Olivia Dean

Dean was born in the London Borough of Haringey to an English father and a Jamaican-Guyanese mother.^[2] Her grandmother immigrated to the UK from Guyana at age 18 as part of the Windrush generation.^[3] Her middle name "Lauryn" is inspired from Lauryn Hill, of whom her parents are big fans.^[2] She grew up in Highams Park^[4] and sometimes felt othered for being of mixed-race.^[3] Her father often listened to music and they would dance around the kitchen together.^[5] In primary school, she sang "Tomorrow" from the musical Annie in a competition and was so nervous that she initially turned her back to the audience and started crying from stage fright, although she did win second place.^[3][2] She took musical theatre lessons in a Saturday school and participated in a gospel choir.^[3][6] At age 15, she was accepted to the BRIT School and travelled a 3-hour round trip every day to attend school.^[3][7][8] At first, she studied theatre, but she switched disciplines to songwriting and convinced her mother to buy a second-hand piano.^[3]

Dean began writing songs at age 16, teaching herself the guitar and piano.^[8] She performed at her graduation concert.^[3] She attracted the attention of Emily Braham, a young woman who she hired as her manager.^[3][8][9]

Braham got Dean into an audition with Rudimental, who hired Dean as a backing vocalist at age 17.^[2][3] Her first show was at the Sziget Festival in front of 16,000 people.^[3] She was featured on Rudimental's single "Adrenaline" on the album Toast to Our Differences (2019).^[3] She said that she was not good in the position as she often sang the tune instead of just the harmony.^[2]

In November 2019, she released her debut EP, OK Love You Bye, recorded in a converted east London pub.^[3][10] After it was streamed millions of times, she was offered and signed a recording contract with EMI.^[3] Her second EP, What Am I Gonna Do On Sundays?, was released in December 2020.^[11]

In 2021, Dean recorded an exclusive version of Nat King Cole's "The Christmas Song" for Amazon's Christmas Originals line-up, which charted at number 19 in the UK singles chart.^[12][13] That year, she was named the breakthrough artist of the year by Amazon Music.^[14]

In 2023, Dean was selected as BBC Music Introducing Artist of the Year.^[15]

In June 2023, she released her debut album, Messy.^[1]

Dean performed at Glastonbury Festival 2024.

Dean has cited Lauryn Hill, Amy Winehouse, Adele, Carole King and the Supremes as inspirations.^[7][5]

Her music is described as "devastating heartbreak ballads and sing-along self-love anthems".^[2]

Dean is a brand ambassador for Chanel.^[2] In 2020, her mother became the deputy leader of the Women's Equality Party.^[2] Dean only works with female directors for her music videos and describes herself as "a very strong feminist".^[2]

• UK / Europe (April/May 2024)^[16]

• "Reason to Stay" (2018)
• "Password Change" (2019)
• "Baby Come Home" (2020)
• "Crosswords" (2020)
• "The Hardest Part" (2020)
• "Merry Christmas Everyone" (2020)
• "Echo" (2020)
• "Be My Own Boyfriend" (2021)^[20]
• "Slowly" (2021)^[21]
• "The Christmas Song" (2021) UK #19
• "Danger" (2022)
• "UFO" (2023)
• "Dive" (2023)
• "Carmen" (2023)
• "The Hardest Part" (2023) (with Leon Bridges)^[22] – No. 20 Adult Alternative Songs^[23]
• "Ladies Room" (2023)
• "Time" (2024)

• "Free" (2017)
• "Adrenaline" (2019)
• "Homerton" (2022)
• "Call Me A Lioness" (2023)