Lily Allen confirms career break

The singer has confirmed she'll take "one or two years" off from music

Lily Allen has confirmed she'll take "one or two years off from recording and performing music" from March 2010.

It follows rumours of her quitting music to pursue a career in acting.

The singer said she would use the time off to start her own record label, set up a fashion shop with her sister and "spend some time in the home I've built for myself".

Speaking to Radio 1's Sara Cox she said: "My last gig is my Dizzee Rascal concert at the O2 (London) in March. That's the last thing I've got planned.

"I'm just going to concentrate on doing some behind the scenes sort of stuff."

Listen to Lily Allen in Radio 1's Live Lounge

'Stopped everything'

Allen, who earlier this year became embroiled in public discussion surrounding illegal downloading, also spoke about why she had reduced her presence on the internet.

"I've stopped everything, I haven't got a computer and I haven't got a blackberry. I don't do emails or anything now," she added.

"I've decided to stop being so hypocritical and consume things and pay for them. I buy music in vinyl and buy newspapers. I support the industry I'm in.

"I'm a neo-luddite, that's how I describe myself."

Whilst she takes a break from music she said she would set up a rental fashion store with her sister called Lucy In Disguise.

"It's about making fashion democratic," she said. "That's the idea behind it.

"It's about getting really nice clothes but letting people rent them for affordable prices so they can go out and feel like a million dollars and it won't cost them a million dollars."

The London singer says she'll also use her time off to set up a record company.

"I'm going to get into signing new bands but at a really early level," she explained.

"I don't want to compete with other record companies but I want to support new artists."

Read about Newsbeat's favourite new artists