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Brit Award-winning singer Raye tells crowd 'music is medicine' as she plays emotional All Points East set

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RAYE performs at the All Points East festival in Victoria Park
RAYE performs at the All Points East festival in Victoria Park. Picture: Alamy

By Ella Bennett

Brit Award-winning singer Raye told All Points East "music is medicine" as she played an emotional set at the festival on Saturday.

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"London are you joking me" she shouted, as she took to the stage in a pink 1950s-style satin dress to kickstart her headline set.

After a rendition of Oscar Winning Tears, the 27-year-old became emotional as she introduced herself, her brass band and her backing singers, Flames Collective.

She then teased that her merchandise may contain "a release date", before launching into her unreleased song, Where Is My Husband?

Introducing her next song, Flip A Switch, she told the audience: "I'm a complete and utter drama queen and I'm unapologetic about that and what it does mean ladies and gentlemen is a lot of dramatic endings this evening."

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RAYE performs at the All Points East festival in Victoria Park
RAYE performs at the All Points East festival in Victoria Park. Picture: Alamy

She also said she had to "address the dust situation", and told fans to "stay safe" on a very dry evening at London's Victoria Park.

The dusty conditions caused by a lack of rain this summer left festivalgoers covered in dust, with many having to cover their faces to shield from the irritation.

Raye performed a range of songs including her track with Mark Ronson, Suzanne, as well as Mary Jane, Genesis, Prada, and a jazz cover of It's A Man's Man's Man's World.

Towards the latter half of her set, the London singer became emotional as she performed her tune Ice Cream Man, which details a sexual assault.

"Music is medicine and this song saves me over and over again", she said while tearing up.

Introducing the last song in her set, Escapism featuring 070 Shake, she said: "This is the kind of moment a little girl dreams of."

Raye, real name Rachel Keen, made history in 2024 when she took home six gongs at the Brit Awards, the most of any artist in one night.

The commendation was years in the making for Raye, a Brit school graduate who signed to Polydor Records as a teenager.

During her All Points East set she told fans she was "very proud about being an independent artist" and added: "Dreams don't happen overnight."

In 2021 the singer, who had written lyrics for Beyonce and Rihanna, expressed frustration at her label not letting her release her debut album.

In a series of posts on X, formerly Twitter, she wrote: "Imagine this pain. I have been signed to a major label since 2014... and I have had albums on albums of music sat in folders collecting dust, songs I am now giving away to A list artists because I am still awaiting confirmation that I am good enough to release an album."

She later announced she had struck out as an independent artist and by the end of 2022 her dance track Escapism had gone viral on TikTok and shot up the charts to number one.

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