Rachel Agatha Keen (born 24 October 1997), known professionally as Raye (/reɪ/ RAY), is a British singer-songwriter and record producer. Her music blends elements of jazz, pop, dance, R&B, and soul, and her lyrics address personal experiences and contemporary issues. She has contributed as a songwriter to music by numerous other artists.
She signed with Polydor Records in 2014 and gained recognition in 2016 through collaborations on Jonas Blue's "By Your Side"—her first entry on the UK Singles Chart—and Jax Jones's "You Don't Know Me", which reached the UK top three. Raye later released several extended plays, as well as the project Euphoric Sad Songs (2020), which spawned the UK top-ten single "Secrets", a collaboration with Regard. In 2021, she collaborated with Joel Corry and David Guetta on the UK top-three entry "Bed", and departed Polydor, citing the label's refusal to release her debut studio album.
Raye signed with Human Re Sources in 2022 and independently released her debut studio album, My 21st Century Blues (2023), to critical acclaim. Its third single, "Escapism", became her first UK chart-topper. She also collaborated with Cassö and D-Block Europe on the UK top-two single "Prada". Raye's second studio album, This Music May Contain Hope (2026), received critical acclaim and became her first number-one album on the UK Albums Chart. Its lead single, "Where Is My Husband!", became her second UK chart-topper and her highest-charting release on the Billboard Global 200.
The first female recipient of the Brit Award for Songwriter of the Year, Raye has won seven Brit Awards and two Ivor Novello Awards, in addition to awards from the Recording Academy and the Songwriters Hall of Fame and nominations for a Mercury Prize and three Grammy Awards. Her six wins at the Brit Awards 2024 set the record for the most awards received by an artist in a single year.
Rachel Agatha Keen was born on 24 October 1997 in Tooting, London, to a Ghanaian-Swiss mother who is a mental health worker, and an English father from Yorkshire. She has three younger sisters: the singer-songwriters Absolutely and Amma, and Katelyn. As a child, Raye frequently attended church where her mother sang in the choir and her father was the musical director. Raye and her family later moved to Croydon, where she grew up and studied at Woodcote High School.
Surrounded by music, Raye first showed interest in becoming a recording artist at the age of eight. She wrote her first song for a concert in Year 6 and performed it at the Southwark Cathedral, after her father taught her how to play the piano. At age 14, Raye was chosen to enter the BRIT School, where she studied for two years before dropping out due to feeling "confined". She spent most of her teenage years learning how to write songs professionally in studio sessions on the weekends.
2014–2018: Early career and breakthrough
In November 2014, at the age of 17, Raye independently uploaded her debut extended play (EP), Welcome to the Winter, to the audio streaming service SoundCloud. She wrote, recorded, and co-produced the seven tracks on the track listing. Olly Alexander, then the lead singer of the band Years & Years, discovered the EP's single "Hotbox" through the music website Hype Machine and sent it to the record label he was signed to, Polydor Records. Raye signed a contract with them thereafter. In 2015, she released the single "Alien" featuring Avelino and covered the Years & Years song "Shine", later opening for the band's show at Shepherd's Bush Empire.
Raye's following EP, Second, was released in August 2016 through Polydor. She co-wrote its single "I, U, Us" with the singers Noonie Bao and Charli XCX; the latter also directed the song's music video. The same year, Raye featured on Jonas Blue's "By Your Side" and Jax Jones's "You Don't Know Me", which respectively reached numbers fifteen and three on the UK singles chart. "By Your Side" became her first song to enter the chart. Months later, Raye served as an opening act for a concert tour by the singer Jess Glynne.
Raye performed at the club XOYO in London in February 2017, receiving positive reviews from publications. She worked on Charli XCX's "After the Afterparty", and appeared on the "VIP" remix to the song with the singer Rita Ora and the rapper Stefflon Don. Raye starred on the music video for the Stormzy song "Big For Your Boots" in the same month, and featured on the track "Dreamer" from Charli XCX's collaborative project Number 1 Angel (2017). The singles "The Line" and "Decline" were also released in 2017; the latter featured the singer Mr Eazi. Raye's third EP, Side Tape, premiered in 2018, following the release of the single "Cigarette", which features Don and the singer Mabel. In parallel, Raye received writing credits on songs by the girl group Little Mix and the singer John Legend. In June, Raye performed at the Summertime Ball in London, held by the radio network Capital. Later in 2018, she released a stand-alone single dedicated to her friends and supported Ora and the singer-songwriter Halsey on their respective concert tours. Raye embarked on her first headlining tour in 2018.
2019–2021: Euphoric Sad Songs and departure from Polydor
In 2019, Raye featured on Odunsi the Engine's song "Tipsy" and David Guetta's song "Stay (Don't Go Away)", released in March and May, respectively. The latter became Raye's first number-one song on Billboard's US Dance/Mix Show Airplay chart. She supported the singer Khalid on his Free Spirit World Tour. Raye co-wrote the track "Bigger" by the singer Beyoncé, which featured on the soundtrack album The Lion King: The Gift, released in July 2019. BBC News believed that it was "arguably her biggest song-writing credit" at the time. Between August and November 2019, Raye released the solo single "Love Me Again" and the collaboration "Make It to Heaven" with Guetta and the producer Morten.
In early 2020, Raye released "Tequila" in collaboration with Jax Jones and the DJ Martin Solveig, and "Secrets" with the DJ Regard. "Secrets" peaked at number six in the United Kingdom and was certified platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI). In July 2020, Raye released "Natalie Don't", which preceded her project Euphoric Sad Songs, released in November. It included previously released songs alongside the singles "Love of Your Life" and "Regardless", the latter in collaboration with Rudimental. The project centred on the stages of grief. The critic Rachel Aroesti from The Guardian gave it a mixed review; she opined it lives up to its title but lacks personality.
In February 2021, Raye collaborated with Guetta and the DJ Joel Corry on the single "Bed", which reached number three on the UK singles chart—marking her highest-charting single as a lead artist on the chart at the time—and topped the US Dance/Mix Show Airplay chart. She also co-wrote and co-produced the song "Let Them Know" by Mabel. In June, Raye released "Call On Me", a song written for her sister and intended to serve as the lead single for her debut studio album. Later that month, she revealed that Polydor had been withholding her debut album for several years. The statement was met with support from fellow artists. Following this, Raye went on a hiatus, and later announced that she had parted ways with the label to work as an independent artist. Raye closed the year performing her Euphoric Sad Show headline UK and Ireland tour.
2022–2024: My 21st Century Blues and international recognition
Raye signed to the distribution company Human Re Sources in mid-2022, and began to own her master recordings. On 30 June, she released her first independent single following her departure from Polydor, "Hard Out Here", alongside a music video depicting the early stages of an artist. "Black Mascara" was released in August 2022, and was followed by a dual single in October: "Escapism", featuring the rapper 070 Shake, and "The Thrill is Gone". All singles were part of Raye's debut studio album, My 21st Century Blues, which was released in February 2023. It peaked at number two on the UK Albums Chart, and was met with critical acclaim.