Twenty Years Later, Corinne Bailey Rae Is Still Spinning Pure Magic
Longtime INYIM favorite Corinne Bailey Rae dropped into the Tamron Hall Show for one of those full-circle moments that feels almost too perfectly written: a new children’s book inspired by “Put Your Records On”, a look back at two decades of her breakthrough era, and a fresh live performance of the song that introduced so many listeners to her sunlit soul-pop sound.
The Grammy Award-winning songbird is now also a children’s author. Her debut picture book, Put Your Records On, was released March 3 through Rocky Pond Books, an imprint of Penguin Young Readers, with illustrations by Gillian Eilidh O’Mara. The story takes its inspiration from Bailey Rae’s award-winning hit and follows young Bea as music, family and a treasured record collection open up her world.
For an artist whose music has always had a gentle way of making room for feeling, memory and self-discovery, the jump from record to storybook actually makes beautiful sense.
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Put Your Records On, Turn the Page
Corinne Bailey Rae celebrates a new chapter for her signature song with a children’s picture book, a 20th-anniversary year and a Tamron Hall performance.
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From Hit Record to Children’s Book
During her Tamron Hall visit, Bailey Rae opens up about the book, motherhood and the journey of finding your own voice — themes that naturally connect back to the music that first made her a household name in 2006.
Put Your Records On turns the emotional language of the song into an intergenerational story. In the book, Bea’s great aunt Portia introduces her to a cherished collection of records, and music becomes the doorway to curiosity, joy and a deeper understanding of herself. It is less about simply adapting lyrics onto a page and more about extending the spirit of the original song into another medium.
The timing makes the moment even sweeter. 2026 marks the 20th anniversary of Bailey Rae’s self-titled debut album, originally released in 2006. The record went to No. 1 in the U.K. and produced enduring favorites including “Like a Star” and “Put Your Records On,” helping launch a career that has continued to stretch well beyond the soft-soul box some tried to place around her in those early years.
Two decades later, the song has not been frozen in nostalgia. Bailey Rae has found another life for it — one meant for children discovering music, family stories and their own sense of self for the first time.
And because talking about “Put Your Records On” without actually hearing it would simply be rude, Bailey Rae closes the circle with a live performance. Warm, effortless and still unmistakably hers, the song lands differently with twenty years of life sitting behind it — but that breezy first-note recognition is very much intact.
Corinne Bailey Rae Talks Put Your Records On, Motherhood and 20 Years of Music
Corinne Bailey Rae joins the Tamron Hall Show to discuss her debut children’s book Put Your Records On, motherhood and the 20th anniversary of her self-titled debut album.
Corinne Bailey Rae Performs “Put Your Records On” on Tamron Hall
Twenty years after the song helped define her breakthrough era, Bailey Rae returns to “Put Your Records On” with a live Tamron Hall Show performance.
Source: Tamron Hall Show; Corinne Bailey Rae; Penguin Young Readers. Images: Tamron Hall Show / YouTube.
