Lilly Allen Says Her Kids “Totally Ruined” Her Music Career

Lily Allen has some real talk for women who want to have both kids and career: you can’t have it all. The 38-year-old pop star appeared on the Radio Times Podcast on Tuesday and talked about her life and her career — and she was starkly truthful about what she sees as the impossibility of being a renowned singer and a great mom.

“My children ruined my career,” she said with a laugh. “I love them and they complete me, but in terms of pop stardom, totally ruined it.”

“It really annoys me when people say you can have it all because, quite frankly, you can’t,” she admitted.

Of course, the “Smile” singer is not judging any parents who took a different path.

“Some people choose their career over their children, and that’s their prerogative,” she went on. “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 repeat on mine.”

Allen’s dad was an actor and her mom was a film producer, so she knows firsthand how hard stardom and show business can be on kids.

And the bottom line? She’s happy with her choice to focus on her kids more than her job.

She went on to say that she “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.”

Allan shares two daughters, Ethel Mary, 12, and Marnie Rose, 11, with ex-husband Sam Cooper, whom she divorced in 2018. She married her current partner, Stranger Things star David Harbour, in 2020.

Her debut album, Alright, Still, was released in 2006, and three albums have followed in the 12 years since then, the most recent in 2018. Her kids were born in 2011 and 2013. Also throughout her career, she’s spoken openly about how her mental health, substance issues, and failing marriage to Cooper have stalled her music projects. She’s been sober since 2020.

She’s far from the first celebrity to pause or end their careers for their kids. She’s got good company in Julia Roberts, Shania Twain, Halle Barry, Jessica Simpson, and Serena Williams. And some dads, too, like Ryan Reynolds and Rick Moranis.

Watch the whole podcast below.