Corinne Bailey Rae Biography

Corinne Bailey Rae is an English contemporary singer-songwriter of R&B and Grammy-winner. She has had numerous accolades in the US and UK charts.

Early Life

Corinne Jacqueline Bailey was born in Leeds, England on 26 February 1979 as the oldest of three daughters. She began training in classical music, taking lessons in violin. Corinne was heavily influenced by her church as a child and would love to sing in the choir. Supported by her church youth leader she bought her first guitar.

Career Beginning and Breakthrough

After a missed record contract opportunity with her indie group Helen, Rae got married and started working on her own material. She was able to gain attention with the collab of Mark Hill on Young and Foolish in 2004. Finally, in 2006 she released the self-titled solo album, Corinne Bailey Rae. The success of the album was immediate. It debuted at number 1 in the UK and at number 4 in the US, remaining there for 71 weeks. It was later, 3x certified platinum. Singles became hits such as Like a Star and Put Your Records On. Corrine supported her album with a tour in Europe and the US. Rae was nominated for 3 Grammys in 2007, however, won 2 awards the following year.

More Music and Success

Two years after the death of her husband, she released her critically acclaimed album The Sea in 2010. Corrine supported the record with a worldwide tour with 82 concerts. The shows had a gross profit of 19 million dollars. Following her tour, she revealed The Love EP, entering top 20 for best R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. In addition, she won a Grammy in 2012 for Best R&B Performance. Rae’s third album The Heart Speaks in Whispers debuted at number 2 on Billboard’s R&B chart in 2016. Starting 2017 she covered Coldplay’s The Scientist as the soundtrack for the highly anticipated movie Fifty Shades Darker. 

Photo credit: Billboard