Glastonbury, summer 2025. Raye makes a memorable entrance onto the Pyramid Stage, emerging from a giant flight case labeled “Caution, contents may be fragile.”
Escorted by two tuxedoed stagehands, the pop sensation, adorned in a black sequined gown, boldly premieres a brand-new track, a move often considered risky for performers.
“Looking back, it was a pretty audacious move,” she reflects with a laugh.
“I stepped out of that box thinking, ‘Nobody knows this song. Everyone’s going to hate it!'”
Far from it. The song, “Where Is My Husband!”, a vibrant fusion of pop and funk, quickly became a viral sensation.
Fans eagerly streamed the Glastonbury performance 1.2 million times while awaiting its official release. Upon its debut last week, the single soared into the charts at number four.
The song’s irresistibly catchy bridge – where Raye yearns for “a diamond ring I can wear on my wedding finger” – has also ignited a viral trend on TikTok.
So, has the song led to any promising proposals?
“Someone actually wrote their number on a tissue the other day, and I had to politely decline,” she chuckles.
“He was really sweet, but just not my type.”
Despite the song’s playful tone, Raye is genuinely serious about finding a life partner.
“I have a five-year plan,” she reveals. “I’ll release an album in the first half of next year – though I need to finish it first – then I’ll tour with my sisters.”
“Ideally, around that time, I’d love to meet my husband. So, maybe 2027? Then we’ll get married and start a family.”
“And I want to establish enough groundwork in the next two years so I can take a year off without derailing my career.”
It’s a candid admission – just a year after securing a record-breaking six Brit Awards in a single night, Raye remains aware of the precarious nature of success. Like many women, she harbors concerns that maternity leave could negatively impact her career.
These fears are compounded by her past experiences with a record label that, for nearly a decade, pressured her into creating generic dance tracks while preventing the release of her debut album.
That’s also why, having finally gained independence, she’s closely guiding her younger sisters, Lauren and Abby-Lyn Keen, as they embark on their own musical journeys.
“I’m fiercely protective of my girls,” Raye asserts.
“We discuss how to address disrespect in the studio environment and how to navigate egos.”
“It’s incredibly challenging, and sometimes people are very disrespectful, so we talk about it, cry about it, and navigate it together.”
Lauren, who performs under her middle name Amma, acknowledges that having Raye as an advocate has already been beneficial.
She notes that many of her friends have encountered male writers and producers who diminished their contributions and made sexually inappropriate comments.
“But because my older sister is Raye, it’s like, ‘No!’ They won’t approach me because they’ve already tried with you,” she explains.
The sisters share a hearty laugh, but a hint of underlying pain remains.
Raye was a teenager when she signed her first record deal and endured several instances of sexual abuse, which contributed to a “dark, dark” period of alcohol and drug use in her early twenties.
“It was difficult to witness for a while,” Lauren says, gently touching her sister’s arm. “You were simply struggling, I think.”
Observing Raye’s experiences in the industry – both the triumphs and the tribulations – initially discouraged Lauren from pursuing music “for a really long time.”
It wasn’t until her father played one of her songs for music publishers in Los Angeles that things changed.
After being signed as a songwriter, she collaborated with R&B artists like Flo and Nao until a meeting about her next project took an unexpected turn.
“We were supposed to be discussing other artists – and 20 minutes into the meeting, they proposed that I become a singer,” she recalls.
“I was like, ‘No, no. That’s not what I’m meant to be doing.'”
“But as I drove home, I thought, ‘Wow, this is the best I’ve felt on this [songwriting] trip. Maybe I am meant to be doing this?'”
Upon arriving home, she took a shower and was struck by a sudden wave of inspiration. Sitting on her bed, she outlined a song that explored the pros and cons of becoming a singer.
“Don’t know if I’m really wanting the fame / Something tells me I’m a bit smarter than that,” she sang into her tape recorder.
Ironically, expressing those doubts convinced her to give it a try. The song, titled “What Am I Doing It For?”, became the opening track of her debut EP, “Middle Child.”
Abby-Lynn never had those reservations. She’s been writing since she was 13 – and part of the reason for her new stage name, Absolutely, is that she “never wants anyone to find” the EPs she recorded as a teen.
Quieter and more reserved than her sisters, her singing voice is equally captivating. Her latest single, a beautiful, heartfelt ballad called “I Just Don’t Know You Yet”, has garnered four million streams on Spotify.
Written two or three years ago, it shares compositional similarities with Raye’s “Where Is My Husband!”
“I was lying in bed one night, and I pray frequently,” she explains, “and I felt a strong desire to pray for my future husband.”
“Then I went to the studio the next day, and the lyrics flowed effortlessly – straight from my heart.”
If it seems peculiar that these exceptionally talented, independent women are so focused on marriage, understanding the overwhelmingly supportive and loving environment created by their parents provides context.
The sisters speak fondly of growing up within the church community, where their father taught them piano and their mother encouraged them to sing in the choir.
However, the highest praise is reserved for their grandmother, Agatha Dawson-Amoah, who moved from Ghana to help raise the family.
“She used to carry my cello home from school on her back while pushing me in the pram,” Abby reminisces.
“Lauren would toddle along beside us, and I’d walk ahead, pretending to be independent,” Raye adds.
“And we’d all be eating jam and cheese sandwiches,” Abby laughs (the unusual combination stemming from Agatha’s misunderstanding of the ingredients for a ham and cheese toastie).
“Grandma was our best friend and our rock,” Raye declares.
In fact, she even makes a cameo on “Where Is My Husband!”, promising the star, “Your husband is coming soon.”
The song is projected to top the charts next week, and Raye is justifiably proud of the track – which she meticulously refined until the last minute, delivering the final mix just eight days before the vinyl pressing deadline.
The song’s creation proved challenging as the pressure of following up Raye’s Mercury Prize-nominated album, “21st Century Blues,” weighed heavily on her.
“When you haven’t written in a while, you become extremely self-critical. I was hating everything I came up with and needed a pep talk.”
“Mike [Sabbath, the producer] and I went for a walk in the woods and talked about life, taking a complete break from work for the entire day.”
The chorus for “Where Is My Husband!” emerged spontaneously the following day.
“It was so exciting,” she recalls. “And then we just chipped away at it, bit by bit.”
Her sisters are completely captivated by the song and spend several minutes attempting to sing the complex bridge before giving up and launching into Sister Sledge’s “We Are Family” instead.
They’ll have plenty of time to perfect it next year when the entire family embarks on tour together, seemingly unconcerned that most family road trips end in chaos.
“Back in the day, we’d have war zones over hairbrushes,” Raye says. “But now we’re very close.”
So, could a joint album be on the horizon? Perhaps even a Christmas record?
“A gospel album would be better,” Abby suggests. “A project where we can experiment, have fun, and push boundaries.”
“I think it’ll happen in about five or six years,” Raye predicts.
“Five or six?” Lauren exclaims, shocked. “I bet you we’ll do it sooner.”
“Okay then,” Raye replies. “Once I’m married and have my baby.”
With a final, sisterly eye-roll, Lauren sighs: “Oh my gosh, you and your baby!”
The Welsh rock band will play a six-date tour next May starting in Dublin.
The Puerto Rican pop star has otherwise avoided the US on his forthcoming world tour because of ICE.
The star delays her Las Vegas residency by almost a year, saying she needs “multiple procedures”.
The hour-long programme will be an “uplifting” tribute to the Black Sabbath singer, producers say.
The 2026 festival will run from 18 to 21 June at Seaclose Park in Newport.