Lily Allen (Lily Rose Beatrice Allen) was born on May 2, 1985 is a British singer-songwriter best known for songs such as "Smile" and "LDN". She is the daughter of actor/musician Keith Allen and film producer Alison Owen.

Her single "Smile" reached number one on the UK singles charts in July 2006. In December 2006 her debut album Alright, Still was voted the third best album of the year by Mixmag.[2] In 2007 it was nominated for the award of Best British Album at the Brit Awards and for Best New Artist at the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards.

Allen met her first manager, George Lamb, when he saved her from several assailants and sent her home. Allen was rejected by several labels, which she attributed to her drinking and being the daughter of Keith Allen.

Lily eventually used her father's connections to get signed to Warner Music in 2002. When the executive who had signed her left, the label lost interest and she left without releasing the folk songs they had presented her.

Allen studied horticulture with the intent of becoming a florist but changed her mind and returned to music. She began writing songs, and her manager introduced her to production duo Future Cut in 2004. They worked in a small studio in the basement of an office building.

In 2005 Allen was signed to Regal Records; they gave her GB£25,000 to produce an album, though they were unable to provide much support for it due to their preoccupation with other releases such as Coldplay's X&Y and Gorillaz' Demon Days.