Corinne Bailey Rae: ‘I had an entertaining granny who used to do karaoke’

I was born in Leeds in 1979, and grew up in the suburb of Moortown. We lived on a new estate, and had a huge garden. We were on the fifth floor, with floor-to-ceiling windows, and could see across the city. I remember loads of rainbows and sunlight beaming in.

My parents bought that home in the 70s, so there was a white carpet, glass tables and white leather furniture. I remember it being chic. My mum, Linda, was married at 19, but that was not considered young in the 70s. She waited until she was 23 to have me, which was considered quite reserved. My sister Candice was born 18 or 19 months after me. My youngest sister, Rhea, was born four-and-a-half years after me.

My dad, Chris, is from St Kitts. He worked in computers. I remember the first laptop when he brought it home. People from primary school came to check it out – it was huge.

My mum would take us to ballet, and we used to go as a family to Brownies. My dad used to take us to Saturday music school. My parents would never say: “Oh, you’ve got to practice your violin now before tea.” We were self-motivated.

We went to Baptist church as a family, and that took up so many nights a week. We would go to weddings and see our mum and aunties dancing, and, when our cousins came round, we would make up plays and dances. I used to play music in the services, and at 13 or 14 would lead the whole church of 200 people.

My dad is one of six, and my mum is one of four, so I had lots of cousins. And the two families lived nearby. My nanna and grandad lived in a big house in Chapeltown, and we would be there every Sunday with our cousins, and my nanna would cook St Kitts’ dishes. My dad’s parents were also building a house back in St Kitts. And they finished their dream house, with mango and guava trees and roses, and went back when I was 16 or 17.

My mum’s mum was really sociable. She grew up in the working men’s clubs culture, and would sing and tap dance. She was an entertaining granny: she used to do karaoke and we used to have parties at her house.

My parents got divorced for the same reason that most people’s parents get divorced: the relationship had stopped working. I was about 12 or 13. But our families are still close, and we will be together for Christmas, Easter, birthdays and Mother’s Day. In Caribbean culture, extended family is a solid unit.

My mum was fine about me leaving home to go to university in Leeds: she still had two daughters at home. She was really into salsa, so she used to be out every Thursday night at the club where I worked. She’s a hip mum.

My sister Candice is a Labour councillor for Hounslow and really into social justice, and Rhea is an actor.

I have learned about marriage from people in our church. I would see those guys talk and discuss and argue and be fine. So I felt a marriage could be really elastic in that sense. People whose parents are divorced think that as soon as you have an argument it’s all over, but a good marriage is robust. With [my second husband] Steve, I feel lucky because we both communicate well. We say if something is up, and we say what we need, and we say if we have hurt each other. We have only been married a few years, but we have been really happy.