If it's a discussion about people who have stardom thrust upon them, Shakespeare could very well have been writing about Lily Allen. The British pop star seemed born to take the stage, what with the kind of show business pedigree that she has. Three generations' worth of celebrity genes has paid off for Allen; even with just two albums, her current fame on both sides of the Atlantic is enviable for any artist.

Lily Allen: Wild Pop Princess

"I guess I knew from an early age that I could never do a job where I'd have to sit in an office all day long."

If it's a discussion about people who have stardom thrust upon them, Shakespeare could very well have been writing about Lily Allen. The British pop star seemed born to take the stage, what with the kind of show business pedigree that she has. Three generations' worth of celebrity genes has paid off for Allen; even with just two albums, her current fame on both sides of the Atlantic is enviable for any artist.

Lily Allen: Livin' La Vida Lily

Born Lily Rose Beatrice Allen in Hammersmith, London on May 2, 1985, her family is a veritable showbiz dynasty. Welsh actor father Keith Allen and producer mom Alison Owen separated when she was four, and she went to as many as 13 different schools prior to finally dropping out at 15. She was, however, an active singer and stage performer as a student, having been trained by award-winning soprano Rachel Santesso.

A largely undocumented phase of her life followed, where she ran away from home at 17 to stay in Ibiza, where she subsisted with dealing ecstasy. Ibiza, however, was far from an unproductive stint. It was there that she met George Lamb, her first manager, who also introduced her to production team Super Cut in 2004.

Work with Super Cut got Allen her first deal with Regal Recordings, although the label wasn't able to give her much support. She then turned to posting music on MySpace in 2005, and fans began to take notice. Her first release was 500 copies of the vinyl LDN, which she sold to her growing online fan base. As her MySpace fan population grew, so did the curiosity of the music press about the new up-and-comer.

Lily Allen's Big British Break

Magazine Observer Music Monthly gave first mainstream break with a Lily Allen cover story in March 2006. This led to the release of her debut album Alright, Still in July that year, featuring many of the songs from MySpace. Despite the excellent performance of the album on the charts and store shelves - it sold over 1.3 million copies by late 2008 - Allen herself disliked the album, saying it reminded her of "an over-excited teenager".

Follow-up album It's Not Me, It's You was scheduled for release in early 2008, but issues (among which was Allen's miscarriage) pushed it back to February 2009. It charted well upon release, and was certified platinum in the UK within three months.

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