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Lily Allen · S4 E7
The Peak
World tours, number ones, and the moment everything started to crack
Earls Court, London, February 16, 2010. Lily Allen descends from the ceiling on the back of a giant black rocket, opens the BRIT Awards with "The Fear," and wins British Female Solo Artist before the night is over.
"Back to Black" -- Amy Winehouse, official music video (2007). The defining image of British pop's dark side: Winehouse in funeral black while Mark Ronson's orchestral production swells around her. In 2009, Allen watches the same tabloid machine that consumed Amy begin circling her, and the question she can't escape is whether the peak always comes with the same price.
The Victory Lap
It's Not Me, It's You debuts at number one in the UK, Australia, and Canada in February 2009. The tour that follows sells out across Europe, North America, and Asia. Allen wins British Female Solo Artist at the 2010 BRITs, beating Florence Welch, Bat for Lashes, Leona Lewis, and Pixie Lott. On paper, everything is working.
TAP TO REVEAL: How many copies did It's Not Me, It's You sell worldwide?
Earls Court Exhibition Centre, London
Where Allen opened the 2010 BRIT Awards on a giant rocket, performed "The Fear," and won British Female Solo Artist. The venue closed permanently in 2014.
The Peak in Numbers
Viva la Vida, Coldplay
Coldplay's 'Viva la Vida' is about standing at the peak and knowing it can't last. Lily Allen at the end of the It's Not Me, It's You era is in exactly that position: number one albums, sold-out tours, awards, and the creeping knowledge that what goes up must come down.
Viva la Vida, Coldplay (2008)
Lyrics about power and its impermanence. At the peak of Lily Allen's commercial career, these words sound like a prophecy.
How many countries did It's Not Me, It's You debut at number one in?
The awards are on the shelf, the tour is done, and the album has sold over two million copies worldwide. But Lily Allen is about to make a decision nobody sees coming. Next season: the silence begins.
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