Corinne Bailey Rae

Corinne Bailey Rae is an award-winning contemporary R&B singer and songwriter with a wide-ranging sound rooted in pop, rock, and classic soul. Her 2006 eponymous debut soared to the top of the U.K. charts on the strength of the hit single “Put Your Records On,” while her neo-soul-leaning sophomore effort, 2010′s The Sea, received a Mercury Prize nomination. She took home the Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance for her 2011 cover of Bob Marley’s “Is This Love” and added ethereal folk-soul and funk to her repertoire on 2016′s acclaimed The Heart Speaks in Whispers. Bailey Rae called on all her sonic persuasions for 2023′s eclectic Black Rainbows, inspired by works curated by Theaster Gates at the Stony Island Arts Bank in Chicago.
Displaying an interest in music from an early age, Bailey Rae studied classical violin until she acquired an electric guitar in her early teens. Inspired by such ’90s alt-rock icons as L7, Veruca Salt, and Belly, Bailey Rae formed her first band, Helen. Despite developing a strong local following, the band ultimately folded and she enrolled at Leeds University to study English literature. While at school, a job at a jazz club inspired her more soul-oriented leanings and she began writing songs. Eventually, she scored a record deal with EMI and released her self-titled debut solo album in February 2006. It topped the U.K. album chart, pushed by the number two single “Put Your Records On,” and reached number four on the U.S. Billboard 200. Bailey Rae earned three Grammy nominations and was nominated for as many MOBOs, two of which — Best U.K. Female, Best U.K. Newcomer — she won. A year later, both an expanded edition of the album and the concert set Live in London & NY appeared, and she was featured on Herbie Hancock’s Grammy-winning River: The Joni Letters.
Corinne Bailey Rae’s second proper album, The Sea, was heavily affected by the death of her husband, saxophonist Jason Rae. Despite the traumatic events surrounding its recording, it translated into commercial success as another instant Top Ten hit in the U.K. and U.S. after its January 2010 release, and it was shortlisted for the Mercury Prize. Bailey Rae quickly returned early the next year with the considerably lighter The Love EP, a five-song set containing covers of songs originally recorded by the likes of Prince, Bob Marley, and Paul McCartney & Wings. Her version of Marley’s “Is This Love” won a Grammy in the category of Best R&B Performance. As she worked on her third proper album, Bailey Rae temporarily retreated from the spotlight and married longtime studio associate Steve Brown (aka SJ Brown) in 2013. In February 2016, “Been to the Moon,” a collaboration with King’s Paris and Amber Strother, heralded the funky, folk-soul-forward The Heart Speaks in Whispers, which arrived three months later. Primarily co-produced by Bailey Rae and Brown, the album peaked at number two on the R&B chart. One year later, Bailey Rae recorded a cover of Coldplay’s “The Scientist” for the Fifty Shades Darker soundtrack, and in 2019 she contributed a version of “Jersey Girl” to the Tom Waits tribute LP, Come On Up to the House: Women Sing Waits.
Early 2023 saw the release of the fiery, post-punk-leaning “New York Transit Queen,” the lead single from her long-gestating fourth album. Released later that September, Black Rainbows was inspired by the diverse artworks collected by social practice installation artist and professor Theaster Gates at Chicago’s Stony Island Arts Bank. Bailey Rae’s material was eclectic with other rockers and bare piano ballads alike, and “Put It Down,” a nine-minute piece developing from a searching ambient ballad into a cathartic house track. ~ Matt Collar & Andy Kellman