2011–2014: Warrior and Glorious Allen devised a stage name to differentiate herself from British pop singer
Lily Allen. She considered the alias Foxes after a suggestion from a friend, the first song she had written being titled "Like Foxes Do"; her mother then told her that she had a dream the previous night "about these foxes running up our street and they were howling and making these beautiful noises", which she said reminded her of her daughter's music. Allen chose Foxes based on this connection. Foxes released her debut single, "Youth", in January 2012 on
Neon Gold Records, and the following month was signed to Sign of the Times, a
Simon Fuller-owned UK imprint of
Sony Music Entertainment. "Youth" and its B-side, "Home", were featured in the American television series
Gossip Girl and an
EP,
Warrior (produced by Samuel Dixon, also known as Sam Kennedy, and later Maddox Dixon), followed in July 2012, which Foxes promoted with a US tour.
Paste magazine described
Warrior as "a beautifully ethereal EP that warrants all sorts of comparisons, but equally manages to stand on its own two feet", while
PopMatters wrote that it was "a powerful, well-rounded set" and
Consequence of Sound introduced the singer as "[i]f
Florence Welch and
Katy Perry had a beautiful, brunette love child". Later in 2012, Foxes toured with
Marina and the Diamonds on her
Lonely Hearts Club Tour and released a second single, "Echo". "Youth" caught the attention of dance producer
Zedd, who invited Foxes to feature on his song "
Clarity". "Clarity" was released as a single in late 2012 and became a major hit during 2013, reaching number eight on the US
Billboard Hot 100 and number one on the
Hot Dance Club Songs. The song was certified double platinum in Australia, platinum in the United States, and gold in the United Kingdom, where it reached number 27 on the
UK Singles Chart. At the
56th Annual Grammy Awards, Zedd and Foxes won the award for
Best Dance Recording. In the United Kingdom, "Youth" reached number 12 on the singles chart in October 2013, concurrent to the song's use in a high profile advertising campaign for retailer
Debenhams. During late 2013, Foxes embarked on a headline tour of the United Kingdom. Foxes' debut album,
Glorious, was released in May 2014 following the single "Holding onto Heaven" (number 14), and debuted at number five on the
UK Albums Chart. During September and October 2014, Foxes served as the opening act for R&B musician
Pharrell's
Dear Girl Tour, playing to arenas across Europe. Pharrell personally offered a support slot to Foxes after hearing her cover of his hit single "
Happy" for
Radio 1's Live Lounge; Also in October, Foxes was featured in the
eighth series of the BBC science fiction series
Doctor Who, performing
Queen's "
Don't Stop Me Now" in the episode "
Mummy on the Orient Express". In December, Foxes toured the United Kingdom once again as a headliner.
2015–2019: All I Need and four-year hiatus Foxes stated in a late 2014 interview that she had commenced work on her second album. In subsequent interviews, Foxes announced that the album was titled
All I Need and she hoped to release it in late 2015. Recording sessions took place in America, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.
All I Need was released on 5 February 2016. The album's first single, "
Body Talk", was released in July 2015 and reached number 25 on the UK Singles Chart. Foxes debuted the track during a one-day tour of seven UK cities that earned her an entry to the
Guinness World Records for the title of "most live concerts in 12 hours in multiple cities". The album's track listing and the video for the song "Feet Don't Fail Me Now" were also released in July. The second single, "Better Love", was released in September 2015. After that Foxes embarked on a headline UK tour, supported by
Izzy Bizu. The third single "Amazing" was released on 4 December 2015. "Amazing" was used by ITV in an advertsiment to promote their Christmas programming. Foxes featured on
Kygo's track "Oasis" from his album
Cloud Nine, which was released on 13 May 2016. "Cruel" was released as the fourth single from
All I Need on 19 April 2016 with an accompanying music video released on the same date. In the same month, Foxes was announced to be one of the supporting acts of British
alternative rock band
Coldplay in the European and North American legs of their
A Head Full of Dreams Tour, alongside
Alessia Cara. In March 2017, ITV used Foxes' song "Scar" to promote
Grantchester's third series. She performed at the Indonesian Television Awards on 20 September 2017, performing songs including "Better Love", "Let Go For Tonight", and "Clarity". In February 2018, Foxes teased of new music saying, "Thank you for your patience with this next record... I will be releasing new music this year and I can't wait to share it with you".
2020–present: Friends in the Corner EP and The Kick On 15 May 2020, Foxes teased new music on her social media platforms by sharing three videos, one each day, which consisted of her asking a question. The videos were accompanied by a phone number one could ring to answer the question. The lead single from her upcoming project, "Love Not Loving You", was released on 20 May 2020, marking her first song release in four years. On the same day, it was revealed that Foxes had signed a new record deal with
PIAS Recordings; it made the single her first release on the label. On 29 July 2020, the second single, "Woman", was released. It was followed by the third and fourth singles, "Friends in the Corner" and "Hollywood" which were released on 2 September 2020 and 4 December 2020 respectively. The latter was described as a "cathartic experience" by
Clash magazine. On 17 March 2021, Foxes released the single "Kathleen" and announced the release of her second EP
Friends in the Corner, which would include all previously released singles and an additional two new songs. The EP was released on 1 April 2021. Her third studio album,
The Kick, was released on 11 February 2022, which included the single "Sister Ray", released in September 2021. ==Artistry==