In 2006, the singer-songwriter world was introduced to Corinne Bailey Rae through her single “Put Your Records On”. It was a smooth jazz and R&B-flavored pop hit with hints of Norah Jones, but elevated by Rae’s textured vocals. As her second-ever single, and first in the U.S., Rae didn’t expect how big the song would get.
Speaking to CBS Sunday Morning in July 2026, Rae admitted that she was actually unsure of her singing voice for a long time. However, she gained confidence after some inspiration from two unlikely sources.
She revealed that she initially felt sad about her voice “because it had all this texture.” Rae felt that the various tones in her singing voice weren’t ideal, and possibly even alienated her. That perspective changed after she heard Billie Holiday and Kurt Cobain.
“It was like, ‘You are welcome in this space’,” she said. “Their songs don’t necessarily have to be, you know, shiny and perfect. And that just made me feel like I could be in music.”
Corinne Bailey Rae Found Confidence and Success With Her Hit Song ‘Put Your Records On’
As far as textured vocals go, Billie Holiday and Kurt Cobain are great examples. Even if, together, they seem like totally unexpected inspirations. But clearly, they’re more similar than they seem. Cobain’s rough, unpolished grunge vocals and Holiday’s varied tones both represent a multitude of unique textures.
It makes sense then that Corinne Bailey Rae would find immediate success with only her second single. Her initial thoughts about her voice were valid but, ultimately, misguided. People love unique vocals, and the evidence is clear throughout music history. Essentially, Corinne Bailey Rae had nothing to worry about.
However, she still wasn’t prepared for just how successful “Put Your Records On” would become.
“With that first record, I wasn’t thinking like, ‘Oh, this is gonna be—’ … Like, I had no idea that it was gonna be successful in that way,” she said. “We made it in a basement studio with no windows. So, it wasn’t like I went in with a certain kind of ambition. I just wanted to make the songs work.”
Rae experienced a tragic setback in 2008 after her husband Jason’s fatal overdose. Jason was also in her band, so both her personal life and her music career came to a screeching halt. Four years after her successful debut, Rae released The Sea in 2010. This was her way of coming to terms with the experience.
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