It’s been a while since South London singer Raye was a supporting act for another artist. And honestly, she admits, the experience has been humbling at times. With two critically acclaimed studio albums and world tours of her own under her belt, the 28-year-old has racked up countless hours on stage.
But opening for pop heavyweight Bruno Mars on his Romantic Tour means she’s facing stadium crowds of around 70,000, a scale that still intimidates her. The hit single has surpassed a billion streams on Spotify since its release a year ago, and she recently performed it at the 2026 MTV VMAs. But that recognition only goes so far when the audience has come to see someone else.
Raye, born Rachel Agatha Keen, was a teenager when she signed a four-album record deal with Polydor in 2014. She spent the next seven years struggling to release her debut through a label she says stifled her creativity and voice. In the meantime, she wrote songs for global superstars like Beyoncé, Charli XCX, and John Legend while yearning for her own moment in the spotlight.
She reached a breaking point in 2021, making a public plea on social media: “I’ve done everything they asked me, I switched genres, I worked 7 days a week, ask anyone in the music game, they know. I’m done being a polite pop star. I want to make my album now, please that is all I want.” At the time, a Polydor spokesperson said the label was "saddened" by Raye’s posts and had contacted her management team “to discuss and offer [its] full support.” Soon after, Raye was released from her contract and began a new era as an independent artist, co-managed by her parents, Sarah and Paul Keen.
Reflecting on that pivotal moment during an interview on a scorching hot July day in east London, Raye recalls how her pain drove her to speak out. It was spur of the moment and impulsive, and I was very, very, very emotional and very hurt, and in a lot of pain.” She channeled the trauma of those difficult years into her 2023 debut album, My 21st Century Blues, which has been streamed more than 2 billion times on Spotify. The album’s breakout single, “Escapism,” a raw depiction of a young woman lost in a cycle of avoidance and addiction, went viral on TikTok, fueled by fans’ sped-up versions of the track.
Raye embraced the trend, releasing a sped-up rendition of her own. The original reached No. 1 on the U.K. charts nearly three months after its release. A record-breaking six wins at the 2024 Brit Awards, followed by three Grammy nominations later that year, was a sign of her growing global appeal.
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