Today’s Sun has a story about how Lily Allen rescued a substandard vocal performance by Atomic Kitten back in 2001.

Apparently the then-popular girl-band were recording a track called On Me ‘Ead (written by Lily’s dad Keith) for the soundtrack to Brit flick Mike Bassett: England Manager.

The original Atomic Kitten performance wasn’t up to scratch (if you’ll excuse the feline pun) and they didn’t have time to record another given their tight deadlines and the fact one of the band was ill.

So Keith suggested his 14 year-old daughter have a go. According to ‘a source’ quoted in the Sun’s report, "It only took her half a day to nail it. Liz and Jenny are on the finished song but Lily was the third member, with the strongest vocal, patching the whole thing up."

This story sums up the problem some people have with Lily Allen. On one hand she is a genuinely talented singer, on the other, however much she plays it down, she has clearly benefited from her Dad’s position.

But you know what? Who cares about the second bit?

Thanks in no small part to Lily Allen, who opened the door for many who followed, this country now boasts an unprecedented number of female pop stars who are the envy of the world.

Not only can Lily, Amy, Adele and the rest sing better than Atomic Kitten, they write their own material and do, say, and wear what they like.

In this context, where Lily’s first leg-up into the business came from is irrelevant.