R&B/Soul
Corinne Bailey Rae found confidence in her voice from Billie Holiday and Kurt Cobain
How did Kurt Cobain and Billie Holiday help Corinne Bailey Rae's music career?
Corinne Bailey Rae once felt “sad” about the sound of her own voice, until hearing the raw, distinctive performances of Billie Holiday and Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain.
The 47-year-old singer, who became a global star with hits like Put Your Records On and Like a Star, admitted she initially struggled to appreciate the character and texture in her vocals.
But listening to how Strange Fruit singer Billie and grunge rock icon Cobain embraced their natural voices inspired her to embrace ger own unique vocal style.
Billie Holiday performing in 1946 / Credit: AVALON
Speaking to CBS’ Sunday Morning, Corinne said: "I felt sad about my voice because it had all this texture."
However, listening to artists who celebrated imperfections and emotion rather than polished perfection changed the way she viewed her own abilities.
She said: "It was like, ‘You are welcome in this space’. Their songs don't necessarily have to be, you know, shiny and perfect. And that just made me feel like I could be in music."
Kurt Cobain performing in Seattle in 1990 / Credit: AVALON
Corinne’s breakthrough came with her self-titled debut album in 2006, which featured Put Your Records On, a song that became one of the defining tracks of the era. Despite its eventual success, the singer admitted she never imagined the song would become such a major hit.
She said: "With that first record, I wasn't thinking like, 'Oh, this is gonna be – ' Like, I had no idea that it was gonna be successful in that way.
"We made it in a basement studio with no windows. So, it wasn't like I went in with a certain kind of ambition. I just wanted to make the songs work."
The success of Put Your Records On helped establish Corinne as one of the most distinctive voices in contemporary soul and pop, but her career was later marked by profound personal tragedy.
In 2008, her life was changed forever when her husband and bandmate Jason Rae died from an accidental overdose. Corinne described the period that followed as being filled with a “huge amount of pain”, with the experience shaping both her music and outlook on life.
She channelled that grief into her second album, The Sea, which explored loss, healing, and the process of coming to terms with Jason’s death.
Corinne explained that she now views her life as having two distinct chapters, before and after Jason’s passing, with the idea of rebirth becoming a central theme in her journey.
She said: "Because there's a possibility, every single time, of starting again.
"You know, any age and any space, you can sort of hit reset and do it again and go back into the fire, transform, and be out as a new thing, you know, every single time."
Through personal loss, artistic reinvention, and a renewed appreciation for her own voice, Corinne Bailey Rae continues to embrace the imperfections that first made her music stand out.
