Singer Lily Allen has announced she will perform her new album in its entirety when she tours the UK in March 2026.
West End Girl has become one of the most talked about albums of the year since its release last Friday, due to its candid lyrics.
The album details some of the events that led to the breakdown of her marriage to US actor David Harbour, best known for appearing in Stranger Things.
The tour will stop in Glasgow, Liverpool, Birmingham, Sheffield, Newcastle, Manchester, Nottingham, Cambridge, Bristol and Cardiff, before concluding with two nights at the London Palladium.
Allen last toured between 2018 and 2019, following the release of her fourth studio album No Shame.
She has only made occasional live appearances since then, such as appearing in Glastonbury sets by Olivia Rodrigo and Shy FX.
However, in the intervening years, Allen has also become a successful stage actress, starring in the first production of 2:22 – A Ghost Story when it opened in the West End shortly after the pandemic.
This period is what inspired the title of the album, West End Girl, and Allen appears to sing about how being cast the play sparked the chain of events that led to her separation from Harbour.
In interviews, Allen has stressed the lyrics aren’t necessarily the gospel truth – because she “wasn’t sure what was real, and what was in my head” as she processed the end of the relationship.
The album’s lyrics, as well as interviews she gave at the time, suggest that Harbour was surprised and envious that Allen had secured a leading West End role without having to audition, and that his “demeanour started to change” after she was cast.
She sings that starring in 2:22 led to a distance developing between the couple, both literally and metaphorically, which resulted in Harbour suggesting an open relationship.
Allen sings on the record about how this led to an “arrangement” with Harbour where he could be with other women, but the rules were “there had to be payment, it had to be with strangers”.
But, before long, Allen hears of a relationship her husband appears to have with “Madeline” – a pseudonym – which falls outside their arrangement.
Harbour has not publicly commented on the content of the album.
However, he appears to still have a relationship with Allen and her children, and was seen taking her daughters to a theme park last weekend.
All 14 songs on West End Girl were written by Allen, mainly in collaboration with her musical director Blue May.
Allen has suggested that some of the songs are written “in character”, saying that the lyrics “could be considered autofiction” – a genre that combines autobiography and fiction.
She rose to fame in 2006 with her debut album Alright, Still, and had number one hits including Smile, The Fear, and her cover of Keane’s Somewhere Only We Know, which was featured in a John Lewis advert.
She had two number one albums in the UK, It’s Not Me It’s You and Sheezus, while her 2018 record No Shame was nominated for the Mercury Prize.
She released a candid memoir, My Thoughts Exactly, in the same year, but took a break from music shortly afterwards, and began dating Harbour in 2019.
The singer will perform West End Girl in the order the songs appear on the record for her tour in March.
Tickets for the tour, which launches in March 2026, go on sale on 7 November.
