14 DAY TRIAL // British singer Lily Allen is, for many, the first real artist to break into the spotlight using the industry’s backdoor instead of going the traditional route, they say. As her fans must know, she rose to fame via MySpace, a channel she continued to use long after she was signed to a label to promote her music. Speaking with the latest issue of Grazia magazine, the singer says she’s cutting all such ties from now on.
Allen was one of the most fervent users of MySpace: she not only promoted her music on her page, but she also kept fans up to speed with everything going on in her life, both professionally and on a personal level. Twitter was another favored means of keeping in touch with her impressive fanbase. All such connections have been officially severed now, with the singer saying she would like to return to a “normal” life, to attempt to reconnect again with people, this time in person and not online.
The change of heart seems to have been prompted by Allen’s decision to move in with boyfriend Sam Cooper, who helped her find new purpose in life. “It’s not about being famous, it’s not about all the parties, it’s not about wanting to be the biggest pop star on the planet. It’s about being happy. For me, that is Sam, spending time at home, sorting out bed linen… being normal,” Allen says for the magazine.
Unfortunately for fans, sorting out bed linen means no more time for blogging and keeping up with what’s going on on the Internet and in the celebrity blogosphere. Lily Allen is determined to change her life and that means tossing out her computer and mobile phone, and trying to find meaning to a life where she no longer has to hide behind a screen to connect with others, she goes on to say.
“I just had this revelation that Facebook, blogging, all those things were becoming a total addiction. I’d be with my boyfriend or my mum and they’d have just got half of me. So I put my BlackBerry, my laptop, my iPod in a box and that’s the end. I won’t use email, I play records on vinyl, I don’t blog. I’ve got more time, more privacy. We’ve ended up in this world of unreal communication and I don’t want that. I want real life back,” the songstress explains.