Lily Allen loves being a mother, however, she says having kids prevented her from achieving her goals as a singer.
“My children ruined my career,” Allen, 38, said while laughing on Tuesday, March 12 episode of the “Radio Times Podcast.”
Allen shares her daughters, Ethel, 12, and Marnie, 11, with her former husband Sam Cooper, to whom she was married to from June 2011 to June 2018. She married Stranger Things star David Harbour in September 2020 in Las Vegas.
“I love them and they complete me, but in terms of pop stardom, totally ruined it,” she jokingly added.
Allen launched her recording career in 2006 with her debut solo album, Alright, Still, which earned a Grammy nomination for Best Alternative Music Album. She released her second album, It’s Not Me, It’s You, in 2009.
Then Allen took a five year hiatus from music to raise her daughters before releasing her third album, Sheezus, in 2014.
She headlined her own tour in 2014, as well as opening for Miley Cyrus’ Bangerz Tour. Since then, Allen has released one more album, No Shame, in 2018 and headlined her No Shame tour in 2018 and 2019. She has not toured over the past five years, as she remains committed to staying home with Ethel and Marnie.
Allen says she could not pursue her music career full time and be a good mother at the same time.
“It really annoys me when people say you can have it all because, quite frankly, you can’t,” she continued.
Allen recalled that her parents neglected her when she was growing up in London, and she was determined not to make the same mistake with her daughters.
“Some people choose their career over their children, and that’s their prerogative,” she added. “But my parents were quite absent when I was a kid, and I feel like that really left some nasty scars that I’m not willing to, you know, repeat on mine.”
Now, as she looks back, Allen has no regrets about her decision to make family her priority.
“So I chose stepping back and concentrating on them and I’m glad that I have done that because I think they’re pretty well-rounded people,” she continued. “Fingers f—ing crossed.”
In 2018, Allen admitted being a mother was very difficult for her because her mom and dad were not good role models.
“Neither of my parents was particularly good at parenting, so it wasn’t a skillset that I had,” she told The Guardian in September 2018. “I sort of assumed it would all just happen naturally. And it didn’t. And I think that was the trigger for my postnatal depression.”
In the interview, Allen revealed that her depression led to her infidelity and the eventual end of her marriage to Cooper.
“My whole childhood I’d been dreaming of this two point four children, living in the country – everything was just going to fall into place and I’d be this perfect mum. And it didn’t happen,” Allen added. “I was very shocked and disappointed.”
