Who is Corinne Jacqueline Bailey?

Who is Corinne Jacqueline Bailey? The entertainment and music world knows Corinne Bailey Rae as a British singer-songwriter and guitarist from Leeds, who released her debut album Corinne Bailey Rae in February 2006. Bailey Rae was named the number-one predicted breakthrough act of 2006 in an annual BBC poll of music critics, Sound of 2006.[2] She became the fourth female British act in history to have her first album debut at number one. Bailey Rae was nominated for Grammy Awards and BRIT Awards, and has won two MOBO Awards and an Album Of The Year Grammy and Best Contemporary Jazz Album for her work as a featured artist in Herbie Hancock's River: The Joni Letters. Bailey Rae was married to fellow musician Jason Rae from 2001 until his death in 2008. Bailey Rae released her second album, The Sea on 26 January 2010, after a hiatus of nearly two years. Tracks on the new album have been produced by Steve Brown and also Steve Chrisanthou (who produced her debut album in 2006).[3][4] She has sold 4 million albums, with her two albums combined, worldwide. Bailey Rae was nominated for the 2010 Mercury Prize for Album of the Year for The Sea.

Early years

Childhood

Bailey Rae was  born on 26 February 1979  in Leeds to a black Kittitian father and a white English mother as the oldest of three daughters, including Candice Bailey and actress Rhea Bailey.
Bailey Rae began her musical career at school where she studied classical violin before she turned her attention to singing: "I started off singing in church, I suppose, but people think it must have been a gospel church because of the whole, you know, black assumption," she says in reference to her multiracial background. "But it wasn't gospel at all, it was just your regular Brethren church, very middle-class, where we would sing these harmonies every Sunday. It was always my favourite part of the service, the singing."[5]
Bailey Rae later transferred to a Baptist church, where the youth leader was coaching rock bands in the local high school. The church young people wrote their own worship songs and sang covers by the likes of Primal Scream. "We changed the words though," Bailey Rae states on her website. "We didn't want to offend the regular churchgoers, now did we?"[5] She recorded two albums with the youth group under the name of Revive.[6]
Performing in church broadened Bailey Rae's musical horizons, and her love for making music was solidified after the church youth leader offered to lend her the money for her first guitar. In her mid-teens, she was highly influenced by Lenny Kravitz, and through him she discovered rock legends Jimi Hendrix and Led Zeppelin. "I loved that band during my teens; I wanted, somehow, to follow in their footsteps, and to create music of my own."[5]
Bailey Rae formed an all-female (barring the drummer) indie group called Helen, which was inspired by similar acts such as Veruca Salt and L7. "It was the first time I'd seen women with guitars. They were kinda sexy—but feminist. I wanted to be like that, at the front of something."[7]
The group raised eyebrows on several fronts; in the white male-dominated world of indie music, they were a mainly female group, fronted by a mixed-race singer from Leeds. The moniker "Helen" also drew attention, albeit for not all the right reasons: "What can I say? We were 15 years old, and thought that Helen was a cheeky, indie kind of thing to do. It seemed clever at the time. Admittedly, it seems less so now".[5]
The group played many gigs around Leeds and eventually became the first indie act to be signed to heavy metal record label Roadrunner Records, home to acts such as Slipknot, in 1995. The venture proved to be short-lived however after the bassist became pregnant and the group disbanded. "[Was I] Disappointed? I was gutted! I had no idea what to do next".

University life

Bailey Rae studied English Literature at the University of Leeds where she graduated in 2000. While at University, she began work as a hat check girl on an evening in her local jazz club. Permitted to sing on stage with the jazz band when business was slow, it was there that she discovered a different type of music that sent her on a different musical path: "I kept hearing this jazz and soul stuff and I realized I loved music too".[citation needed]

Marriage


Corinne Bailey met Scottish-born Jason Rae in a jazz club in Leeds where she had a part-time job as a cloakroom attendant;[8] they got married in 2001 at age of twenty-two and Bailey changed her name to Bailey Rae.[9] Jason Rae (born in 1976), a musician, played saxophone for the eight-piece group called Haggis Horns,[10] and had recorded with Bailey Rae The New Mastersounds and Martina Topley-Bird (Quixotic) albums. On 22 March 2008, Jason Rae was found dead in a flat in the Hyde Park area of Leeds.[11][12][13][14] In December 2008, Leeds Coroner's Court gave a verdict of death by misadventure, and stated that Rae died of an accidental overdose of methadone and alcohol.[15] Her current partner is guitarist John McCum

Music career

2004–2008: Career music development

In the three years after she got married, Bailey Rae began working on solo material—this time steering away from her indie past and embarking on a more "soulful" path. She collaborated with Leeds-based funk group The New Mastersounds on the track "Your Love Is Mine," featured on their 2003 album Be Yourself, released via One Note Records. The following year she again worked with another Leeds-based group, Homecut Directive, on the song "Come the Revolution", which was the first single from the group's debut album.



In 2004, Bailey Rae got a breakthrough when she was signed by Global Talent Publishing and then approached by Craig David's mentor Mark Hill, from the duo The Artful Dodger, to appear on his new album better luck next time under his new alias, The stiX. The resulting collaboration, "Young and Foolish", was released in April 2005 and brought Bailey Rae to the attention of the major record label bosses.
Bailey Rae released her debut single, "Like a Star", in November 2005 and her first album, Corinne Bailey Rae, in February 2006. It debuted at number one in the UK and entered the top ten of the U.S.Billboard 200, peaking at number four and spending 71 weeks in the chart from 2006 to 2008. According to Nielsen SoundScan, the album sold 1.9 million copies in the United States alone.[16]
The lead single, "Like a Star" became a hit in the UK and U.S., and sold over 327,000 U.S. downloads. Follow-up single "Put Your Records On", her biggest hit to date, rose to number two in the UK, and sold over 945,000 U.S. downloads. "Trouble Sleeping" made the top forty, and "I'd Like To", the top seventy. In the middle of 2006, Bailey Rae embarked on her first international tour through Europe and North America with singer R&B, John Legend, playing 55 shows including the festivals Rock in Rio Lisboa 2 and Live Earth. In early April 2006, Corinne Bailey Rae was certified 2x platinum by the BPI[17] and platinum by the RIAA.[18] In September 2006, Bailey Rae scooped two awards at the UK's MOBO Awards: "Best UK Newcomer" and "Best UK Female". Bailey Rae recorded a live session at Abbey Road Studios in July 2006 for Live from Abbey Road.
Bailey Rae also received three nominations at the 2007 Grammy Awards: Record of the Year, Song of the Year (both for "Put Your Records On"), and Best New Artist. During the ceremony, she performed "Like a Star" and joined John Legend and John Mayer in a collaborative performance, providing accompanying vocals to Legend's "Coming Home" and Mayer's "Gravity".[19] The following year Like a Star was nominated for a Grammy for Song of the Year. Bailey Rae won in two categories for Album of the Year and Best Contemporary Jazz Album for her collaboration on River: The Joni Letters. During the American and European tour Bailey Rae recorded her first DVD with the title Live in London & New York. The DVD was filmed in London and the bonus CD was recorded in New York. Several songs from Bailey Rae's debut album comprise the soundtrack to the 2006 film Venus. Bailey Rae is co-credited by the filmmakers for the score.

2009–present: The Sea

Corinne Bailey Rae released her new album titled The Sea on 26 January 2010.[20] The album was released after a gap of two years following the death of her husband Jason Rae.[21] Lead single I'd Do It All Again premiered on 25 November in 2009 on the Jools Holland program Later.[22] Follow up single "Closer" will be added to Smooth Jazz Radio on 25 January, Urban AC on 1 February and AC radio in late February. The album's second single "Paris Nights and New York Mornings" will go to Triple A radio on 15 February.[23][24] After the release of the second album, Corinne went on a national tour. Her london concert at Somerset House in the summer was an instant sold-out and she returned to London again in October to perform in Royal Festival Hall with Pete Lawrie as a supporting act.

Other activities and appearances

Discography





Studio albums
   

 


    DVDs
    Concert tours

    Awards and nominations

    Grammy Awards

    The Grammy Awards are awarded annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Bailey Rae has won two awards from four nominations, including Album of the Year; she featured artist, Best New Artist, Record of the Year, Song of the Year.
    Year Nominated work Award Result
    2007 Corinne Bailey Rae Best New Artist Nominated
    "Put Your Records On"
    Record of the Year Nominated
    Song of the Year Nominated
    2008 River: The Joni Letters
    Album of the Year Won
    Best Contemporary Jazz Album Won
    "Like a Star" Song of the Year Nominated

    Others Awards and nominations

    Year Result Award Category Nominated Work
    2006 Nominated BET Awards BET J Cool Like Dat Award General
    Nominated MTV Europe Music Awards Best UK & Ireland Act General
    Nominated MTV Woodie Awards International Woodie (Favorite International Artist) General
    Nominated UK Festival Music Awards Best Urban Act General
    Nominated Premios 40 Principales Mejor Artista Nuevo Internacional General
    Nominated MOBO Awards Best Song Put Your Records On
    Won Best UK Female General
    Won Best UK Newcomer General
    Won MOJO Awards Best New Act General
    Won Q Awards Best New Act General
    2007 Nominated |rowspan="2"| BET Awards Best New Artist General
    Nominated Best Female R&B Artist General
    Nominated BRIT Award Best British Single Put Your Records On
    Nominated British Female Artist General
    Nominated British Breakthroug Act General
    Nominated Teen Choice Awards Best Female Breakthrough Artist General
    Nominated ECHO Awards International Newcomer of the Year General
    Nominated Ivor Novello Awards PRS Most Performed Work General
    Nominated MOBO Awards Best UK Female General
    Nominated Image Awards Outstanding Album Corinne Bailey Rae
    Nominated Outstanding Female Artist General
    Won Outstanding New Artist General
    Won Music Week Awards International Marketing Campaign of the Year General
    Won European Border Breakers Awards United Kingdom General]
    Won Soul and Jazz Awards Album of the Year Corinne Bailey Rae
    Won Best Album of Soul
    Won Best New Artist of the Year Corinne Bailey Rae
    2008 Won ASCAP Awards Song of the Year Put Your Records On
    Nominated Urban Music Awards Best Neo Soul Act General
    Won BMI Pop Awards Song of the Year Put Your Records On
    2010 Nominated Soul and Jazz Awards Album of the Year The Sea
    Won Best Album R&B of the Year
    Nominated Artist of the Year Corinne Bailey Rae
    Won Best Artist of the Year Act Soul/R&B
    Nominated Mercury Prize Album of the Year The Sea

    Kickers Urban Music Awards 2007

    • Best Neo-Soul Act – Nominated
    • Best Crossover Chart Act – Nominated

    MOBO Awards 2010

    • Best UK R&B/Soul Act - Nominated

    American Smooth Jazz Awards 2010

    • Best Female Act - Pendent















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