Lily Allen recently split from her five-year-long marriage to actor David Harbour and has since received an unexpected boost in her bank account, despite releasing no new music
Lily Allen has opened up about her recent surge in earnings from her music royalties, which have unexpectedly seen a boost in interest after years of no new releases.
Following her split from Stranger Things actor David Harbour, the noughties pop singer, now 40 years old, has seen a soaring interest in her old hits. Known among Brits for her classic tongue-in-cheek hits like Not Fair, The Fear, and Smile, the singer has been shocked to see her songs have a resurgence online.
A new generation of Gen Z fans is rediscovering her discography, and in turn, the pop star is making more money from it than expected. Her work has gone on to inspire younger artists such as Olivia Rodrigo and Charli XCX, who have both credited Allen as a musical influence.
On the most recent episode of her podcast Miss Me?, hosted alongside best friend Miquita Oliver, the singer admitted: “I do find it hard listening to that music. I’m not ashamed of it because I think it was good for what it was at the time. And actually, I think it does still stand up.”
She added: “It’s having an actual resurgence on the internet. I know because my royalty payments are going up. There are young kids that are into my music now.”
The hitmaker hasn’t released a song since her 2018 record, Trigger Bang, and her big commercial breakthrough was almost two decades ago. Lily Allen currently boasts over 10 million monthly listeners on Spotify, and yet, the pop star has been candid about how she and other artists struggle to make money from their music.
Last year, Lily made a social media post that went viral, poking fun at the industry’s lack of income for artists. In response to a post on X claiming that the star had made over a million dollars from Spotify alone, she came back to say that she earns more money from making OnlyFans content.
Allen created an account on the site, where she sells photos of her feet to people online, and shockingly, it’s been a bit of a money grab. She wrote: “Imagine being an artist and having nearly 8 million monthly listeners on Spotify but earning more money from having 1,000 people subscribe to pictures of your feet. Don’t hate the player, hate the game.”
The controversial account was launched last summer, not long before she and her husband reportedly split, and since then, rumors have swirled about the two’s tragic ending. Admitting it all, Lily has found solace in her music, and she opened up about how writing has been an outlet for her during this difficult time.
“It’s almost like therapy,” she described it. “I like to write and record at the same time with somebody else in the room—there’s something therapeutic about it. My producer or my co-writers become almost like therapists because I’m processing the things that I’m going through in real time.”
She added: “I can do that in music, but I can’t really do it when I’m talking to friends or my parents. It doesn’t mean I’m being inauthentic… I just don’t feel like I can sum things up properly. But I can do it in a three-and-a-half-minute pop song.”