Lily Rose Beatrice Allen
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Lily Rose Beatrice Allen shot to fame in 2006 when her debut single Smile hit number one on the UK Singles Chart. Her album Alright, Still sold over 2.6 million copies worldwide and earned Grammy, Brit Award, and MTV Video Music Award nominations. She is also an actress and has appeared on shows like The Graham Norton Show and Saturday Night Live. Allen is the daughter of actor Keith Allen and producer Alison Owen.
Names, aliases, and relatives of Lily Allen — birth name, kin, and personal ties.
Lily Allen by the numbers — life, work, and family.
Lily Allen — early life, career, personal life, and legacy.
Lily Allen was born on May 2, 1985 in Hammersmith, London to actor Keith Allen and film producer Alison Owen. She attended several schools including Bedales School, where she was classmates with Natalia Tena, and Millfield. Her stepfather for a time was comedian Harry Enfield, who based characters on Lily and her siblings. Allen’s father is Welsh, and her mother has Welsh, English, and Irish ancestry.
Allen’s music career began in 2005 when she uploaded demo tracks to Myspace, leading to BBC Radio 1 airplay and a contract with Regal Recordings. Her debut single Smile topped the UK Singles Chart in July 2006. The follow-up album Alright, Still sold over 2.6 million copies globally and garnered nominations at the Grammys, Brit Awards, and MTV Video Music Awards. She also ventured into acting, appearing as a musical guest on Saturday Night Live and performing on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.
Allen married Sam Cooper in June 2011; they had two daughters, Ethel born 2011 and Marnie born 2013, before divorcing in 2018. She later married actor David Harbour in September 2020. She suffered a stillbirth of a baby boy named George in October 2010 and a miscarriage in 2008. She is a co-owner of the vintage clothing shop Lucy in Disguise in London’s Covent Garden with her sister Sarah Owens.
Allen’s debut album Alright, Still is credited with influencing a wave of British female singer-songwriters. She won two Ivor Novello Awards for her songwriting. Her single Smile remains a defining pop hit of the 2000s. Her candid public persona and social media presence also define her legacy.
Browse the complete filmography of Lily Allen — every film, TV show, and documentary credit, ranked by popularity.
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Every award, honor, and recognition received by Lily Allen — Grammys, hall-of-fame inductions, civic honors, lifetime achievements.
A wall of memorable lines from Lily Allen — lyrics, interviews, and off-the-cuff remarks captured over a lifetime.
I Don’t See Myself as a Role Model; People Should Look to Mothers and Sisters as Role Models.
I Don’t Care What People Think of Me Now, so Why Would I Care When I’m Dead?
But Dad and I Are the Only Father and Daughter Acts Who Have Both Had No. 1 Songs in England.
Sometimes I Wish I Was Just a Girl in an Indie Band. I Could Dance Around on Stage and It Wouldn’t Be so Much About Me.
I’m Opinionated, but I’m Not a Vindictive Person and I Never Say Anything Unprovoked, Either.
I Think as Long as You’re Not Being Malicious and You’re Not Hurting People Then You Should Not Be Ashamed of What You Do.
I Refuse to Put Make up on Just Because the Paparazzi Are on My Doorstep. I Find It Morally Wrong.
I Never Go Out to Be Photographed, Never. I Go to Events Because They’re Fun.
I Love MySpace; It’s Done an Amazing Job for Me and It’s Been Insane Over the Past Couple of Weeks, but I’m Not a Poster Girl for Them.
I Like to Be Able to Get up and Go and Buy a Pint of Milk Without Bumping into 20 People I Know.
Yeah, I Was a Florist. I Went to Floristry School.
When a Music Teacher That I Had at School Was Taken Ill and We Had a Variety Show and I Had to Fill in That’s When I Realised I Had a Voice.
I’ve Always Listened to Music, Since I Was Really, Really Young.
I Think the Whole, Like, Cultural Diversity and the Arty Side of London Is Really, Really Great. and How It’s so Historic as Well.
I Think I’m Like Marmite; You Either Love Me or You Hate Me.
I Just Felt Like I Couldn’t Deal with the Everyday Responsibilities of Life, Paying Bills and All of That. I’m Terrible at All of That. so I Knew I Had to Make Enough Money to Pay Someone Else to Deal with All of That.
I Hang Out with Models, the Biggest Pop Stars And, You Know, Really and Honestly, I Hate Saying This, but None of Them Are Achieving Those Body Shapes by Being Healthy.
I Don’t Really See How Any Song Can Not Feel Contrived If It Isn’t Honest, and How Could I Write Honest Songs If I Don’t Write About Stuff Going on in My Life and How I’m Feeling?
Because of Piracy There Has Been a Massive Downturn in People Buying Music, Which Makes It More Difficult for Artists to Make Money from the Sale of Records.
You Have to Be in Love with Yourself Before Anyone Else Can Fall in Love with You; to Be Happy with Yourself.
I’m Just Not a Private Person. It’s Not Like I Do Things Because I Want Things to Be Public; It’s Just That’s My Way of Expressing Myself, and I Happen to Be Very Famous.
I Wasn’t into Anything at School. I Used to Get Really Embarrassed. I Used to Get Asked to Do Performing Things, and I’d Go to All the Rehearsals, and Then I’d Pretend to Be Ill on the Day I Had to Actually Perform. I Was Very Unhappy at School.
I Think of Myself as Quite a Confused Kind of Person, Because I Think There’s so Many Great Things About the World, but There Are so Many Awful Things Too. I Feel Very Guilty a Lot of the Time About Enjoying My Life so Much When There Are People Living in Such Misery.
I Studied Voice When I Was at School, and I Was in the Chamber Choir, and I Studied Music Theory as Well, so I Guess a Lot of It Came from Being Taught at School.
Can’t Get Through to NHS Direct, No Midwives in Your Area ? Well at Least the Queen Got a Nice Birthday Party/jubilee, Whatever.
I Change with the Way the World Changes. My Music Is Always Social Commentary. I Don’t Know What the World Is Going to Be Like in Five Years’ Time, but as Long as I’m Not Ashamed of What I’m Putting Out, Then I’m Happy.
I Love Smoking… I Don’t Really Want to Say It, but I Do.
It’s Not My Fault, It’s How I’m Programmed to Function.
Little-known facts about Lily Allen — origins, oddities, and behind-the-scenes details from a public life.
The final track on Alright, Still, titled Alfie, is about her brother, actor Alfie Allen.
After posting her first demo tracks to MySpace in November 2005, she became an overnight success in the UK.
She attended Bedales School with Natalia Tena, the same school that Minnie Driver and Daniel Day-Lewis attended.
She was romantically linked with American actor David Harbour in October 2019.
Lily and her sister Sarah Owens co-own Lucy in Disguise, a vintage clothes shop in London’s Covent Garden.
She suffered a stillbirth of a baby boy named George, six months into her pregnancy in late October 2010, with then-boyfriend Sam Cooper.
She has two daughters with ex-husband Sam Cooper: Ethel Mary Cooper born November 25, 2011 and Marnie Rose Cooper born January 8, 2013.
Her former stepfather Harry Enfield based characters on her family: the baby characters Harry and Lulu from Harry Enfield and Chums were based on Lily and her brother Alfie, with genders reversed.
She suffered a miscarriage two months into a pregnancy with ex-boyfriend Ed Simons in January 2008.
Her single Smile went to number one for two weeks on the UK singles chart in 2006; her album Alright, Still debuted at number two on the UK album chart.
She was voted the third coolest person of the year in NME’s Cool List but also ranked tenth in BBC3’s The Most Annoying People of 2006.
At her wedding reception in June 2011, held at her 17th-century country mansion, she announced she was 16 weeks pregnant with her third child, her second by Sam Cooper.
Her father is Welsh; her mother, born in England, has Welsh, English, and Irish ancestry.
She announced her engagement to Sam Cooper on December 28, 2010, after he proposed on their hotel room balcony in Bali on Christmas Day.
She married Sam Cooper at St. James the Great Church in Cranham, Gloucestershire, wearing a vintage 1920s lace gown by Chanel; they arrived in a dark green Bentley, and her bridesmaids included Miquita Oliver.
She has a younger brother Alfie Allen and an older sister Sarah Owens born 1980.
Her ex-husband Sam Cooper is a painter and decorator.
She was five months pregnant with her daughter Ethel when she completed writing songs for the West End musical Bridget Jones’s Diary.
She returned to work five months after giving birth to Ethel to begin her third studio album.
The music video for Smile showed her paying friends to ransack an ex-boyfriend’s flat while she spiked his drink with laxatives.
She earned three nominations at the 2007 Brit Awards: British Female Solo Artist, British Album, and British Breakthrough Artist.
She supports Fulham Football Club, an English Premier League soccer club that counts Elizabeth Hurley, Pierce Brosnan, and Hugh Grant among its fans.
She is the daughter of Keith Allen and Alison Owen.
She is the niece of Kevin Allen.
She has a half-sister, Teddie, born in 2006.
Her godfather was title designer Daniel Kleinman.
She was formerly the stepdaughter of Harry Enfield.
Quick answers to the questions readers ask most about Lily Allen.
Celebrities similar to Lily Allen — same craft, ranked by reach.
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