Is RAYE classically trained? Footage shows star singer playing cello with former classmate

19 January 2026, 14:09 | Updated: 19 January 2026, 16:02

The ‘Oscar Winning Tears' singer is a multi-instrumental whizz-kid. Here’s all you need to know about RAYE’s musical training.

Grammy-nominated singer RAYE started 2026 with the year’s first chart-topping single, ‘Where Is My Husband’. She has broken the record for the artist with most BRIT awards in one go. She’s supported Taylor Swift on tour and she’s written for Beyoncé.

But not many people knew about her early classical training before a former classmate shared a TikTok clip of her playing cello as a child...

Read more: Jessie Buckley studied piano, clarinet, saxophone, harp and singing

What musical instruments does RAYE play?

The 28-year-old singer grew up in a very musical Pentecostal church environment, where her father, who was a worship leader, taught her to play piano at home.

She has described pushing his hands off the keys in order that she could play herself and has said she quickly fell in love with the instrument. She’s also talked about playing flute, guitar and bass. It’s no surprise that many of her songs have lent themselves to orchestral covers.

At the age of 14, RAYE passed an audition to the BRIT School (though she later left). As part of the audition process she says she worked to get up to Grade 5 standard on piano and worked on her musical theory and singing grades.

As a teen – as evidenced by a new video on TikTok – RAYE also played the cello in her school orchestra.

‘Her harmonies are brilliant and beautiful’

Jennymay Logan is a freelance violinist with the Elysian Collective and works regularly in the West End as well as with a number of pop stars including Florence and the Machine and Jarvis Cocker. She played in the Heritage Orchestra orchestrated version of RAYE’s album My 21st Century Soul at the Royal Albert Hall in a gig entitled My 21st Century Symphony.

The orchestra described the gig as, “one of the most electric concerts we’ve ever done, with RAYE performing out of her socks and the audience unable to contain their love of a singer that is top of her game”.

Logan says it was, “One of the best gigs I’ve ever done in my entire life. It was spine-tingling, goosebump stuff and you don’t get that very often.”

The reason, says Logan, “She just knows music inside out. Watching her engineering and producing her own stuff, you can see how much she loves tinkering with sound and how well she understands it. Her harmonies are brilliant and beautiful.”

Read more: ‘The Piano’ winner Diana Newell makes her Royal Albert Hall debut aged 88

RAYE’s early training and efforts seem to have paid off. She’s had rave reviews for her lush orchestral arrangements and production values.

Logan adds, “RAYE is genuinely excited and thrilled by music, and that comes across completely. It felt like one of those gigs where you’re in the presence of someone truly spectacular, someone who’s going to go down in history.”