Olivia Lauryn Dean (born 14 March 1999) is an English singer. She began her career working in collaboration with

Rudimental Rudimental are a British drum and bass band, signed to Asylum Records, Atlantic Records and Black Butter Records. The band consists of Piers Aggett, Kesi Dryden and Leon "Locksmith" Rolle. They were nominated for a Mercury Prize in 2013, and ...

. She was named

Amazon Music Amazon Music (previously Amazon MP3) is a music streaming platform and online music store operated by Amazon. Launched in public beta on September 25, 2007, in January 2008 it became the first music store to sell music without digital rights man ...

's 2021 breakthrough artist of the year and recorded an exclusive version of Nat King Cole's "

The Christmas Song "The Christmas Song" (commonly subtitled "Chestnuts Roasting by an Open Fire" or, as it was originally subtitled, "Merry Christmas to You") is a classic Christmas song written in 1945 by Robert Wells and Mel Tormé. The Nat King Cole Trio f ...

" for Amazon's 2021 Christmas Originals line-up, which charted at number 19 in the UK singles chart.

Early life

Dean was born in the

London Borough of Haringey The London Borough of Haringey (pronounced , same as Harringay) is a London borough in North London, classified by some definitions as part of Inner London, and by others as part of Outer London. It was created in 1965 by the amalgamation of t ...

to an English father and a Jamaican-Guyanese mother. She grew up in

Walthamstow Walthamstow ( or ) is a large town in East London, east London, England, within the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London and the Historic counties of England, ancient county of Essex. Situated northeast of Chari ...

. She took musical theatre lessons and participated in a gospel choir from a young age. She then attended the

BRIT School The BRIT School is a British performing and creative arts school located in Selhurst, Croydon, England, with a mandate to provide education and vocational training for the performing arts, music, music technology, theatre, musical theatre, danc ...

Influences

Dean has cited

Lauryn Hill Lauryn Noelle Hill (born May 26, 1975) is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, and record producer. She is often regarded as one of the greatest rappers of all time, as well as being one of the most influential musicians of her generation. ...

Amy Winehouse Amy Jade Winehouse (14 September 1983 – 23 July 2011) was an English singer and songwriter. She was known for her deep, expressive contralto vocals and her eclectic mix of musical genres, including soul, rhythm and blues and jazz. A membe ...

Carole King Carole King Klein (born Carol Joan Klein; February 9, 1942) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician who has been active since 1958, initially as one of the staff songwriters at 1650 Broadway and later as a solo artist. Regarded as one ...

, and

the Supremes The Supremes were an American girl group and a premier act of Motown Records during the 1960s. Founded as the Primettes in Detroit, Michigan, in 1959, the Supremes were the most commercially successful of Motown's acts and the most successful ...

as inspirations.

Music Videos

After recording a handful of music videos for her first singles, Dean's aesthetic took a turn in the music video for her breakout single
The Hardest Part
. Filmmed in London, the music video features Dean and two carbon copies of herself as back-up singer/dancers. Each part was recorded separately and then merged together. Dean also quoted

The Supremes The Supremes were an American girl group and a premier act of Motown Records during the 1960s. Founded as the Primettes in Detroit, Michigan, in 1959, the Supremes were the most commercially successful of Motown's acts and the most successful ...

as one of her visual references for this music video. Olivia has been outspoken about championing female artists, even going as far as to set a "rule" for herself to only work with women directors on her music videos. To quote Dean in an interview given fo
Number One Journal
in 2021: "''My music is for everyone to enjoy and relate to. But obviously, because I am a woman, it does come from a female lens. So I feel it’s common sense for a woman to direct the videos''." After the video of he
Live performance at The Jazz Cafe
in 2022 took on a life of its own in Youtube, it seems like Dean's visual storytelling started to present a blend between the music video format and a live concert. Along the release of her debut album "Messy", Dean filmed
live session
featuring three tracks from the EP. The session was filmmed as an earthy mix between a live performance and a music video experience. Olivia and her band were recorded on a field from morning to night, with behind the scenes interwined between tracks.

Discography

Studio albums

EPs

Singles

* "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) * "Slowly" (2021) * "

" (2021) UK #19 * "Danger" (2022) * "UFO" (2023) * "Dive" (2023) * "Carmen" (2023) * "The Hardest Part" (2023) (with

Leon Bridges Todd Michael "Leon" Bridges (born July 13, 1989) is an American soul singer, songwriter and record producer. He is best known for his 2015 song " Coming Home", which received regular airplay and was also a Top 10 Most Viral Track on Spotify. Brid ...

) – No. 30

Adult Alternative Songs Adult Alternative Airplay (also known as Triple A or Triple A Airplay, and formerly Adult Alternative Songs and Triple A Songs) is a record chart currently published by ''Billboard'' that ranks the most popular songs on adult album alternative radi ...

As featured artist

* "Free" (2017) * "Adrenaline" (2019) * " Call Me A Lioness" (2023)

Music videos

Awards and nominations

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dean, Olivia Living people 1999 births 21st-century English women singers 21st-century English singers English people of Guyanese descent English people of Jamaican descent English soul singers People educated at the BRIT School People from the London Borough of Enfield People from Walthamstow Singers from London