Corinne Bailey Rae's Inspiration: A Remarkable Blend of Mary Poppins and Angela Davis

2023-09-23 16:35:03

Corinne Bailey Rae: 'If I could I'd clone my mum – she's a combination of Mary Poppins and Angela Davis'

Born in Leeds, Corinne Bailey Rae, 44, studied English at the University of Leeds. In 2006, she released her self-titled debut album, which became a UK No 1 and gave her the global hits Put Your Records On and Like a Star. She has two Grammy awards and two Mobos. Black Rainbows, her first album of new material in seven years, has just been released. She is married with two children and lives in Leeds.

Earliest Memory: A Blinding Sun and a Soft Toy Penguin

What is your earliest memory? Being in our flat on the fifth floor with my mum and dad. We could look out and see this big garden. I remember the sun being blinding, and my dad’s friend arriving with a soft toy penguin in a plastic bag for me.

Guiltiest Pleasure: Reading The World of Interiors in the Bath

What is your guiltiest pleasure? Lying in the bath reading The World of Interiors.

The Admirable Mother: Making the Best of Everything

Which living person do you most admire, and why? My mum, for the way that she brought up her three children and managed to make her money work. She worked as a cleaner for all these families we went to church with. She would cycle there with my little sister on the back of her bike – we didn’t have a car. She had an amazing mind for planning and organising so that we got to do ballet, we went to Brownies.

Embarrassing Moment: Boys Reading a Romantic Short Story

What was your most embarrassing moment? I remember being a teenager and writing this romantic short story in the style of the Brontës on a computer and I didn’t realise that the person whose computer it was could just print it out. A group of boys had a couple of pages and they were all reading it.

Unhappiness: Feeling Powerless

What makes you unhappy? Feeling powerless.

Shameful Unread Book: Lord of the Rings

Which book are you ashamed not to have read? I’m not really ashamed, but I haven’t read Lord of the Rings.

Fame or Anonymity: Choosing Fame for Connection

Would you choose fame or anonymity? Fame. I write songs and sometimes people stop me on the street and talk to me about the songs and what they mean to them, and to do that people have to know that it’s you.

Celebrity Crush: Marvin Gaye

Who is your celebrity crush? Marvin Gaye.

Worst Job: Scraping Fat in a Cafe

What is the worst job you’ve done? I worked in a cafe, which I loved, but when it was quiet we had to scrape the fat out from between the tiles on the floor with a butter knife.

If Given the Chance: No Changes in the Past

If you could edit your past, what would you change? I wouldn’t change anything. When I was 29, my first husband died, so I learned a new way of thinking about life, which is: there are many things that you can’t control.

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The Emotional Moment: A Song of Loss

When did you last cry, and why? Listening to a song that my brother-in-law – the brother of Jason, my first husband – wrote, about how hard it was to live without his brother.

Sex Life: Seizing the Opportunities

How often do you have sex? When we get the opportunity to be away from our children and our work.

A Brush with Death: Finding Life After Loss

What is the closest you’ve come to death? When my first husband died, because it felt like my life was over, and it was challenging to keep in life at the time.

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Improving Life: Cloning a Combination of Mary Poppins and Angela Davis

What single thing would improve the quality of your life? My mum looks after our kids all the time, but on the very few weeks she takes time off, doing it all is a big juggle. My mum is a combination of Mary Poppins and Angela Davis, so I’d clone her.

Sleepless Nights: Climate Change, Safety, and Money

What keeps you awake at night? All the big ones – climate change, safety for our children, money.

A Secret Mean Streak

Tell us a secret: I am secretly a bit mean. People think I’m really nice – I remember being in a lift and someone said to me, “I bet you’ve never done a mean thing in your whole life.” My closest friends know that I can be quite acerbic, and in my private world I’m very opinionated.

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