Rae was born in Leeds, West Yorkshire to a Kittitian father and an English mother as the eldest of three daughters. Her sister is actress Rhea Bailey. She used to be racially abused on a regular basis. She says about the situation, "My sisters and I were different and people used to say, 'Ah, aren't they cute, the little chocolate children', and 'look at their hair'". "I know they were only being Read more...

After the disappointment of Helen, Rae went on to attend the University of Leeds where she studied an English Literature degree. While at University, she began work as a hat check girl on an evening in her local jazz club. Permitted to sing on stage with the jazz band when business was slow, it was there that she discovered a different type of music that sent her on a different musical path: "I Read more...

It was at university that she met Jason Rae, whom she eventually married in 2001 at age twenty-two. "I was Corinne Bailey. I added on Rae, my husband's name, when I got married. There's no hyphen; stops it being posh!". Born in 1976, Jason Rae was a Scottish musician, originally hailing from Aberdeen, who played saxophone for the eight-piece group Haggis Horns. The group has performed with Amy Winehouse, Read more...