Unofficial fan-built page · not joined yet - creator hasn’t joined yet

RAYE

RAYE is a South London singer and songwriter whose music moves between pop, R&B, jazz and soul, from Escapism. to her second album THIS MUSIC MAY CONTAIN HOPE.

12M+social following

0/ 100 nudges100 to go

At 100 nudges, fangea sends RAYE’s team an official invite.

🔒 Star boosts open once RAYE claims this page.

Latest

RAYE’s happenings, collected from public sources, plus her backstory and Starbook, where fans write.

Known for

Overview

Name: Rachel Agatha Keen
From: Tooting, South London; grew up in Croydon
Work: Singer and songwriter
First EP: Welcome to the Winter, 2014
Breakout: 2016 collaborations By Your Side and You Don’t Know Me
First UK number one: Escapism. featuring 070 Shake, January 2023

Mini bio

How it started.

Raised in Croydon in a musical family, Rachel Keen began writing songs at ten and sang at church and charity gigs. She attended the BRIT School and released Welcome to the Winter in 2014, writing, recording and co-producing the EP herself.

The voice behind the songs.

Her 2016 collaborations with Jonas Blue on By Your Side and Jax Jones on You Don’t Know Me brought her voice to a wider audience. Alongside her own records, she built a songwriting career for other artists, including Beyoncé’s Bigger.

Making room for her own album.

In 2021, RAYE spoke publicly about being unable to release an album under her label deal and went independent. My 21st Century Blues followed in 2023, with songs about heartbreak, body image, addiction and experiences in the music industry. Escapism. with 070 Shake became her first UK number one in January that year.

A new chapter.

In 2024, RAYE won six BRIT Awards in one night, setting a new record. Her second album, THIS MUSIC MAY CONTAIN HOPE., arrived in March 2026 with a four-season structure moving from darkness towards light. It won that year’s Mercury Prize.

Creditschronological, newest first

Her records

2026THIS MUSIC MAY CONTAIN HOPE.Artist and songwriter
2025WHERE IS MY HUSBAND!Artist; co-writer and co-producer with Mike Sabath
2023My 21st Century BluesArtist and songwriter
2022Escapism. featuring 070 ShakeArtist and songwriter

Writing for other artists

2024RIIVERDANCE, BeyoncéCo-writer
2019Bigger, BeyoncéCo-writer

Awards

Quotes

Music is medicine, I’ve always said that.RAYE, official album announcement via twnty three

Speaking about THIS MUSIC MAY CONTAIN HOPE. on 27 March 2026. Source: https://twntythree.com/raye-shares-highly-anticipated-new-album-this-music-may-contain-hope-out-now-click-to-teach-twenty-three-mail-that-this-conversation-is-important/

Trivia

She wrote, recorded and co-produced her first EP, Welcome to the Winter.
In her 2014 Wonderland interview, she said she played piano and a little guitar, had played cello and flute, and was learning bass.
She has said a Jill Scott concert, where the songs were performed differently from the records, inspired her approach to rearranging her own live shows.
Amma and Absolutely, her collaborators on Joy., are her sisters.