Corinne Bailey Rae is glad to be back ten years on from her 'crazy' debut

TEN years have passed since Corinne Bailey Rae released her debut and achieved instant worldwide success.

The Leeds singer-songwriter’s self-titled album went straight to number one in the UK, reached number four in America and sold four million copies.

Her single Put Your Records On sold almost a million in the States.

But she didn’t realise what was happening to her was special.

“I didn’t see it as a crazy time, I just thought that’s what happened when you put a record out,” she smiled.

“I remember being at EMI’s Christmas party and meeting the international marketing department and one of them said I would hate them by the same time the following year.

“At that point I was still doing interviews and work during the week and then getting to go home for the weekend – I didn’t realise I was soon going to be away for months at a time.

“I’d never gone abroad on family holidays, we couldn’t afford it. I didn’t go on a plane until I was 19.

“My first time in Paris and Canada and all of these wonderful places was because I was promoting my album, so it was a double joy for me.

“Going to New York and Los Angeles, and also getting to play concerts while I was there, was amazing.

“That whole time was incredible and set me up in my career to such an extent that people look out for my name now.

“I toured in America recently and a lot of people in the crowds were only around 20, which I wasn’t expecting. A lot of young people had been waiting to see me live for years.”

Second album, The Sea, came out in 2010, but by that point Corinne had suffered a tragedy.

Her husband Jason, who she had married in 2001, died in 2008 of an accidental overdose.

But she found love again with her long-time producer, Steve Brown, who she married three years ago.

All of a sudden the 37-year-old, whose sister Rhea stars as Caz Hammond in Coronation Street, was working with her producer and her husband.

“It didn’t really change things,” she continued. “We had been growing closer for a number of years but it was an amazing, magic thing that happened.

“We went from being friends to a new aspect of the relationship opening up and I wanted to give time to that and enjoy it.

“I was going from bitterness to sweetness, from darkness to light, and these were things I hadn’t felt in a long time. It was a whole new phase for me and the music was coming out as a result.”

Corinne also bought her own studio and found herself working whenever she wanted and in whatever way she pleased.

“I worked on the record for nearly four years. I spent a long time on it in Leeds and then I met this influential producer who was head of Capitol Records and he invited me out to LA.

“I was supposed to be there seven weeks and ended up staying seven months. I got to work with a lot of my heroes and it was a real adventure.”

Two more musical heroes she has worked with since going back on tour this year are Stevie Wonder and Lionel Richie.

She performed with Stevie in Hyde Park and was the support act for Lionel on his recent UK tour.

“I got to know Stevie 10 years ago and he’s incredible.

“He was a big supporter of my music when I first came out and I’ve met him many times since.

“I was at one of his shows in Colorado recently, in the crowd, when he asked me to come up on stage and sing with him.

“I met Lionel when I performed at an event in his honour and got to know him, then he invited me on tour. He was really kind.”

Corinne has been pleased by the reaction to her latest album, The Heart Speaks In Whispers, and is looking forward to her first headline UK tour in a long time.

“I’ve been round the world twice since the album came out but I’ve really missed playing the UK,” she added.

“There were some really good comments about the album, which I never take for granted, and it was nice to know I had been missed after such a long time away.”

Corinne Bailey Rae, Oran Mor, Glasgow, October 31

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