Pop Quiz: Corinne Bailey Rae

Pop Quiz: Corinne Bailey Rae

Aidin Vaziri | While Norah Jones is off indulging her punk fantasies in fishnets and black eyeliner, British sensation Corinne Bailey Rae has stepped in to fill her sophisticated folk-jazz flats. Her self-titled debut album has already gone double platinum in the United Kingdom and gold across Europe. Now America is falling for the charms of the disc's seductive first single, "Put Your Records On," which is all over VH1. Rae's music has also been featured on "ER" and "Grey's Anatomy." The best part? The former church singer already got the rock bug out of her system as a teenager when she fronted Helen, a riot grrrl band inspired by L7.

Corinne Bailey Rae
Q: How many hours did you ride around on a bike in the video for "Put Your Records On"?
A: How many hours? It was quite a lot, actually. Three or four hours?
Q: Wow. Is that a new world record?
A: No. I mean, it wasn't all cycling, but it was about finding a good spot, finding hills and winding our way down. It was good fun.
Q: When you aren't on two wheels, what's your idea of fun?
A: I really like reading. I like escaping off into a different world, so I've read five books in the past four weeks. That's been really good. I also like to speak to my family a lot. I built up a massive phone bill last month. The phone company got in contact with my mum because they thought my phone had been stolen.
Q: What kind of stuff do you read?
A: I read a lot of women authors.
Q: So do I -- most of them write for Penthouse Forum.