Topics: Celebrity, Music, Lily Allen
Lily Allen says she only made £8,000 from her famous John Lewis Christmas hit.
The singer covered Keane’s ‘Somewhere Only We Know', used in John Lewis' 2013 Christmas advert. Refresh your memory with it here:
The star explained how she didn't actually want to do the song.
Advert
"They made me do it. I said, 'I don’t wanna be in a John Lewis advert'. And they said, 'If you don’t, the morale’s gonna be low at the label'," Allen told Vulture.
"John Lewis payed for studio costs, promo, everything. It was No. 1 for four weeks, got 250 million plays on Spotify. I don’t see any of it, ‘cause it’s not my song. I didn’t write it. The label owns copyright of me."
Allen says she felt 'betrayed' by the whole situation.
The 37-year-old said: "Everyone assumes I made millions from the John Lewis ad – I probably made £8k.
"Now I’m not earning much from the music. I won’t do as much promo for the record company. It’s changed in that sense. I have to look at other ways. Back then it was about doing as much press as possible, but now one quote will spread everywhere."
Speaking about the state of her life at the time, she added: "I lost my sense of self. I lost my identity.
"I was being a bad mum. I was being bad at my job. I’d wake up on a tour bus in the middle of Wisconsin and be so hung-over.
"I cheated on my husband. All I wanted to do was be with my kids. I wasn’t even making any money.
"Well, I lost my marriage, I lost my house, I lost my mind. I literally had to hit rock bottom and build myself back up.
"Then I had my stalker [in 2016 Allen revealed that a stalker had broken into her home].
"I couldn’t have been more isolated. I lost all of my friends. I couldn’t talk to anybody. I was on my own.
"I blame myself. There are things that Sam [her ex] could have done to protect me, but that’s not a particularly feminist outlook.
"I’m a big girl. I should be able to look after myself, and I couldn’t."
