At the 2024 Bazaar Women of the Year Awards, the extremely talented Raye was presented with the musician of the year award. To introduce her, and present the accolade, was her great friend Maya Jama, who – after bemoaning having to follow Jilly Cooper on stage ("Why did she have to be so funny? Coming after the funny person is the worst!") – passionately described Raye's meteoric rise over the past few years.
"I had the honour of presenting this gorgeous woman, not one, which would have been major; not two, which is wild for any human; but six Brit Awards earlier this year," Jama said. "It was an iconic moment that broke records previously held by icons such as Blur and Adele. Not light work in the slightest. We are celebrating her journey once again tonight. This artist’s story is one of courage and determination."
She continued: "It's not every day we see talent like this, and as someone who has had the pleasure of being around the last 10 years to watch her star rise, her journey, both personally and professionally, is an inspiration and a testament to the power of staying true to yourself." She turned and addressed Raye directly, adding: "Your smile lights up every room you enter, and I am forever gassed for every single one of your achievements."
Raye approached the stage admitting to feeling overwhelmed by the praise, as she accepted her award to bountiful applause from the audience. "I used to dream about this as a little girl," she said. "When I was seven years old, I dedicated my life to being a songwriter. That was my plan A, and there was no plan B. But for a little girl from South London, you have to find a lot of inner tenacity and a lot of self-belief to try and set about making that happen."
The multi-talented musician, whose debut studio album My 21st Century Blues skyrocketed her to international fame in 2023, has been a shining light in the industry ever since; her record breaking Brit Awards haul – and now her Bazaar award – testament to her extraordinary talent.
Yet Raye was keen to pay homage to the "women who went before me", remembering how so many of her experiences in the industry had been marred by men not taking her seriously. "I would go to work Friday after school, Saturdays, and Sundays – because I had no social life, I'm really, actually, quite sad – but it was this pursuit of proving myself. This became like second nature to me, something that I thought was because I was just a child," she said. "But as I grew up, I realised, oh, actually, I think it's because I'm a woman."
"I've really had some pretty tough and hardcore journeys and stories, and I put that into my music," she said. "But I can't imagine what it would have been like 10 years ago, 20 years ago, 50 years ago, 100 years ago. So I want to dedicate this award to the suffragettes." And with that – and to more rapturous applause – our Musician of the Year took home yet another well-deserved prize.
Watch Raye's full acceptance speech in the video above.
