Lily Allen

Lily Allen was married to builder and decorator Sam Cooper from 2011 until their divorce was finalised in 2018. They have two daughters, Ethel Mary and Marnie Rose, and share custody of them. Allen was later married to American actor David Harbour from 2020 until their separation in 2025.

Allen has spoken publicly about prioritising her children and about the effect of motherhood, bereavement and relationship breakdown on her life and music. She experienced a stillbirth in 2010 and later said that she was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder after the loss.

Allen is the daughter of actor Keith Allen and film producer Alison Owen. She appeared in The Comic Strip Presents... at the age of three and later appeared in the music video for Fat Les's "Vindaloo". Her early musical development included singing lessons, piano study and training in singing, as well as playing violin, guitar and trumpet.

She attended 13 schools and left school at 15. At 11, former music student Rachel Santesso heard her singing "Wonderwall" and began giving her lunchtime singing lessons. Allen's performance of "Baby Mine" from Dumbo at a school concert helped convince her that music would be central to her life.

Allen's music career gathered momentum after she posted demos and mixtapes on MySpace in 2005. The recordings attracted a large online following, received airplay on BBC Radio 1 and led to coverage in The Observer Music Monthly.

Her debut album, Alright, Still, was released in 2006 and reached number two on the UK Albums Chart. It included "Smile", "LDN", "Alfie" and "Littlest Things". "Smile" reached number one on the UK Singles Chart, while the album received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Alternative Music Album. The song "Alfie" was about her younger brother, actor Alfie Allen.

Allen's second album, It's Not Me, It's You, was released in 2009 and marked a move towards electropop and faux-jazz sounds. It reached number one in the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia, while its singles included "The Fear", "Not Fair" and "Fuck You". Allen won the Brit Award for British Female Solo Artist in 2010, and her work with producer Greg Kurstin earned three Ivor Novello Awards.

Her third album, Sheezus, followed in 2014 and also topped the UK Albums Chart. The album's single "Hard Out Here" addressed sexism and objectification in pop music, although its video attracted criticism over its treatment of race and feminism. Allen later apologised for aspects of the video.

Released in 2018, No Shame explored the breakdown of Allen's marriage, maternal guilt, substance abuse, friendships and social issues. The album was shortlisted for the Mercury Prize and reached number eight on the UK Albums Chart. Allen also published her memoir, My Thoughts Exactly, that year.

Allen returned to music with West End Girl, her fifth studio album, released in 2025. The album addressed betrayal, heartbreak and the emotional consequences of the end of her marriage to David Harbour, while Allen cautioned that its lyrics should not all be taken literally.

West End Girl reached number two on the UK Albums Chart. Its lead single, "Madeline", entered the UK top 20, and "Pussy Palace" reached number eight, giving Allen her first UK top-10 single in more than a decade.

Allen made her West End debut in 2021 as Jenny in 2:22 A Ghost Story at the Noël Coward Theatre. Her performance earned a WhatsOnStage Award and a Laurence Olivier Award nomination for Best Actress.

She played Katurian in a 2023 London revival of Martin McDonagh's The Pillowman, and portrayed Hedda Gabler in Hedda, a contemporary reimagining of Henrik Ibsen's play, in Bath in 2025. On screen, she played Elizabeth Taylor in How to Build a Girl in 2019 and appeared as Mel in the television series Dreamland in 2023.

In 2008, Allen hosted the BBC Three talk show Lily Allen and Friends. She launched the record label In the Name Of in 2011 with backing from Sony Music, and the label released the debut album of Tom Odell before closing in 2014. She later launched Bank Holiday Records, with Celeste among its early signings.

Allen began hosting the BBC Sounds podcast Miss Me? with Miquita Oliver in 2024. She has also contributed vocals to recordings by other artists, including Pink's 2013 single "True Love" and T-Pain's "5 O'Clock", which also features Wiz Khalifa.