From small clubs to BRIT Awards glory, RAYE shares her journey of resilience:

At 26 years previous, singer-songwriter RAYE made historical past in March on the 2024 BRIT Awards when she gained a record-breaking six trophies in a single evening, together with Song of the Year for “Escapism.” 

“I started crying from the first award, and my mom is like, ‘Get it together.’ I’m like ‘I’m trying to get it together, mom,'” she stated.

Just 18 months earlier, RAYE was performing in small clubs, and her file label had shelved her debut album.

“To hear that is really crushing,” she stated. 

Feeling misplaced and ashamed of her music, she discovered inspiration in a Nina Simone quote in her bed room: “An artist’s duty is to reflect their times.” 

“I’m thinking in my head, what am I doing? I’m just ashamed of everything I put my name too musically, which is a really difficult feeling to process as an artist,” stated RAYE.

In a collection of impulsive tweets, RAYE publicly criticized her label, declaring, “I’m done being a polite pop star.” She recalled, “I had nothing left to lose at that point.” 

Her tweets went viral, and inside weeks, she was launched from her contract. RAYE started making the album she had at all times needed to create, funding it with her personal cash. 

“When you believe in something, you have to go for it,” she stated.

The highway to music stardom

Born Rachel Agatha Keen, the singer grew up in London, the eldest of 4 ladies and the daughter of a Ghanaian-Swiss mom and British father. A highway journey throughout America with her dad and uncle at 14 fueled her ardour for music.

She sat cross-legged on the ground beneath a trombone participant at Preservation Hall in New Orleans, Louisiana. Wide-eyed and amazed by the expertise, she knew she needed to be shut to that sort of music, she recalled.

RAYE attended The BRIT School, the identical academy that produced stars like Adele and Amy Winehouse. Signed at 17 to a four-album deal, she launched none. Instead, she discovered success writing dance tracks, scoring hits with artists like Jax Jones and David Guetta.

But RAYE had different music she needed to make. Her album “My 21st Century Blues” contains “Ice Cream Man,” a strong tune about sexual assault she began writing at 17. 

“It makes me a bit emotional, but it was a powerful thing that I got to, in my own way, be loud about something that I think forces a lot of us to just shut up and swallow and just pretend didn’t happen,” she stated.

Her smash hit “Escapism” addressed her battles with substance abuse. She known as 2019 a darkish yr for her the place she relied on religion to assist her by means of it. 

“I think if I wasn’t able to pray and I just pray to God for help, and you know, it is a lot of black healing that was needed,” she stated.

“Escapism” went high 10 globally and hit platinum within the U.S. Last fall, RAYE performed at London’s Royal Albert Hall, a dream come true. 

“I think it is probably the most indulgent experience a musician can grant themselves when you translate your entire album into a symphony, and you have a 90-piece orchestra — and a 30-piece choir on a stage performing it with you,” she stated. “Now, I’ve had a taste of this life, and it’s what I want. It’s an expensive life, but one to aspire to.”

Anthony Mason

Anthony Mason is a senior tradition and senior nationwide correspondent for CBS News. He has been a frequent contributor to “CBS Sunday Morning.”