Lily Allen's Biography

Lily Allen was born in Hammersmith, west London on 2 May 1985.

She is the daughter of actor Keith Allen and film producer Alison Owen.

Her parents split up and from the age of four, Lily Allen was brought up by her mother, the producer of films like Elizabeth and Shaun of the Dead.

Her step-father is Harry Enfield.

Lily Allen attended 13 different schools, including Cavendish in Camden, Hill House and Bedales, before leaving school at 15.

In December 2005, Lily Allen uploaded four songs to MySpace, and it was to lead to her phenomenal musical success. The songs were downloaded millions of times.

Lily Allen's mother told The Sunday Times magazine:

"Lily is her own person. What sums her up for me is the MySpace phenomenon, which is all about how many friends you have. She was on her computer as usual, and she shut the lid and she said: 'Well, I've got the most friends in Great Britain.' This little girl who found making friends quite difficult finally had the most friends in the whole country."

Lily Allen's debut single was 'LDN' (text message speak for London).

In Lily Allen's official site, she pointed out that she 'chose to make LDN a low key 7" release to start things at a decent level'.

LDN was followed by Smile, which went into the charts in the UK at number one.

Her debut album, Alright Still went straight into the Billboard charts at Number 20 in the USA. Alright Still had sold around 2 million copies by November 2007.

In May 2006, the Observer Music Monthly revealed that: "Lily's favourite book is The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory. Her favourite films are The Blues Brothers ('the music bits') and Animal House."

In January 2007, Lily Allen was reunited with her dog, Maggie May, after it had been stolen.

In May 2007, the Evening Standard revealed how Lily Allen's former boyfriend Seb Chew rushed to the States to be with Lily after she pulled out of her tour there.

Ironically, Seb Chew, an A&R manager at Polydor, described Lily Allen in The Independent as (musically) the one that got away.

In November 2007, it was announced that Lily Allen had landed her own entertainment show on BBC Three, Lily Allen And Friends.

Also in November 2007, the BBC reported that Lily Allen had a heart murmur.

In December 2007, Lily Allen announced that she and boyfriend, Ed Simons of The Chemical Brothers, were expecting their first child. However, in January 2008 it was announced that Lily Allen had a miscarriage and shortly afterwards there were reports that she and Ed Simons were breaking up.

In April 2008, the BBC announced that Lily Allen And Friends would return for a second series on BBC Three.

In 2009, Lily Allen released the album It's Not Me, It's You. The first single from It's Not Me, It's You was The Fear, which reached number one in the UK singles chart.

On 15 February 2009, It's Not Me, It's You shot straight to the top of the album chart, whilst The Fear stayed at the top of the singles chart for a third consecutive week.

In February 2010, Lily Allen won the award for best British female solo act at the Brit awards.

In May 2010, she won three Ivor Novello songwriting awards.

In August 2010, Lily Allen revealed that she was expecting a baby with her boyfriend building firm boss Sam Cooper.

Lily Allen and Sam Cooper got engaged on Christmas Day 2010. They married a year later.

Also, in 2010, Lily Allen set up a vintage dress shop, Lucy in Disguise, with her sister Sarah.

In 2011, she was featured on the Channel 4 series Lily Allen: From Riches to Rags, as she switched from pop star to retailer.

In December 2013, Lily Allen went to the top of the UK singles chart with a cover version of Keane's Somewhere Only We Know.

In 2023, she played Mel appearing alongside Freema Agyeman as Trish in the Sky comedy drama Dreamlands.

In 2024, Miss Me? with Lily Allen and Miquita Oliver was commissioned by BBC 5 Live and BBC Sounds.