Corinne Bailey Rae (born Corinne Bailey on 26 February 1979) is a Grammy-winning English singer and songwriter who released her eponymous debut album "Corinne Bailey Rae" in February 2006. Rae was named the number-one predicted breakthrough act of 2006 in an annual BBC poll of music critics. Rae was born in Leeds, West Yorkshire to a Kittitian father and an English mother, and she was the eldest of three daughters. She 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. ...show more

Corinne Bailey Rae (born Corinne Bailey on 26 February 1979) is a Grammy-winning English singer and songwriter who released her eponymous debut album "Corinne Bailey Rae" in February 2006. Rae was named the number-one predicted breakthrough act of 2006 in an annual BBC poll of music critics. Rae was born in Leeds, West Yorkshire to a Kittitian father and an English mother, and she was the eldest of three daughters. She 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". Rae later transferred to a Baptist church, where the choir would sing traditional hymns, and Primal Scream tunes. "We changed the words though", Rae states on her website.

"We didn't want to offend the regular churchgoers, now did we?" Performing in church broadened Rae's musical horizons, and her love affair with making music was solidified after a local youth leader offered to buy her an electric guitar. In her mid-teens, she became obsessed with rock legends Led Zeppelin, "I loved that band during my teens; I wanted, somehow, to follow in their footsteps, and to create music of my own". Rae formed an all-female 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. ...show less