Olivia Dean

Biography

Olivia Lauryn Dean (born 14 March 1999) is an English singer and songwriter. Her accolades include four Brit Awards and a Grammy Award.
Dean signed with AMF Records and Virgin EMI Records in 2019 after her self-released song "Reason to Stay" went viral. Her debut album, Messy×Messy30 June 2023 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1UFO2:342Dive3:213Ladies Room3:404No Man2:595Dangerously Easy2:446Getting There (interlude)1:477Danger2:568The Hardest Part2:569I Could Be a Florist1:2110Messy3:4311Everybody’s Crazy2:4412Carmen4:49 (2023), included her breakout single "Dive" and earned a nomination for the Mercury Prize. Her second album, The Art of Loving×The Art of Loving26 September 2025 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1The Art of Loving0:412Nice to Each Other3:293Lady Lady3:294Close Up3:155So Easy (To Fall in Love)2:496Let Alone the One You Love3:067Man I Need3:048Something Inbetween2:329Loud3:0410Baby Steps3:1711A Couple Minutes3:3212I’ve Seen It2:08 (2025), topped the UK Albums Chart and earned her the Grammy Award for Best New Artist in 2026. The album produced several successful singles, including her first UK number-one single, "Man I Need×Man I Need15 August 2025 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 3 tracks1Man I Need3:042Nice To Each Other3:293Lady Lady3:29", and the multi-platinum hits "Nice to Each Other×Nice to Each Other30 May 2025 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Nice to Each Other3:29" and "So Easy (To Fall in Love)". She also collaborated with Sam Fender on the single "Rein Me In×Rein Me In20 June 2025 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Rein Me In5:39", which became the longest-running number-one in UK chart history and won the Brit Award for Song of the Year.

Early life and education

Dean was born on 14 March 1999, in the London Borough of Haringey. Her father is English and her mother Christine is a lawyer of Jamaican and Guyanese descent. Her maternal grandmother, Carmen, emigrated to the United Kingdom from Guyana aged 18 as part of the Windrush generation. Carmen was "quite young" when she gave birth to Dean's mother. Dean received her middle name Lauryn as her mother was a fan of American singer Lauryn Hill. She has a younger brother. Actor Ashley Walters, who was a rapper in So Solid Crew, is her cousin.
Dean grew up in the 60% white suburb of Highams Park and has said she sometimes "felt quite 'other'" for being mixed-race. Her father often listened to music and they would dance around the kitchen together. Her mother, a barrister, introduced her to the music of Jill Scott, Angie Stone, and Lauryn Hill, while her father introduced her to the music of Carole King and Al Green. One of the first CDs that she owned was a single of "A Moment Like This" (2006) by Leona Lewis.
In primary school, she sang "Tomorrow" from the musical Annie in a competition. So nervous at first that she turned her back to the audience, she cried while singing but still won second place. By the age of eight, she knew that she wanted to be a singer, although she was quite shy. At the urging of her mother, she took musical theatre lessons in a Saturday school and participated in a gospel choir. She was one of a few black girls in her primary school, which made her want to leave the area.
At the age of fifteen, she was accepted by BRIT School, a highly selective but free performing arts school in Croydon. She travelled an hour and 45 minutes each way to attend, always falling asleep on the commute. In 2020, she said that attending BRIT School was "the best thing I ever did". She initially studied musical theatre, but switched to songwriting for her final two years and convinced her mother to buy her a second-hand piano. Her inspiration for songwriting and performing was ignited at the age of seventeen when a teacher at the school played, on the projector, a live version of Paul Simon singing "Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes" with Ladysmith Black Mambazo, which she says "just sparked something". At BRIT School, she became close friends with classmates Rachel Chinouriri and Raye.

2017–2024: Career beginnings and Messy

Dean began writing songs at age 16, teaching herself the guitar and piano. At age 17, she put on street performances on the South Bank, barely making enough money to buy dinner. Dean performed at her high school graduation concert, which attracted the attention of Emily Braham of Yo&Co, whom she hired as her manager. Braham got Dean into an audition with Rudimental, who hired Dean as a backing vocalist. Dean has said that she was not good in the position as she often sang the melody instead of the harmony. In 2017, Dean performed her first show at the Sziget Festival in Hungary before a crowd of 16,000. In August 2018, upon the death of Aretha Franklin, Dean uploaded to YouTube a cover version of "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman", written by Carole King and Gerry Goffin and performed by Franklin, which she stated was her favourite song of all time.

In October 2018, Dean self-released her debut single, "Reason to Stay". She was featured on Rudimental's single "Adrenaline" on the album Toast to Our Differences, released in January 2019. In October 2019, she released the single "Password Change×Password Change11 October 2019 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Password Change3:26". After "Reason to Stay" was streamed millions of times, she was offered and signed a recording contract with AMF Records and Virgin EMI Records. In November 2019, she released the single "OK Love You Bye×Ok Love You Bye22 November 2019 · EPSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 4 tracks1Password Change3:262Ok Love You Bye2:343Reason to Stay3:194White Trainers (demo)2:42" as well as her debut EP, the four-song OK Love You Bye, via the label. It was recorded in a converted pub in East London. That year, she was chosen as BBC Introducing London's Featured Artist of the Week and performed at a BBC Introducing show at The Lexington, Islington.
In 2020, during the COVID-19 lockdowns, Dean moved in with her parents in Walthamstow and focused on her social media. She worked with Eg White on the singles "Crosswords×Crosswords28 February 2020 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Crosswords2:33" and "What Am I Gonna Do on Sundays?×What Am I Gonna Do on Sundays?4 December 2020 · EPSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 4 tracks1What Am I Gonna Do on Sundays?3:292The Hardest Part2:563Echo3:184Out4:05". In August 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, in what she called the "From Me to You" tour, sponsored by Clarks, Dean travelled around the UK in a bright yellow truck painted with her name, a "flower power" daisy, and a Black Lives Matter logo, delivering open-air performances to fans and passers-by. Some of the shows had only five or 10 attendees. Her second EP, What Am I Gonna Do on Sundays?, was released in December 2020.
In April 2021, she was named the breakthrough artist of the year by Amazon Music. That month, she played at The Jazz Cafe in her first performance after the COVID-19 lockdowns; a video of the performance became a viral video on TikTok. In July 2021, she released the EP, Growth×Growth30 July 2021 · EPSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 5 tracks1Be My Own Boyfriend3:282Slowly3:493Cross My Mind2:504Fall Again2:515Float3:03. In August 2021, Dean performed six concerts at venues in southern England as part of the Revive Live Tour organised by Music Venue Trust and funded by The National Lottery to help revive live music venues after the COVID-19 pandemic. In November 2021, Dean recorded a version of Nat King Cole's "The Christmas Song×The Christmas Song3 November 2021 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1The Christmas Song2:55" for Amazon's Christmas Originals line-up, which charted at number 19 on the UK singles chart. In May 2023, she performed at BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend. She also made her television debut by performing her single "Dive" on Later... with Jools Holland. In June 2023, she released her debut full-length album, Messy×Messy30 June 2023 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1UFO2:342Dive3:213Ladies Room3:404No Man2:595Dangerously Easy2:446Getting There (interlude)1:477Danger2:568The Hardest Part2:569I Could Be a Florist1:2110Messy3:4311Everybody’s Crazy2:4412Carmen4:49, which was nominated for a Mercury Prize.
In November 2023, Dean was selected as BBC Music Introducing Artist of the Year. Dean performed at Glastonbury Festival 2024; performing at the festival had been a childhood dream of hers. In June 2024, she released the single "Time". She released a cover of The Supremes's "You Can't Hurry Love", recorded at Jools' Annual Hootenanny, in October 2024. In November, she released another single, "Touching Toes×Touching Toes15 November 2024 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Touching Toes2:12".

2025–present: Breakthrough with The Art of Loving

In February 2025, Dean released the single "It Isn't Perfect But It Might Be" for the film Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy. Also in February 2025, Dean performed on all six dates of Laneway Festival, with shows in Auckland, Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, and Perth, her first shows in Australia and New Zealand. Dean supported Sam Fender on selected dates of Fender's People Watching Tour in June and August 2025, including shows at London Stadium and St James' Park, and collaborated with Fender on a duet version of "Rein Me In×Rein Me In20 June 2025 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Rein Me In5:39", released in June. Dean performed a secret set at Glastonbury Festival 2025.
Her second album, The Art of Loving×The Art of Loving26 September 2025 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1The Art of Loving0:412Nice to Each Other3:293Lady Lady3:294Close Up3:155So Easy (To Fall in Love)2:496Let Alone the One You Love3:067Man I Need3:048Something Inbetween2:329Loud3:0410Baby Steps3:1711A Couple Minutes3:3212I’ve Seen It2:08, was released in September 2025. The album included the singles "Nice to Each Other×Nice to Each Other30 May 2025 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Nice to Each Other3:29", "Lady Lady×Lady Lady10 July 2025 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 2 tracks1Lady Lady3:292Nice To Each Other3:29", "Man I Need×Man I Need15 August 2025 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 3 tracks1Man I Need3:042Nice To Each Other3:293Lady Lady3:29", "So Easy (To Fall in Love)", "A Couple Minutes", and "Baby Steps". Dean said that her song "Man I Need" almost wasn't released as a single, because she wasn't sure it fit the album. All the singles charted; "Man I Need" became her first number 1 on the UK singles chart, reached number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100, and number 4 on the Billboard Global 200. She became the first female solo artist to simultaneously have four singles in the Top 10 of the UK singles chart. On 16 November 2025, Dean was the musical guest on Saturday Night Live. She performed songs from her album The Art of Loving including "Man I Need" and "Let Alone the One You Love".
In November 2025, Dean also announced The Art of Loving Live tour with stops in 14 cities in the United States and 15 cities in Europe. However, once tickets went on sale on Ticketmaster, fans encountered online queues of thousands of people and expensive ticket resales. Dean criticised Ticketmaster and other primary ticket outlets such as Live Nation, AXS, and Anschutz Entertainment Group for allowing tickets to The Art of Loving Live tour to be re-sold by scalpers at high markups. Dean referred to Ticketmaster as providing a "disgusting service" and said that the secondary ticketing market was "exploitative and unregulated". As a result of the controversy, Ticketmaster and AXS capped resale ticket prices for Dean's tour and provided refunds for fans that paid above face value; Dean said that she was excited to see "real people" at her shows.
In January 2026, Billboard named Dean Rookie of the Year. That month, she performed "So Easy (To Fall in Love)" on The Graham Norton Show. The following month, her duet with Sam Fender, "Rein Me In", became Dean's second UK number 1 after 35 weeks in the UK Top 40. As of July 2026, the song had spent 23 weeks at number 1 on the chart, becoming the longest-running number 1 by a British act, breaking a thirty-two-year-long record previously held by Wet Wet Wet's "Love Is All Around", and also becoming the longest-running number 1 single of all time, surpassing the 73-year-old record of 18 non-consecutive weeks set by Frankie Laine's "I Believe" in 1953. In February 2026, Dean won four awards at the 46th Brit Awards ceremony. That same month, she won the Grammy Award for Best New Artist.
On 1 October 2026, Mattie Music Group filed a lawsuit claiming that Dean's song "I've Seen It" had copied the Grover Washington Jr. and Bill Withers 1981 single, "Just the Two of Us".

Artistry and influences

Dean has cited Amy Winehouse, Prince, Michael Jackson, Carole King, Sade Adu, Lauryn Hill, Beyoncé, Aretha Franklin, Al Green, Whitney Houston, Joni Mitchell, Raye, Paul Simon, Jill Scott, JLS, Leona Lewis, Angie Stone, and the Supremes as inspirations. Her music is described as "devastating heartbreak ballads and sing-along self-love anthems". In additional to musical influences, Dean has also referenced literary influences in her exploration of love, such as author bell hooks and her book All About Love.

Personal life

Dean has been in a relationship with American drummer Eddie Burns, a band member for Clairo, since April 2025.
Dean is a brand ambassador for Chanel. She also leads an advertising campaign for Burberry Her fragrance. In March 2026, Dean was announced as Hourglass's Global Brand Partner.
Dean is a supporter of West Ham United F.C. and attended many games at Upton Park with her father, a season ticket holder, during her childhood.

Political views

Dean describes herself as "a very strong feminist".
In 2020, her mother became the deputy leader of the Women's Equality Party, making her the first Black deputy leader of a political party in Europe.
In July 2024, when asked her opinion on the 2024 United Kingdom general election, Dean said that it was "time for change" after having grown up under a Tory government for the previous 14 years.
In February 2026, when she won the Grammy Award for Best New Artist, Dean dedicated her acceptance speech to her grandmother Carmen, a Windrush generation immigrant, and advocated for the benefits of immigrants. Dean had previously paid homage to her grandmother on her album Messy×Messy30 June 2023 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1UFO2:342Dive3:213Ladies Room3:404No Man2:595Dangerously Easy2:446Getting There (interlude)1:477Danger2:568The Hardest Part2:569I Could Be a Florist1:2110Messy3:4311Everybody’s Crazy2:4412Carmen4:49 in a song named after her, "Carmen×Carmen26 May 2023 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Carmen4:49".