Pop star’s famous father behind ‘the best football song of all time-Asyia Iftikhar-Entertainment – Metro

Popstar Lily Allen’s dad, Keith Allen, penned this well-known football tune Vindaloo (Picture: PA)

Fat Les’ hit single Vindaloo is one of the best known England football anthems of all time – but the mastermind behind the lyrics may surprise you.

The song, named after the popular Indian curry known as a vindaloo, came out in 1998 for that year’s FIFA World Cup (the same tournament David Beckham was notoriously red-carded) as a parody of the chants so quintessential to English football fans.

It shot up the UK singles charts and peaked at number two (beaten only by fellow football hit Three Lions ’98) and has become synonymous with the nationally recognized ‘na-na-na-na’ lyrics.

Despite being a household anthem for almost four decades, few may know that the lyrics were actually created by British actor and comedian Keith Allen aka the father of chart-topping singer Lily Allen. Alongside Pink Floyd bassist Guy Pratt.

That’s right, British band Fat Les consisted of Keith, 70, Blur bassist Alex James, 55,and artist Damien Hirst from 1998 to 2002.

They released parody songs such as their second football anthem Jerusalem, Naughty Christmas, and Who Invented Fish & Chips?

The comedian has had a long and lucrative career (Picture: REX/Shutterstock)

Lily was born in 1985 to Keith and wife Alison Owen (Picture: Richard Young/REX/Shutterstock)

Outside the band, Keith has starred in several classic comedies and drama including BBC’s Robin Hood and Kingsman: The Golden Circle.

He married English film producer Alison Owen in 1982 and the pair welcomed the Smile hitmaker in 1985 before they divorced in 1989.

To this day, viral football hit Vindaloo remains one of Keith’s greatest and long-lasting legacies. In a recent interview, he was asked if he still makes royalties from his football-related records.

‘Oh God yeah, a lot, probably about £20,000 a year. I mean, I get more money from Vindaloo [1998 UK Number Two by Fat Les] than a lot of things,’ he told the Telegraph.

They even collaborated on a Fat Les song together (Picture: David Fisher/Shutterstock)

‘I’m always earning money off Vindaloo. The song gets used for all sorts of things and various campaigns. In fact it’s going to be used for one for Deliveroo.

‘Guy Pratt played bass on it and he’s earned more money from Vindaloo than anything he’s ever done with Pink Floyd.’

He has also described it as a ‘pub folk song’ and attributed that to its long-running success.

He told PA: ‘The thing about Vindaloo is that it is what I call a close proximity tune. It is not sung in stadiums.

‘You don’t get 60,000 people singing Vindaloo, but you do get 20 million people in pubs singing Vindaloo. So as long as we have got pubs you will have Vindaloo.’

He still makes five-figures from the song to this day (Picture: Getty)

He added that he knew it would be ‘big’ because it ‘ticked all the boxes’.

He continued: ‘The most coveted thing about Vindaloo is it captures that unique England sense of humour. And the video certainly captures that. It is very quintessentially English and I think people like that.’

He has also involved LIly in his musical machinations, with the Brit-winning music artist providing vocals on Who Invented Fish & Chips.

The 39-year-old singer has previously spoken about the ‘privilege’ of having parents who come from the industry after wading into the nepo baby discourse.

‘I am nearly 40 years of age and am more than happy, in fact I think it’s important to disclose what a privileged upbringing I’ve had and how that has created so many opportunities for me,’ she posted a few years ago.

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