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Corinne Bailey Rae
Corinne Bailey Rae was born and raised in Leeds, the oldest of three daughters to a West Indian father and a Yorkshire mother. At school, she studied classical violin to a high standard, but any ambitions to take this to a higher level were quickly scotched when a Zeppelin adoration took hold. By the time she turned 15, Corinne was also obsessing over female-led, indie noiseniks like Veruca Salt and L7, and wanted to start her own band. And so she did. Its name was Helen.
Fast-forward a few years and by the end of 2005, editors and DJs were still getting their heads around the spelling of her name as a now solo Corinne Bailey Rae rapidly ascended to the top of 'the next big thing' polls.
Twelve months later, with a no.1 album nearing triple platinum in the UK, further gold and platinum sales awards across the globe including over a million in America where Corinne's debut created history by entering the Billboard chart at 17 (the highest ever chart debut for a UK artist in the US), it is clear to see that this soulful songstress is currently a lady with the world at her feet. Add to all this one of the year's biggest hit singles around the world in the shape of 'Put Your Records On', a whole host of awards including Mojo and Q Awards for Best Newcomer, two MOBO Awards and now three Grammy nominations, plus a string of sold out tour dates and a mountain of incredible press articles singing her many praises including Billboard magazine hailing her debut album as one of the albums of 2006 in their annual Critic's Top 10, and Corinne now sits firmly amongst the ranks of established artists she once aspired to be.
From 'next big thing polls' hailing her imminent success to 'end of year polls' celebrating it, Corinne has had an undeniable impact on the world's music scene. Truly an astonishing and unprecedented feat for a UK artist in just twelve short months.
