Rachel Agatha Keen, known professionally as Raye, is a British singer and songwriter. In 2016, she rose to prominence by featuring on the singles; “By Your Side” by Jonas Blue and “You Don’t Know Me” by Jax Jones, the latter peaking at number three on the UK Singles Chart and both being certified platinum or higher by the BPI. Raye was short-listed for the BBC Music Sound of… award for 2017 and was named in third place. Her debut mini-album, Euphoric Sad Songs was released in November 2020 and spawned in the UK top-10 single “Secrets” with Regard. In 2021, she was co-lead artist on the single “Bed” with musicians Joel Corry and David Guetta. In July 2021, Raye parted ways with her record label Polydor Records.
Occupation Singer, songwriter, Engineer
Years active 2014–present
Born October 24, 1997,age 26 years old and 5 months, Tooting, London, United Kingdom
Sun Sign Scorpio
Hair Color Dark Brown
Eye Color
Height 5 ft 8 in or 173 cm
Measurements 38-26-36 inches
Genre R&B
Intruments Vocals, piano
Early life
Rachel Agatha Keen was born in Tooting, London, to a Ghanaian–Swiss mother and an English father. She moved to Croydon, where she studied at Woodcote High School before being accepted to attend the BRIT School for two years before dropping out after she felt “confined…despite learning an extensive amount.”
Rachel has Ghanaian-Swiss ancestry on her mother’s side and English ancestry on her father’s side.
2014–2018: Welcome to the Winter, Breakthrough and EPs
On 11 December 2014, Raye released her debut extended play Welcome to the Winter. Raye released the singles “Flowers” and “Alien” on 7 February 2015 and 28 April 2015 respectively, the latter featuring London based rapper Avelino.
On 11 August 2016, Raye released her second extended play, Second. The EP was preceded by promotional singles “Distraction” and “Ambition”, the latter featuring rapper Stormzy. “I, U, Us” was released as the lead single from the EP on 14 October 2016. A video was released which was directed by British singer/songwriter Charli XCX. A live performance video for the song “Shhh” was released 17 November 2016. Raye was featured on Jonas Blue‘s single “By Your Side“. It was released on 28 October 2016 and peaked at number 15 on the UK Singles Chart. She also featured on Jax Jones‘ single “You Don’t Know Me“, released on 9 December 2016. The song, co-written by Raye herself, peaked at number three on the UK Singles Chart and has been certified double Platinum by the BPI.
On 9 February 2017, Raye performed her first headline concert at XOYO in Shoreditch, London. Raye was featured alongside Starrah on the track “Dreamer” from Charli XCX‘s Number 1 Angel mixtape, which was released on 10 March 2017. Stand-alone singles, “The Line” and “Sober (Stripped)” were released on 19 May 2017 and 4 August 2017 respectively. On 3 November 2017, Raye released “Decline” featuring Mr Eazi, which peaked at Number 15 on the UK Chart and has been certified Platinum in the same country.
On 22 February 2018, Raye released the single titled “Cigarette” with Mabel and Stefflon Don. The song peaked at Number 41 on the UK Chart and has been certified Silver by the BPI. In March 2018, Raye collaborated with Kojo Funds and released “Check” which peaked at Number 26 on the UK Chart and has been certified Gold in the United Kingdom. Both “Decline” and “Cigarette” would appear on Raye’s third extended play, titled Side Tape, which was released on 4 May 2018. A video for promotional single “Confidence” with Maleek Berry and Nana Rogues, was released 16 May 2018. Later in 2018, Raye released the stand-alone single titled, “Friends”, which peaked at Number 66 on the UK Chart. In September 2018, Raye supported Halsey on the European leg of the Hopeless Fountain Kingdom Tour. In October 2018, Raye embarked on her own headlining tour, visiting a number of cities around the UK and Ireland.
2019–2020: Euphoric Sad Songs
In February 2019, Raye was featured on the song, “Tipsy” by Odunsi. In April 2019, it was announced Raye would support Khalid on his Free Spirit World Tour in Autumn 2019, alongside Mabel. Raye collaborated with David Guetta on the single “Stay (Don’t Go Away)” which was released in May 2019 and peaked at Number 41 on the UK Chart. Raye was revealed to be a co-writer on the track “Bigger” sung by American singer Beyoncé, which was featured on the soundtrack album The Lion King: The Gift released on 19 July 2019. In August 2019, Raye released the single “Love Me Again” whilst a remix of the song with Jess Glynne was later released on 30 August 2019. The single later peaked at Number 55 on the UK Chart and has been certified Silver. Another Guetta collaboration, “Make It to Heaven” was later released on 22 November 2019 along with producer Morten. Follow up promotional singles “Please Don’t Touch” and “All of My Love”, the latter featuring rapper Young Adz, were released on 13 December 2019 and 6 February 2020 respectively.
“Tequila” was released as a single in collaboration with DJs Jax Jones and Martin Solveig on 21 February 2020. The song peaked at Number 21 on the UK Chart as well as peaking inside the top 20 on the Ireland and Scotland charts. The track received a Gold certification in the UK. A collaboration with DJ Regard titled “Secrets” was released on 23 April 2020. The song peaked at number 6 on the UK Singles Chart and topped the UK Dance Chart. The song also reached the top 10 in Ireland and Scotland as well as on the US Billboard Dance/Electronic Songs chart. “Secrets” charted in numerous countries such as the Netherlands, France and Germany making it Raye’s first chart appearance as a lead artist. On 10 July 2020, Raye released the single “Natalie Don’t“, alongside a music video. In an interview with BBC News, Raye announced that her fifth EP titled, Her Heart Beats in 4/4, would be released later that same year.
The project would be centred around the theme of the “seven stages of grief” and will include previously released singles “Love Me Again” and “Natalie Don’t”. In an interview with Kate Thornton for her podcast White Wine Question Time, Raye said she wrote the album during each stage of grief and that ultimately the creative process had healed her broken heart. The project would later be retitled in favour for Euphoric Sad Songs.
On 6 November 2020, Raye released the single “Love of Your Life” and later announced the release of Euphoric Sad Songs, which would include the previous released songs; “Love Me Again“, “Please Don’t Touch”, “Secrets” and “Natalie Don’t“. The mini-album was released on 20 November 2020. The album’s fourth official single, “Regardless” with Rudimental, was released alongside the mini-album, with a music video premiering on 8 January 2021. The single peaked inside the top 40 in the United Kingdom as well on the US Dance/Electronic Songs chart.
2021: Departure from Polydor and upcoming debut studio album
A collaborative single, “Bed” with Joel Corry and David Guetta, was released on 26 February 2021. The song would peak at number three on the UK Singles Chart, becoming Raye’s highest charting single as a lead artist on the chart. On 11 June 2021, Raye released the single “Call On Me”, which serves as the lead single for her upcoming debut studio album. Raye co-wrote and co-produced the song “Let Them Know” by Mabel, which was released on 18 June 2021. On 29 June 2021, Raye revealed that her record label, Polydor Records, has been withholding her debut album for several years. The statement received support from fellow artists including Charli XCX, MNEK and Rina Sawayama. Raye later went on a hiatus following the statements. On 19 July 2021, she announced via Instagram that she has parted ways with Polydor and is now working as an independent artist. Raye closed the year by going on the Euphoric Sad Show Tour.
Headline
- Raye Live (2018)
- Euphoric Sad Show Tour (2021)
Supporting
- Years & Years – Communion Tour (2015)
- Jess Glynne – Take Me Home Tour (2016)
- Rita Ora – The Girls Tour (2018)
- Halsey – Hopeless Fountain Kingdom World Tour (2018)
- Khalid – Free Spirit World Tour (2019)
Likewise, Rachel came up with another EP called Side Tape on 4th May 2018 which included singles like Decline, and Cigarette.
Furthermore, she released her other EPs called Deezer Sessions on 21st April 2020 and Her Heart Beats in 4/4 in 2020 including tracks like Love Me Again, and Natalie Don’t.
Distinctive Features
- She has tattoos of 3 country flags on her left forearm.
- Long legs
Rachel Agatha Keen Facts
- Originally, Rachel is from London, United Kingdom.
- Rachel had relocated to Croydon in the past.
- It was her father who guided her through her music career.
- She released her debut EP titled Welcome to the Winter on December 11, 2014.
- In 2018, she was nominated for a Brit Award with Jax Jones for the single You Don’t Know Me.
- On November 20, 2020, she came out with her debut mini-album titled Euphoric Sad Songs which included the singles Love Me Again, Secrets, Natalie Don’t, Love of Your Life, and Regardless.
- She parted ways with Polydor Records in July 2021.
- The earliest post that Rachel uploaded to her Instagram account was on June 14, 2022.
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