Raye

• 1. Introduction

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  At the 2024 Brit Awards, the British singer-songwriter Raye won six trophies in one night, more than any artist had ever taken home from a single ceremony. One of them made her the first woman to be named Songwriter of the Year. Raye was born Rachel Agatha Keen on the 24th of October 1997, and she works as a singer, a songwriter and a record producer. Her music mixes jazz, pop, dance, R&B and soul. Her lyrics draw on her own experiences and on the issues of her time. Yet the road to that night included a bitter break with her record label. How does a teenager who posts songs on SoundCloud become one of Britain's most decorated songwriters? And what did she have to walk away from, and win back, to get there?

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• 2. Church And Piano

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  Rachel Agatha Keen was born in Tooting, London, to a Ghanaian-Swiss mother who works in mental health and an English father from Yorkshire. She has three younger sisters. Two of them, Absolutely and Amma, are singer-songwriters, and the third is called Katelyn.

  Music filled the family's church. Her mother sang in the choir there, and her father was the musical director. The family later moved to Croydon, where Raye grew up and attended Woodcote High School.

  At the age of eight, Raye first showed an interest in becoming a recording artist. Her father taught her to play the piano, and she wrote her first song for a concert in Year 6. She performed it at Southwark Cathedral.

  At 14, she was chosen to attend the BRIT School. She studied there for two years and then dropped out, because she felt "confined". Most of her teenage weekends went to studio sessions, where she learned how to write songs as a professional. Those sessions were about to produce a seven-track EP that she would put online herself.

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• 3. From SoundCloud To Polydor

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  In November 2014, at the age of 17, Raye uploaded her debut EP, Welcome to the Winter, to SoundCloud with no label behind her. She wrote and recorded all seven tracks and co-produced them as well. Olly Alexander, then the lead singer of Years & Years, found the single "Hotbox" through the music website Hype Machine. He sent it to Polydor Records, the label he was signed to, and Raye signed with them soon afterwards.

  In 2015, she released the single "Alien" featuring Avelino. She also recorded a cover of the Years & Years song "Shine". She then opened for the band at Shepherd's Bush Empire.

  Her second EP, Second, came out through Polydor in August 2016. She co-wrote its single "I, U, Us" with the singers Noonie Bao and Charli XCX, and Charli XCX directed the video. That same year, Raye was featured on two hits. Jonas Blue's "By Your Side" reached number fifteen on the UK singles chart and became her first chart entry. Jax Jones's "You Don't Know Me" climbed to number three. Months later she opened for Jess Glynne on tour.

  In February 2017, Raye played the London club XOYO and earned positive reviews. That month she also appeared in the video for Stormzy's "Big For Your Boots". She worked on Charli XCX's "After the Afterparty" and joined its "VIP" remix with Rita Ora and the rapper Stefflon Don. She also featured on "Dreamer" from Charli XCX's project Number 1 Angel. Her own singles "The Line" and "Decline" followed in 2017, and the second one featured Mr Eazi.

  Her third EP, Side Tape, premiered in 2018 after the single "Cigarette", which features Stefflon Don and Mabel. She also earned writing credits on songs by the girl group Little Mix and the singer John Legend. In June, she played the Summertime Ball in London, held by the radio network Capital. She supported Rita Ora and Halsey on their tours and then began her first headlining tour of her own. A song she co-wrote for a Beyoncé project was only a year away.

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• 4. The Label Standoff

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  In July 2019, Beyoncé released the soundtrack album The Lion King: The Gift, which included the track "Bigger", co-written by Raye. BBC News called it arguably her biggest songwriting credit at that point.

  Earlier that year she had featured on Odunsi the Engine's "Tipsy" in March. In May she appeared on David Guetta's "Stay (Don't Go Away)", which gave her a first number one on the US Dance/Mix Show Airplay chart. She supported the singer Khalid on his Free Spirit World Tour. Between August and November, she released the solo single "Love Me Again" and a collaboration with Guetta and the producer Morten, "Make It to Heaven".

  The start of 2020 brought "Tequila" with Jax Jones and the DJ Martin Solveig, and "Secrets" with the DJ Regard. "Secrets" peaked at number six in the United Kingdom and went platinum with the British Phonographic Industry. In July she put out "Natalie Don't", which led into her project Euphoric Sad Songs in November. It gathered earlier singles with new ones, "Love of Your Life" and "Regardless", the latter made with Rudimental. The project followed the stages of grief. Rachel Aroesti of The Guardian gave it a mixed review. She said it lived up to its title but lacked personality.

  In February 2021, Raye teamed with Guetta and the DJ Joel Corry on "Bed". It reached number three in the UK, her highest peak as a lead artist at the time, and topped the US Dance/Mix Show Airplay chart. She also co-wrote and co-produced "Let Them Know" for Mabel.

  In June 2021, Raye released "Call On Me", a song written for her sister and meant to lead off her debut studio album. Later that month she revealed that Polydor had been holding the album back for several years. Fellow artists rallied behind her. She then took a hiatus, and afterwards announced that she had left the label to work independently. She closed the year on her Euphoric Sad Show tour of the UK and Ireland.

  By her own later account, the label had pushed her toward "chart-friendly dance tracks". She struggled with her musical identity, and she now feels her music from those years was not consistent. Her answer came in 2022, in the form of a new kind of partner.

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• 5. Independence And Acclaim

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  In mid-2022, Raye signed with the distribution company Human Re Sources, and she began to own her master recordings. On the 30th of June she released "Hard Out Here", her first independent single, with a video showing the early stages of an artist's life. "Black Mascara" followed in August. In October came a dual single, "Escapism" featuring the rapper 070 Shake alongside "The Thrill is Gone". All of these songs belonged to her debut studio album, My 21st Century Blues, released in February 2023. It peaked at number two on the UK Albums Chart and earned critical acclaim.

  "Escapism" reached number one in the UK three months after it first appeared. It was her first entry on the US Billboard Hot 100 and her first top-ten entry on the Billboard Global 200. By the end of 2023, the album had sold more than 60,000 copies in the UK. Billboard's Kyle Denis wrote that Raye gained "not just a successful album era, but also a devoted fan base and solidified career".

  A mini tour called The Story So Far gave her first headlining shows in Europe and North America. The My 21st Century Blues Tour then ran from February 2023 to February 2024. During 2023 she also opened for Lewis Capaldi in the UK, Kali Uchis in North America and SZA in Europe. She appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live! and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, and she played the Glastonbury Festival.

  "Prada", a collaboration with Cassö and D-Block Europe, reached number two in the UK. It spent 31 weeks at the top of the UK Dance Singles Chart and later went triple platinum. In October 2023 she released her first live album, My 21st Century Symphony (Live at the Royal Albert Hall). She recorded it with the Heritage Orchestra and the Flames Collective.

  At the Brit Awards in 2024, Raye performed a medley of her songs. She was among the songwriters on "Riiverdance" from Beyoncé's country-inspired album Cowboy Carter. On the 6th of April 2024 she was the musical guest on Saturday Night Live, singing "Escapism" and "Worth It". She also previewed an unreleased track, which became the three-act single "Genesis" on the 7th of June.

  On the 25th of May, she played her first festival headline slot at BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend in Luton. In August she opened for Taylor Swift's Eras Tour at Wembley Stadium. She recorded "Moi" with the rapper Central Cee, with both artists singing and rapping in English and French. On the 13th of September she surprise-released Live at Montreux Jazz Festival, with seven tracks that included a cover of James Brown's 1966 song "It's a Man's Man's Man's World". Months later she revealed that her car had been stolen, with finished lyrics for her second album inside it.

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• 6. A Second Album

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  In February 2025, Raye sang "Oscar Winning Tears" at the 67th Annual Grammy Awards, as part of a medley by the Best New Artist nominees. That month she also featured with Doja Cat on Lisa's single "Born Again". At the Academy Awards in 2025, she performed Adele's "Skyfall" in a medley honouring the James Bond films. In June she premiered "Suzanne", made with Mark Ronson for a music program led by the watch brand Audemars Piguet.

  Her songwriting for others continued through 2025. She co-wrote four tracks on Halle Bailey's album Love?... or Something Like It. She co-wrote and co-produced tracks on Jade Thirlwall's album That's Showbiz Baby.

  At Glastonbury in June 2025, Raye debuted two new tracks, including "Where Is My Husband!". It was released on the 19th of September 2025 and became her second UK number one. It is also her highest-charting release on both the Billboard Global 200 and the Billboard Hot 100. She followed it with "Nightingale Lane" on the 27th of February 2026. Then came "Click Clack Symphony", featuring the composer Hans Zimmer, on the 20th of March 2026. Both reached the UK top twenty.

  All three singles appeared on her second studio album, This Music May Contain Hope, released on the 27th of March 2026. Critics praised it, and it became her first album to top the UK Albums Chart. To support it she played 51 shows across Europe and North America on This Tour May Contain New Music, from January to May 2026. She was also set to open for Bruno Mars's the Romantic Tour from August to October 2026.

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• 7. Sound And Subject

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  Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong were how Raye first found jazz, which she counts among her favourite genres. She grew up on Jill Scott, James Brown, Nina Simone and Alicia Keys. Her father's taste added Stevie Wonder and Wet Wet Wet. She has also named Beyoncé, Lauryn Hill, Dinah Washington, Sarah Vaughan, Etta James, Billie Holiday, Lady Gaga and Christina Aguilera as influences.

  Comparisons to Amy Winehouse have followed her vocals and style. Raye admires Winehouse and called her artistry "irreplaceable and inimitable". She answers the comparisons in her song "I Will Overcome", and she sees the insults tied to them as "that same evil that Amy faced."

  Her first EP, Welcome to the Winter, leaned on R&B and electronic music. "Hotbox" took cues from progressive R&B artists such as Jhené Aiko and Frank Ocean. It also describes her first use of marijuana, and she has written about similar encounters since.

  My 21st Century Blues draws on pop, soul, R&B, blues, hip-hop, gospel and doo-wop. In one of the three parts of "Genesis", she blends those genres and adds a big band. This Music May Contain Hope reaches wider still. It takes in blues, gospel, R&B, hip-hop, jazz-pop, swing jazz, retro-soul, neo-soul, funk, dubstep, house music and chamber music.

  The lyrics are as frank as the sound is broad. My 21st Century Blues returns to drug addictions, self-insecurities and sexual assault. On "Ice Cream Man", Raye sings about being abused by a record producer when she was a teenager. On "Body Dysmorphia", she describes her relationship with disordered eating. "Genesis" takes on social media and global issues, and it was inspired by a line from Nina Simone: "It is an artist's duty to reflect the times".

  The second album is a concept album about life, death, love, heartbreak and infidelity. It also covers resilience, the value of family, online criticism and overcoming insecurities. On stage, Raye often performs barefoot.

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• 8. Trophies And Tributes

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  Raye has won seven Brit Awards in all, along with four Global Awards and two Ivor Novello Awards. She has two MTV Europe Music Awards, and one of them was shared as part of Artists for Grenfell. A South Bank Sky Arts Award and a MOBO Award sit beside them. She was also one of the first recipients of the Brits Billion Award.

  In 2019, BMI gave her a London Award for her "groundbreaking artistry, creative vision and impact on the future of music". Forbes placed her on its 30 Under 30 list for Europe in 2023. The BBC had listed her on Sound of 2017 and included her on its 100 Women list for 2024. Harper's Bazaar named her Musician of the Year at its 2024 Woman of the Year event.

  The nominations are just as notable. She was nominated for three Grammy Awards at the 67th ceremony, including Best New Artist and Songwriter of the Year, Non-Classical. My 21st Century Blues was a Mercury Prize nominee. "Genesis" earned an Ivor Novello nomination for Best Song Musically and Lyrically.

  In 2026, the Songwriters Hall of Fame gave her the Hal David Starlight Award. The Recording Academy gave her the Harry Belafonte Best Song for Social Change Award for her songwriting on "Ice Cream Man". "Where Is My Husband!" was nominated for Song of the Year at the Brit Awards and for Best Vocal Performance at the American Music Awards.

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