'Touring is like a travelling circus'

Singer-songwriter Corinne Bailey Rae shares the joy of taking her family on the road and explains how the heartbreak of losing her first husband has since helped her to make the most of life

- ANNA POINTER

You might expect life as a double Grammy-winning artist to be endlessly glamorous, but for singer Corinne Bailey Rae, the reality can be rather different. “I’ve literally been wiping a bum or breast-feeding and then going straight on stage,” says the mum-of-two, whose daughters are four and six. “There are no boundaries.”

With more than five million album sales and a back catalogue that includes the smash-hit single Put Your Records On, Corinne spends much of her time on tour – alongside husband Steve Brown, who plays in her band, and their two girls. “There are different ways you can bring up children, right? Some artists maybe have their kids in boarding school or home with a nanny. But we decided we really want to see our kids, so they go with us.”

Believing the nomadic life boosts the girls’ learning, Corinne adds, “We’re really serious about their education. They call it world schooling, don’t they? If we’re in San Francisco, we’ll go to the Children’s Creativity Museum, or we’ll go to Niagara Falls when we are in that area. I think there’s a lot to learn from being around people and in new places.”

Now 45, Corinne was born to an English mother and Caribbean father in Leeds, where she played violin before discovering her gift for singing. “How I grew up was very different,” she says. “But everybody with kids is always just trying to work it out. You’re forever thinking, ‘Are we doing it right?’, and you don’t really know until they’re about 37.”

In the next few months, she’ll perform everywhere from Cheltenham to Glastonbury before reaching New York, Brazil and China. “It’s like a travelling circus, but I love the rhythm of touring,” she says.