# Foxes (singer)
**Foxes** is the stage name of Louisa Rose Allen, a British singer, songwriter, and producer known for electro-pop and dance-pop music and for her featured vocals on Zedd's Grammy-winning 2012 single "Clarity"[1](https://www.louisaallen.com/). Born in Southampton, England, in 1989, she has released three studio albums, Glorious (2014), All I Need (2016), and The Kick (2022), and has six UK Top 40 singles[2](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/mn0003018423) • [3](https://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/foxes-discusses-wanting-to-take-third-album-the-kick-to-a-strange-place-on-the-record-club__35320/).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Full name | Louisa Rose Allen, born 1989 in Southampton, Hampshire, England[2](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/mn0003018423) |
| Breakthrough | Featured vocalist on Zedd's "Clarity", which peaked at number 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 and won Best Dance Recording at the 56th Grammy Awards[4](https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/music/foxes-louisa-rose-allen-s-brush-with-stardom-1.1780253) |
| Grammy | Best Dance Recording, 56th Grammy Awards, Los Angeles, 26 January 2014[5](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/british-singer-foxes-has-gone-from-unknown-to-grammy-winner-and-redcarpet-regular-in-less-than-a-year-9160236.html) |
| Debut album | Glorious, released May 2014, peaked at number five on the UK chart[2](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/mn0003018423) |
| UK chart record | Six Top 40 singles, including the Top 10 hit "Let Go for Tonight" (2014)[3](https://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/foxes-discusses-wanting-to-take-third-album-the-kick-to-a-strange-place-on-the-record-club__35320/) |
| Later albums | All I Need (2016, UK number 12) and The Kick (2022, released through PIAS)[2](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/mn0003018423) |
## Early life and stage name
Allen was born in [Southampton](https://www.edgepedia.org/southampton) and began performing and writing music at six years of age[1](https://www.louisaallen.com/). She wrote her first song, "Like Foxes Do", at around 13, and grew up listening to strong female singers her mother and sister favored, including [Patti Smith](https://www.edgepedia.org/patti-smith), Björk, Tori Amos, and [Kate Bush](https://www.edgepedia.org/kate-bush)[4](https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/music/foxes-louisa-rose-allen-s-brush-with-stardom-1.1780253).
At 17 she nearly enrolled in a beauty therapy course with friends, but her sister persuaded her to move to London instead, where she lived on her sister's sofa and attended music school[4](https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/music/foxes-louisa-rose-allen-s-brush-with-stardom-1.1780253). She has said she dropped out after about a year because she preferred writing songs in a bedroom to learning theory in a classroom[6](https://untitled-magazine.com/music-darling-foxes-on-why-she-dropped-out-of-school-to-pursue-her-dreams-exclusive-interview/). Her own website states that she attended the [University of Surrey](https://www.edgepedia.org/university-of-surrey) in [Guildford](https://www.edgepedia.org/guildford) and earned a Masters in music composition and production[1](https://www.louisaallen.com/).
The name Foxes came from her first song and from a dream her mother once had about the animals; it also distinguished her from the British singer [Lily Allen](https://www.edgepedia.org/lily-allen), whose full name, Lily Rose Allen, closely resembles hers[4](https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/music/foxes-louisa-rose-allen-s-brush-with-stardom-1.1780253).
## "Clarity" and the Grammy
Allen's early singles "Youth" and "Home" were discovered on [SoundCloud](https://www.edgepedia.org/soundcloud) and used in two 2012 episodes of the American TV show [Gossip Girl](https://www.edgepedia.org/gossip-girl)[7](https://www.wmagazine.com/story/foxes-coldplay-on-the-verge). "Youth" then caught the attention of the German producer Zedd (Anton Zaslavski), who was searching for a singer for a new track; he contacted her after hearing the song online, and the two worked together over Skype and in person[4](https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/music/foxes-louisa-rose-allen-s-brush-with-stardom-1.1780253).
The result, "Clarity", became a major hit in the United States, peaking at number 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 and topping the dance charts[4](https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/music/foxes-louisa-rose-allen-s-brush-with-stardom-1.1780253). At the 56th [Grammy Awards](https://www.edgepedia.org/grammy-awards) in Los Angeles on 26 January 2014, it won Best Dance Recording, beating nominees including [Calvin Harris](https://www.edgepedia.org/calvin-harris) and [Duke Dumont](https://www.edgepedia.org/duke-dumont)[5](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/british-singer-foxes-has-gone-from-unknown-to-grammy-winner-and-redcarpet-regular-in-less-than-a-year-9160236.html) • [8](https://gcn.ie/interview-foxes-2/). Allen, then 24 and without a released album, described the win as a total shock[4](https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/music/foxes-louisa-rose-allen-s-brush-with-stardom-1.1780253). She toured extensively with Zedd in support of the track, playing arenas as his guest vocalist[9](https://www.coldplay.com/foxes-interview/).
She was wary of being typecast as an EDM vocalist. "I never, ever would have done 'Clarity' if I didn't think it was good," she told [The Irish Times](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-irish-times), adding that she had not used the song to heighten her profile but had returned to her own material[4](https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/music/foxes-louisa-rose-allen-s-brush-with-stardom-1.1780253).
## Solo career
Allen's debut album, Glorious, was released in May 2014 and peaked at number five on the UK chart; its second single, "Let Go for Tonight", reached the UK Top Ten[2](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/mn0003018423) • [3](https://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/foxes-discusses-wanting-to-take-third-album-the-kick-to-a-strange-place-on-the-record-club__35320/). Alongside her own releases she appeared as a guest vocalist on Rudimental's single "Right Here" and on [Fall Out Boy](https://www.edgepedia.org/fall-out-boy)'s "Just One Yesterday"[5](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/british-singer-foxes-has-gone-from-unknown-to-grammy-winner-and-redcarpet-regular-in-less-than-a-year-9160236.html).
Her second album, All I Need, arrived in February 2016 on the Sony imprint Sign of the Times and peaked at number 12 in the UK; its lead single "Body Talk" reached the UK Top 25[2](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/mn0003018423). The exposure helped her land an opening slot on Coldplay's A Head Full of Dreams stadium tour, which took her back to the United States in 2016[2](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/mn0003018423) • [9](https://www.coldplay.com/foxes-interview/). Critics were mixed on the record: The Guardian found it disappointingly generic outside the single "Cruel"[10](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/feb/04/foxes-all-i-need-review-body-talk-second-album), while Pitchfork judged that her vocals alone could not make the album memorable[11](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/21521-all-i-need/).
After a period away from the spotlight, she returned in 2020 with the single "Love Not Loving You" through a deal with PIAS[2](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/mn0003018423). The Friends in the Corner EP followed in 2021, and her third album, The Kick, was released in February 2022, her first full-length in six years[2](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/mn0003018423) • [3](https://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/foxes-discusses-wanting-to-take-third-album-the-kick-to-a-strange-place-on-the-record-club__35320/). Now an independent artist, she described the album's synth-pop direction as deliberately rougher than her earlier work: "A lot of pop music at the moment is clean and quite perfect. I like making stuff that's a bit rough around the edges"[3](https://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/foxes-discusses-wanting-to-take-third-album-the-kick-to-a-strange-place-on-the-record-club__35320/).
## Style and reputation
AllMusic characterizes Foxes as a London-based dance-pop singer and songwriter whose early material trod a dance-pop path while carrying a quirky, cultured approach that nodded to predecessors such as Kate Bush and Florence + the Machine[2](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/mn0003018423). Allen has consistently resisted the EDM label that "Clarity" invited, describing herself as a singer and songwriter rather than a dance diva, and she has kept creative control of her operation, down to her music videos and live shows[5](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/british-singer-foxes-has-gone-from-unknown-to-grammy-winner-and-redcarpet-regular-in-less-than-a-year-9160236.html) • [12](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/music/features/foxes-interview-a-pop-star-for-our-times-who-prefers-to-film-her-music-videos-on-london-council-estates-than-in-la-a6813946.html). More than a decade after its release, "Clarity" remains a fixture of her live sets; she has said she does not expect ever to stop singing it[13](https://www.euphoriazine.com/blog/2020/08/interviews-foxes/).
## References
1. [Louisa Allen, official website](https://www.louisaallen.com/)
2. [Foxes Biography, AllMusic](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/mn0003018423)
3. [Foxes discusses wanting to take third album The Kick "to a strange place" on The Record Club, Official Charts Company](https://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/foxes-discusses-wanting-to-take-third-album-the-kick-to-a-strange-place-on-the-record-club__35320/)
4. [Foxes: Louisa Rose Allen's brush with stardom, The Irish Times](https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/music/foxes-louisa-rose-allen-s-brush-with-stardom-1.1780253)
5. [British singer Foxes has gone from unknown to Grammy winner and red-carpet regular in less than a year, The Independent](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/british-singer-foxes-has-gone-from-unknown-to-grammy-winner-and-redcarpet-regular-in-less-than-a-year-9160236.html)
6. [Music Darling Foxes on Why She Dropped Out of School to Pursue Her Dreams, The Untitled Magazine](https://untitled-magazine.com/music-darling-foxes-on-why-she-dropped-out-of-school-to-pursue-her-dreams-exclusive-interview/)
7. [Meet Foxes, the Singer-Songwriter Who Won a Grammy Before Releasing her First Album, W Magazine](https://www.wmagazine.com/story/foxes-coldplay-on-the-verge)
8. [Interview: Foxes, GCN](https://gcn.ie/interview-foxes-2/)
9. [Foxes interview, Coldplay.com](https://www.coldplay.com/foxes-interview/)
10. [Foxes: All I Need review, The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/feb/04/foxes-all-i-need-review-body-talk-second-album)
11. [Foxes: All I Need Album Review, Pitchfork](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/21521-all-i-need/)
12. [Foxes interview: A pop star for our times, The Independent](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/music/features/foxes-interview-a-pop-star-for-our-times-who-prefers-to-film-her-music-videos-on-london-council-estates-than-in-la-a6813946.html)
13. [Foxes on "Woman," Sisterhood, and Trusting Her Gut, EUPHORIA. Magazine](https://www.euphoriazine.com/blog/2020/08/interviews-foxes/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Music › Musicians and ensembles › Individual musical biographies › Pop and R&B singer-songwriters › Pop singers, 2000s to present › Dance-pop and electropop singers*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license