2012. In February 2013, she performed live at a Paris fashion show produced by
Mark Ronson in what she called her "mumback", and foreshadowed the release of a new album "inspired by her experiences of motherhood" by the end of 2013. In August 2013, she changed her professional name back to Lily Allen and tweeted new music would be arriving "soon". In November 2013, Allen recorded a cover of
Keane's "
Somewhere Only We Know" for the
John Lewis Christmas advert with a portion of the song's sales earnings donated to
Save the Children's Philippine Typhoon Appeal campaign. Released as a download single, it reached number one in the UK singles chart on 24 November. On 12 November 2013, Allen premiered the video for her new song "
Hard Out Here" on her official website. The song was released as a download the following week and entered the UK singles chart at number nine, giving Allen two simultaneous top ten hit singles. Allen's November 2013 video for "
Hard out Here" was accused of being racist for its use of mostly black dancers in an allegedly "disapproving" manner. Allen responded that ethnicity was not a factor in hiring the dancers, and the video was a lighthearted satirical look at objectification of women in modern pop music. In November 2016, Allen apologised for the video in an interview with
Annie Mac, stating "I definitely wanted to make a feminist statement. But I was guilty of assuming that there was a one-size-fits-all where feminism is concerned." In December 2013, Allen was announced as one of the newest signees at
Warner Bros. Records due to
Warner Music Group acquiring
Parlophone from
Universal Music Group in May 2013. On 13 January 2014, the song "
Air Balloon" was premiered on BBC Radio 1 and was released on 2 March 2014, as the second single from Allen's third studio album
Sheezus. The album was released on 5 May 2014. Allen performed at the
Glastonbury Festival 2014. Following the release of
Sheezus (2014), Allen had an "
identity crisis". She did not enjoy the music she was being asked to create and believed people within the music industry were controlling her musical choices. Allen mentioned on the podcast
News Roast that she is working on a new album, which will mainly deal with herself, her relationship with her children, the breakdown of her marriage, substance abuse, etc. Allen has been working with
Mark Ronson. In late 2017, Allen uploaded numerous songs online in preparation for the album, including the track titled "Family Man". When conceiving the album Allen wanted to work through her problems via music. Allen decided to do this because she felt that people are often led "by outside forces" when they are trying to express themselves – something she wanted to explore when creating
No Shame. Later that year, in December, a song called "Trigger Bang" was leaked and featured rapper
Giggs. On 24 January 2018 Allen announced her new album would be called
No Shame. The album was released 8 June 2018.
No Shame was nominated for a Mercury Prize, with the album being one of 12 to be shortlisted for the award. An
electropop album,
No Shame takes influence from
dancehall and
reggae, and features confessional lyrics that discuss the breakdown of Allen's marriage and friendships, maternal guilt,
substance abuse, along with social and political issues. Upon release
No Shame was met with generally positive reviews from music critics, who praised the album's mature lyrical content and themes, Allen's artistic evolution, the composition and production. The album peaked at number eight on the
UK Albums Chart, it reached the top 40 on the New Zealand and Irish charts and became Allen's fourth consecutive top 10 album in Australia. To promote the album, Allen embarked on her worldwide
No Shame Tour.
2019–present: West End acting debut and West End Girl In April 2019, Allen revealed on
Beats 1 radio that she was working on her next record which would be a
concept album. Allen later said in March 2020 that her new album only features "odd mentions" of her past addictions. She said: "This album I've been doing, I've been writing for just over a year, but I feel like I've moved on mentally so far from that time." In the
Glastonbury Festival 2022, Allen appeared during
Olivia Rodrigo's set to perform "
Fuck You", as a protest against the
2022 Supreme Court ruling that
abortion was not protected by the
Constitution of the United States.
The Guardian described it as a "thrilling, furious" moment. Allen later said that she was unsure that she could perform "on a stage like that sober again", being nearly three years sober. In late 2022, Allen booked five weeks in a music studio, but she said it felt "contrived" and that the music was not ready to be released. In 2024, she said she had recorded around 50 songs for her next music project, which she was still working on. On 20 October 2025, she announced that her fifth studio album
West End Girl would be released four days later. Her first album in seven years, and her first since her departure from Parlophone Records, received widespread critical acclaim from music critics. The album contained personal and honest lyrics, discussing her ex-husband
David Harbour's infidelity and alleged sex-addiction. The album peaked at number two on the UK albums chart, and in the top-10 in New Zealand, Australia and Ireland. The album's lead single "
Madeline" reached the top 20 on the UK Singles Chart, while the album track "
Pussy Palace" peaked at number 8, marking her first top-10 UK single in over a decade. On 13 February 2026 Allen announced that all her albums, including 'Alright, Still,' which has never been released on vinyl, will all be released on vinyl. ==Influences and musical style==