It’s a big weekend for Olivia Dean , who has not only released her brand new single, Time, but she’s also set to take Glastonbury’s Pyramid stage this weekend. So, who is she? And what do you need to know as she stuns thousands of festivalgoers at 1.15pm on Friday? From humble beginnings to overcoming stage fright, the North London star, 25, has a story just as intriguing as her ballads.
Whether Olivia is new to your playlist or a longstanding favourite, she’s no stranger to the music industry and, in her almost decade-long career, has sold out a European tour, collaborated with one the UK’s most recognisable drum and bass bands, Rudimental and become a Chanel ambassador. But like any artist, it all started somewhere, and for Olivia, that was as a young child in primary school. The musician, raised in Walthamstow by her English father and Jamaican-Guyanese mother, starred in her school play, Annie, as a young girl.
While she enjoyed musical theatre and drama, she didn’t enjoy the nerves that came with it. In a past interview, she revealed that as she took to the stage to perform the song Tomorrow, she was ‘so nervous’, that she had to turn her back to the audience and compose herself. ‘The pianist was just like, “Turn around, you can do this”.
So I spun around and faced everyone, singing Tomorrow with tears streaming down my face. But it must have worked because I took second place,’ she told BBC earlier this year. It was a moment that proved she could.
