Olivia Dean

Olivia Dean is known for her graceful voice and warm, easygoing take on soul-pop. Following collaborations with electronic outfit Rudimental, including a featured spot on 2018's "Adrenaline," her debut EP, Ok Love You Bye, appeared in 2019. The major labels came calling in time for What Am I Gonna Do on Sundays?, her 2020 follow-up. Messy, her genial full-length debut, reached number four in her native U.K. and was nominated for the Mercury Prize in 2023. She scored her first number one hit ("Man I Need") and two additional Top Ten placements with the singles from 2025's The Art of Loving. The album topped the chart in the U.K., reached number three in the U.S., and led to Dean winning Best New Artist at the 68th Annual Grammy Awards.

Born in Haringey, North London and raised in Walthamstow, Olivia Lauryn Dean first came to the broader public eye at the behest of Rudimental, who invited the then-18-year-old to stand in for Emeli Sandé at a festival performance of their song "Free" in 2017. The following year, Dean became an official featured vocalist on their track "Adrenaline." That year, she also released her own song, "Reason to Stay," which showcased her relaxed, jazz-inflected take on adult contemporary soul.

AMF Music signed on to release her debut EP, Ok Love You Bye, in late 2019. It included singles like "Reason to Stay" and multi-million streamer "Ok Love You Bye." EMI stepped up to co-issue her follow-up EP, What Am I Gonna Do on Sundays?, in late 2020, with the similarly successful single "The Hardest Part" on board. Issued in July 2021, her third EP, Growth (AMF/EMI), took on a slightly more sophisticated, yearning tenor, and she finished the year with an inviting orchestral cover of "The Christmas Song."

Dean was back in a matter of months with live and acoustic tracks as well as studio singles such as the funk-injected "Danger." The year 2023 saw Dean release the spare, vocal-effects-washed "UFO" and the effervescent soul outing "Dive." A version of "The Hardest Part," featuring Leon Bridges, appeared that June, just a couple weeks in advance of Dean's full-length debut, Messy, which opened with the pairing of "UFO and "Dive." Aqualung's Matt Hales, Tre Jean-Marie, and prior collaborators Max Wolfgang and Bastian Langebaek were among the LP's production team. The album entered the U.K. chart at number four. A handful of intermediary singles was highlighted by "It Isn't Perfect But It Might Be," a March 2025 number 36 hit from the soundtrack of Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy. Shortly after that song ended its chart run, Dean scored her first Top Ten hits with "Nice to Each Other" (the lead single from her second album) and then as a featured artist on Sam Fender's "Rein Me In." That September, she released The Art of Loving, produced by herself and Zach Nahome (Biig Piig, Pink Pantheress). "Man I Need" went to number one in the U.K., Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand, and it became her U.S. breakthrough, peaking at number three on the Hot 100. "So Easy (To Fall in Love)" reached number three at home and number seven in the U.S. before Dean became a Grammy winner in the category of Best New Artist. ~ Marcy Donelson & Andy Kellman