Rachel Chinouriri’s Charmed Turn Of Events

In April 2024, something was in the air for Rachel Chinouriri. It wasn’t just the emerging spring weather in London, or the impending release of her debut album in the following month, What a Devastating Turn of Events. This was something less tangible but more powerful: a mindset shift. “It was the moment I stopped being like ‘I sing sometimes, please check me out,’ and started saying ‘I’m a singer,’” Chinouriri tells me on Zoom from her home in the U.K. capital. “Suddenly, everything changed. I’ve learned the ways of becoming an it girl.”

By most conventional standards, the then-25-year-old singer-songwriter was already an it girl in her own right. Her biggest pop single yet, “Never Need Me,” dropped that January, with a music video co-starring Florence Pugh that quickly racked up millions of views. She’d spent a one-month stint opening for Lewis Capaldi after sending him a drunken DM pitching herself for the gig. But underneath that sheen, Chinouriri was struggling with her mental and physical health, exacerbated by extreme stress and heavy drinking. “It was a very toxic time for me,” she says. “Even when shooting the album artwork, I’d pulled out so much of my hair.”

At that physical low point, she committed to her future self. “I was like, ‘I have not worked this bloody hard to be like, “Could you guys please listen?”’ No, I’m going to stand 10 toes down for my album,” Chinouriri says. So she started believing that everything she wanted was within reach. “I think my attitude made it pay off.”

I feel like I’m having ‘I made it’ moments all the time.

What a Devastating Turn of Events charted at No. 17 in the United Kingdom, and two months after its release, Chinouriri announced she’d be opening for Sabrina Carpenter on the Short ‘N Sweet Tour in Europe. In January 2025, she was nominated for two Brit Awards. (Adele sent flowers to congratulate her.) In April, she dropped her fourth EP, Little House, to reviews that praised her “chatty, accessible style,” and the next month, she kicked off her first headlining North American tour, which will wrap up on June 13 at Bonnaroo. She’ll also be playing the All Things Go and Soundside festivals in September. In a very charmed turn of events, Chinouriri has become the pop artist of her wildest dreams.

“I’m kind of outdoing every target I’ve wanted to hit,” the now-26-year-old says, luxuriating on a sunny day off in London. “I’m achieving things I didn't even expect for myself. I feel like I’m having ‘I made it’ moments all the time.”

Growing up in Croydon, an area south of the city, Chinouriri loved music but was “quite shy” and mostly just sang in her bedroom. She credits her four older sisters with believing in her before anyone else: “They’re my biggest cheerleaders.” At age 16, she was accepted into the prestigious Brit School, a performing arts school in London with a slew of A-list alumni including Adele, Amy Winehouse, Raye, and Tom Holland. “I was like, ‘OK, I think the universe is telling me I should give this a try.’”

That big break came with a catch. “If you manage to get in, you’re like, ‘Crap. OK. I have a lot on my shoulders.’ But it also gives you access to a lot of things.” That included the eye of record labels — Chinouriri was signed to Parlophone in 2018, after she’d begun uploading her original music to streaming platforms while she was still in school.

Her first single, “So My Darling,” got radio play in the United Kingdom, and things took off from there, with a little help from lockdown-era TikTok virality. By the time What a Devastating Turn of Events came out, she had built an enthusiastic fanbase (including Pugh, who followed Chinouriri on socials after seeing her perform at a festival called Cross the Tracks).

Luckily, she’s had friends on similar trajectories, including Brit School classmate Cat Burns. “She opened for my first-ever show I put on in school,” Chinouriri says. “In the industry, we’d always see each other and be like, ‘You’re so sick; we need to work together.’” In October 2024, they released “Even,” a song about the challenges of being a Black woman in music. “It was quite lucky to do that collab about something meaningful that we’re both going through.”

Chinouriri has spoken up about being mislabeled as an R&B artist even though she’s squarely in the indie pop space. Three years after calling out several websites on Twitter, she says people are finally listening. “It’s changed for me, but there’s still a lot of work to happen for other Black women to be recognized,” she says. “It’s easy for me to say ‘Oh, it was easy’ because it’s happening to me, but I know it’s not changing too much because the only other Black person I’m interacting with in the industry is someone I went to school with. I could name 20 white female pop stars who are my friends.”

Making music was a therapeutic skill I learned in order to heal myself. When I was suddenly happy, I was like, ‘Guys, I have nothing to write about.’

Her latest musical obsession is Alemeda, who’s opening for Chinouriri on her North American tour. “You know when someone has this thing about them that draws you into their world? That’s the aura she has,” Chinouriri says. “It’s lovely seeing another Black girl doing that, and I’m excited for her.”

Fans who attend the shows will hear their favorite hits from her debut album, as well as songs from Little House — a project that blossomed when she met her boyfriend Isaac on Hinge last year. “I was actually deleting Hinge and telling everyone how I don’t want a boyfriend,” she says. “I was in love with being single. I was going to the cinema and for walks by myself. I was in the bars, and if a guy would speak to me, I’d be like, ‘Go away.’” But the universe had a different plan. “Just as I was closing the account, I saw his profile. I messaged him and we got on really well, and then I met him and was like, ‘Damn, he’s a good-looking boy.’”

The four-song EP is a love letter to their relationship, and the lead single name-drops Isaac directly. Despite the positive reviews of this new era, Chinouriri still isn’t fully comfortable writing happy songs. “Making music was a therapeutic skill I learned in order to heal myself. When I was suddenly happy, I was like, ‘Guys, I have nothing to write about,’” she says. “I figured if I was going to practice, I could start by speaking about my boyfriend.”

As she starts making plans for album No. 2 (which she’s currently drawing inspiration for but hasn’t begun writing), she hopes to continue writing about joyful things. “I don’t want to revert back to who I was in order to make music,” she says. “I love the life I’m living now because I’m actually happy and healthy. I can’t self-sabotage just for the sake of getting a good song.”

One year ago, she wouldn’t have believed it. “Now I can actually sit and be proud of how far I’ve come.”