Corinne Bailey Rae Bio: Husband, Age, Net Worth, Songs, Albums, Height, Parents, Kids

Corinne Bailey Rae (born Corinne Jacqueline Bailey on February 26, 1979) is a Grammy Award-winning English singer and songwriter from Leeds, West Yorkshire. She is 47 years old.

Born to a Kittitian father and an English mother, she is the eldest of three daughters. She grew up attending a Brethren church and began her musical journey singing in the congregation.

At school, she studied classical violin before later discovering jazz and soul while working at a local jazz club during her time at the University of Leeds, where she read English Literature.

Corinne Bailey Rae rose to international fame in 2006 with her self-titled debut album, which entered the UK charts at number one, making her only the fourth British female solo act in history to achieve that feat.

The album, which produced global hits “Put Your Records On” and “Like a Star,” sold over four million copies worldwide. She had been named the top predicted breakthrough act of 2006 in the BBC’s annual critics poll before the album even landed.

Her accolades include two Grammy Awards, two MOBO Awards, and nominations across the BRIT Awards and BET Awards. Her first Grammy came in 2008 for Album of the Year as a featured artist on Herbie Hancock’s River: The Joni Letters. Her second album, The Sea (2010), earned a Mercury Music Prize nomination, and her Is This Love EP later won a Grammy for Best R&B Performance.

In her personal life, Corinne was previously married to saxophonist Jason Rae, whom she met at a Leeds jazz club and wed in 2001. He died in March 2008. She later married Steve Brown in 2013, and the couple have two children together.

Corinne Bailey Rae
Wiki Facts & About Data
Real Name:	Corinne Jacqueline Bailey Rae
Stage Name:	Corinne Bailey Rae
Born:	February 26, 1979 (age 47 years old)
Place of Birth:	Leeds, West Yorkshire, England
State Of Origin:	West Yorkshire, England
Nationality:	British
Ethnicity:	Afro-Caribbean and White British
Education:	Allerton High School, Leeds; University of Leeds (BA English Language and Literature, 2000)
Height:	5 feet 3 inches (161 cm)
Religion:	Christian
Parents:	Mr. Bailey (father, from Saint Kitts and Nevis) and Linda Bailey (mother, English)
Siblings:	Candice Bailey, Rhea Bailey
Spouse:	Jason Rae (m. 2001, died 2008); Steve Brown (m. 2013, present)
Relationship:	Jason Rae, Steve Brown
Children:	Two daughters (names not publicly confirmed)
Occupation:	Singer, Songwriter, Guitarist, Musician
Net Worth:	$4 million-$8 million

Early Life & Education

Corinne Bailey Rae was born Corinne Jacqueline Bailey on February 26, 1979, in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. She is 47 years old. Her zodiac sign is Pisces.

Her father is from Saint Kitts and Nevis, and her mother, Linda Bailey, is English. Her parents separated when she was a child. As a person of mixed Caribbean and English heritage, Corinne Bailey Rae is of Afro-Caribbean and White British ethnicity. She is Christian by faith.

Corinne is the eldest of three daughters. Her siblings are Candice Bailey and actress Rhea Bailey.

Growing up in a multicultural household in Leeds exposed Corinne to a wide range of cultural and musical influences from an early age. She began her musical career at school, where she studied classical violin before turning her attention to singing.

She recalled starting off singing in church, noting that people often assumed it was a gospel church given her multiracial background, but clarified: “It wasn’t gospel at all, it was just your regular Brethren church, very middle-class, where we would sing these harmonies every Sunday.” She later transferred to a Baptist church, where the youth leader coached rock bands and helped shape her early creative instincts.

Corinne attended Allerton High School in Leeds, where she first studied classical violin and later focused on singing. The church youth leader even helped her acquire her first guitar. As a teenager, she co-founded an all-female indie rock band called Helen, drawing inspiration from acts like L7 and Belly, as well as rock icons such as Lenny Kravitz, Jimi Hendrix, and Led Zeppelin.

After the band’s dissolution, Corinne went on to attend the University of Leeds, where she studied an English Literature degree. While at university, she worked as a hat check girl at a local jazz club, and it was there, where she was permitted to sing with the jazz band on slow evenings, that she discovered soul and jazz music and set off on an entirely new musical path. She earned her degree in English Language and Literature in 2000.

Career

Corinne Bailey Rae’s professional music journey began long before global audiences discovered her, rooted in years of local gigging, genre-hopping, and quiet persistence through the Leeds music circuit.

Her first serious foray into performance came through an all-female indie rock group she co-founded in her mid-teens called Helen. Inspired by acts such as Veruca Salt and L7, Corinne later explained her reasoning: “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.”

The group played numerous gigs around Leeds, including a memorable performance at Joseph’s Well alongside Leeds-based band Swift. Despite being unable to attract UK label interest, Helen became the first indie act signed to heavy metal label Roadrunner Records in 1995. The deal never materialised, however, as the band dissolved after the bassist became pregnant. It was a crushing blow, but it redirected Corinne toward a path that would ultimately suit her far better.

After graduating from the University of Leeds in 2000 and immersing herself in the jazz and soul sounds she had discovered while working at a local club, Corinne began building a solo identity. She collaborated with Leeds-based funk group the New Mastersounds on the track “Your Love Is Mine,” featured on their 2003 album Be Yourself. The following year, she worked with another Leeds outfit, Homecut Directive, on “Come the Revolution,” the lead single from that group’s debut record.

In 2004, Corinne secured a breakthrough when she signed with Global Talent Publishing and was approached by Craig David’s mentor, Mark Hill of The Artful Dodger, to appear on his album better luck next time under his alias The stiX. Their collaboration, “Young and Foolish,” released in April 2005, brought her to the attention of major label executives. EMI Records signed her to a solo recording contract in 2005, and she released the single “Like a Star” that autumn, which became an instant UK hit.

Her self-titled debut album, Corinne Bailey Rae, arrived on February 24, 2006. It debuted at the top of the UK Albums Chart and reached the top five in Ireland and the United States, with the top ten in Canada, New Zealand, and Switzerland.

The album was certified triple platinum by the British Phonographic Industry and platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America, selling over four million copies worldwide. In the United States alone, the album sold 1.9 million copies according to Nielsen SoundScan, spending 71 weeks on the Billboard 200 and peaking at number four. The record produced four singles: “Like a Star,” “Put Your Records On,” “Trouble Sleeping,” and “I’d Like To.”

In September 2006, Corinne claimed two awards at the UK MOBO Awards, taking home Best UK Newcomer and Best UK Female. She also received three Grammy nominations at the 2007 ceremony, for Record of the Year and Song of the Year (both for “Put Your Records On”) and Best New Artist.

Her profile rose even further in 2008 when she contributed to jazz legend Herbie Hancock’s album River: The Joni Letters, which won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year, giving Corinne her first Grammy as a featured artist.

After the death of her first husband, Jason Rae, in 2008, she took an extended hiatus, channelling her grief into new material. Her second studio album, The Sea, was released on January 20, 2010, produced with the involvement of Questlove, James Poyser, and Steve Brown, among others. The record earned a Mercury Prize nomination and landed in the top ten on both sides of the Atlantic.

Her third album, The Heart Speaks in Whispers, followed on May 13, 2016, via Virgin EMI Records. It debuted at number three on Billboard’s Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and drew strong critical notices, with Pitchfork awarding it a 7.6 and Exclaim! scoring it 8 out of 10.

Her fourth studio album, Black Rainbows, released in 2023, was inspired by her time exploring the Stony Island Arts Bank in Chicago, run by artist and philanthropist Theaster Gates. The album saw her draw on jazz, house music, indie rock, and punk, responding to stories of Black lives and Black excellence preserved in the Arts Bank’s archives. Critics praised it as the most adventurous work of her career, with musicOMH calling it the best album she had ever made and one of the albums of 2023.

Beyond her own recordings, Corinne Bailey Rae’s film and television work includes the theme to Stan Lee’s Lucky Man on SKY1, her cover of “The Scientist” for the Fifty Shades Darker soundtrack, which charted globally, and her song “New to Me,” performed by Tracee Ellis Ross in the 2020 film The High Note. Her list of collaborators spans Mary J. Blige, Al Green, Paul McCartney, RZA, Tyler the Creator, Stevie Wonder, Pharrell Williams, Questlove, and many more.

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• Threads: Corinne Bailey Rae (@corinnebaileyrae)

Personal Life

Corinne Bailey Rae was born on February 26, 1979, making her 47 years old. She stands at 5 feet 3 inches (161 cm) tall.

Corinne met saxophone player Jason Rae while working as a hat check girl at a local jazz club in Leeds during her university years. She married him in 2001, adding his surname to her own, explaining: “I was Corinne Bailey. I added on Rae, my husband’s name, when I got married. There’s no hyphen; stops it being posh!” Jason played saxophone for the eight-piece group Haggis Horns.

He died in March 2008 at the age of 31 from an accidental overdose of methadone and alcohol. Corinne responded with a statement at the time: “My husband is my first and only true love. He is the most beautiful and complex person I have ever known. He is utterly irreplaceable.” She processed the grief through her second album, The Sea.

Music led her to her current husband, longtime friend and producer Steve Brown. She described falling for him as gradual: “It’s so funny when you know someone already. It was very gradual falling in love with him, like the volume being turned up.” They married in 2013.

Steve Brown is a British jazz musician, producer, and recording engineer known for his analogue production style. He and Corinne have two daughters together, born around 2017 and 2019, and the family is based in Leeds. Because both parents tour regularly, they bring their children on the road, describing the arrangement as a “travelling circus.”

Corinne Bailey Rae’s publicly confirmed romantic history consists only of her two marriages. No other relationships have been disclosed.

Net Worth

Corinne Bailey Rae‘s net worth is estimated at $4 million to $8 million, built primarily through two decades of recording and touring.

Her wealth stems from numerous album releases, with her self-titled 2006 debut alone selling over 4 million copies worldwide and charting in the top five in the UK, the US, and Ireland. Album sales, streaming revenue, live performances, and endorsements are her main income sources.

Her Grammy wins and Mercury Prize nominations have kept her a commercially viable and critically respected artist across four studio albums, sustaining her earning power well beyond the peak of her initial breakthrough.

Discography

Studio Albums

• Corinne Bailey Rae (2006)
• The Sea (2010)
• The Heart Speaks in Whispers (2016)
• Black Rainbows (2023)

Live Albums

• Live in London & New York (2007)

EPs

• Like a Star (2005)
• The Love EP (2011)
• Is This Love (2012)
• Put Your Records On (2021)

Singles

• “Like a Star” (2005)
• “Put Your Records On” (2006)
• “Trouble Sleeping” (2006)
• “I’d Like To” (2007)
• “I’d Do It All Again” (2010)
• “Paris Nights/New York Mornings” (2010)
• “Closer” (2010)
• “Is This Love” (2011)
• “Tell Me” (2016)
• “Green Aphrodisiac” (2016)
• “Been to the Moon” (2016)
• “Autumn Leaves” (2022)
• “SilverCane” (2023)

Selected Featured Credits

• “Young and Foolish” with The stiX (2005)
• “River: The Joni Letters” with Herbie Hancock (2007)
• “The Scientist” on the Fifty Shades Darker soundtrack (2017)
• “New to Me” performed by Tracee Ellis Ross in The High Note (2020)

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