Key Takeaways
- Corinne Bailey Rae says “Put Your Records On,” originally inspired by feeling “on the margins” as a biracial kid with an unconventional voice, became a global breakout that invited listeners to let music guide their self-acceptance.
- After her husband Jason Rae died of an accidental overdose in 2008, she stepped back from music, then returned with the grief-shaped album The Sea and a new understanding of loss as both pain and a heightened awareness of life’s beauty.
- Now remarried with two daughters, Bailey Rae is marking the 20th anniversary of her debut with a tour and a children’s book, Put Your Records On, about a girl discovering how music can heal, sit with any emotion, and be a lifelong friend.
Corinne Bailey Rae’s “Put Your Records On” sounded like pure sunshine when it arrived in 2006. But nearly two decades after losing her first husband, Jason Rae, the singer says its message about music, healing and finding yourself carries far more weight.
Jason, who was also a musician, died from an accidental overdose in 2008—two years after the song turned Bailey Rae into an international star. His death brought her rapidly rising career to a halt.
“It felt at that time to be the sort of end of my life,” Bailey Rae told CBS News. “It was just, like, such a huge amount of pain.”
“Put Your Records On” was written before that loss, but the song’s core message had always been personal. Growing up biracial in Leeds, England, Bailey Rae sometimes felt “on the margins.”
She also struggled to accept her textured singing voice, believing it did not match the smooth, polished sound expected of a successful vocalist.
Hearing Billie Holiday and Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain helped dismantle that belief.
“It was like, ‘You are welcome in this space,’” she recalled. “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.”
That realization helped fuel “Put Your Records On,” an easygoing blend of pop, soul and R&B built around a direct invitation: play the song you love, let your guard down and trust that you will eventually find your way.
Bailey Rae had no idea how far that message would travel. The track was recorded in a windowless basement studio and became the breakout single from her self-titled debut album. It earned Grammy recognition, pushed the album to the top of the charts and placed her in rooms with legends. Stevie Wonder called. Prince attended one of her shows.
Then everything stopped.
Bailey Rae largely withdrew from music following Jason’s death. She returned about two years later with The Sea, an album shaped by mourning and the difficult process of moving through it. Advice she received at the hospital stayed with her: “Grief is a long journey.”
She eventually came to understand grief as more than devastation.
“It’s the sadness of losing someone, but also the awareness of how beautiful, you know, life is,” she said, “and how it’s a beautiful thing that everyone you know, you have that much time with them.”
Bailey Rae later found what she described as a “second chance” with producer Steve Brown, whom she married in 2013. The couple now has two daughters. Jason’s mother had been the first person to suggest that Bailey Rae consider Brown romantically—a gesture she interpreted as permission to keep living.
“I do think of my life as having these two—kind of like a before and after,” she said.
Now, Corinne Bailey Rae is returning to the song that started it all. She is celebrating the 20th anniversary of her debut with a tour and a children’s picture book named after “Put Your Records On.” Released in March 2026, the book follows a girl who discovers the power of music through her aunt’s record collection.
“I wanted to write about how music can heal you,” Bailey Rae explained, “that music can sit with you in any emotion, and music can be your friend.”
