Lily Allen reveals ‘West End Girl’ tour is “first I’ve done sober”, reflects on “playing someone two years removed from where I am now”

Lily Allen has spoken about how the ‘West End Girl’ shows are the first she has done fully sober, and said that part of her “misses the post-show celebrations”.

The London singer and actor is currently out on the road, embarking on her ‘West End Girl’ tour which celebrates the hit 2025 album of the same name.

It marked her fifth studio album, and was written and recorded in 10 days following the collapse of her marriage to the Stranger Things actor, after he allegedly cheated on her.

Allen previously described the record as “a mixture of fact and fiction” that details the “complexities of relationships and how we all navigate them”, and has said it was inspired by her “deep-rooted issues with rejection and abandonment” after her divorce . She later stated that she did not view it as a “cruel” album and was not seeking “revenge” .

The shows also mark the first full tour that Allen has embarked on since becoming fully sober – with her previously speaking about how she has been clean for several years now, having struggled with both binge drinking and drug abuse in the past.

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Speaking to The Cut about how it feels to be performing such personal, vulnerable music live, over a year since she recorded it in the studio, Allen shared how she is appreciative of the fans’ support for the tour, and how while seeing “the audience singing your words back” usually fills her “with a real sense of joy and adrenaline and achievement”, this time it feels different because she is “not myself on stage” but simply “playing someone two years removed from where I am now”.

She spoke about having recently played three sold-out nights at The O2 in London, saying: “I was like, ‘Why am I not feeling like this is the best moment of my life?’ And it’s because I am not me when I’m up there… It’s also different because I’m not drunk and high, which I always have been in the past when I’ve been on stage. This is the first tour that I’ve done sober.”