Olivia Dean has opened up on how she remains grounded during the 'extreme' moments in her life, as her career continues to skyrocket.
The singer, 27, has had an incredible year already, having scooped a whopping four BRIT Awards last month and bagged her first Grammy in February.
While her second album, The Art Of Loving, is the longest-running No 1 album by a British female this decade, surpassing Adele's 30.
But despite all her incredible success, Olivia has insisted that she is still keeping both feet firmly on the ground as she covered ELLE's 2026 Women in Music Issue.
The Man I Need star credits her close female friends for helping her stay 'mentally strong' during this 'preposterousness', as she acknowledged how easy it would be to 'get lost and confused within the industry'.
'I come home from doing something like the Grammys, and the debrief we'll have is crazy,' she said. 'My life can feel quite extreme sometimes because I'm in these moments of high glamour and kind of preposterousness.'
Olivia Dean has opened up on how she remains grounded during the 'extreme' moments in her life, as her career continues to skyrocket.
The singer, 27, has had an incredible year already, having scooped a whopping four BRIT Awards last month and bagged her first Grammy in February.
While her second album, The Art Of Loving, is the longest-running No 1 album by a British female this decade, surpassing Adele's 30.
'I can see how people can get really lost and confused within this industry. You have to be quite mentally strong. I am so lucky that I have spaces outside of this where none of that matters.
'My friends care, but not more than I care about what they're doing. My life isn't more important than anyone else's life. It's just mine.'
Opening up on forming these bonds, she revealed that they met at the fame BRIT school, known for such esteemed alumni including Adele and Amy Winehouse.
Olivia recalled it was her mother who suggested she apply to the institution to follow her passion for music, and it was there that for the first time she found acceptance for who she was, after a difficult time in her previous school.
While she was hesitant to say she was bullied, the hitmaker confessed that her peers had made her feel 'embarrassed' and 'like I was too much', recalling that she would eat her lunch alone in the toilets.
Coming to the BRIT school changed everything and introduced her to her best friends, the closest of whom is still her roommate today.
'We met on the first day of BRIT, and I was like, "Girl, I've been eating my lunch in the toilet. Do you want to be friends?"' Olivia explained.
Further detailing her time at the musical arts school, she went on: 'It allowed me to free myself from feeling embarrassed about who I was.'
'It was so validating to be surrounded by people who thought music was cool, and wanting to shine was cool.'
But despite all her incredible success, Olivia has insisted that she is still keeping both feet firmly on the ground as she covered ELLE's 2026 Women in Music Issue.
The Man I Need star credits her close female friends for helping her stay 'mentally strong' during this 'preposterousness', as she acknowledged how easy it would be to 'get lost and confused within the industry'.
'Whereas in my previous school, people would make me feel like I was too much. And it’s like, "No, I’m doing too much for you. I’m actually not doing enough yet. I haven’t even gotten started".'
Now, Olivia is confident in her talents and who she is, which enabled her to create the emotionally-mature and deeply authentic The Art of Loving.
And it has also given her a healthy outlook on relationships and love, that can be seen in her songs, with her calling hit Man I Need as a 'call to action' to men to step up and be the best they can be for women.
'That’s where I’m at. I’ve been in therapy for a long time,' she said. 'It has allowed me to have self-awareness and understand that I really don’t have time to fester in negative emotions toward love and men. It doesn’t serve me.'
'I can be annoyed and hurt, but I try to find perspective and compassion. Reading a lot of bell hooks has also given me that.'
But despite all she has accomplished so far and the sensational trajectory her career is on, Olivia said she doesn't define her success by the number of awards she's won or the speed in which her first US tour sold out.
She insisted: 'Success to me is venues and how many people you can gather in one space. It's how many people you can touch.'
And it is because of that that she is one of the few stars to have taken a stand against exorbitant ticket prices, demanding that Ticketmaster refund overcharged fans and cap prices - something she hopes will inspire her fellow artists to emulate.
She declared: 'There is no way that I'm going to get up on that stage and sing my heart out while somebody sits at home and makes $500 or $600 off of me and you.'
'I want people to be able to afford to come to the show. I don't think you need to be someone who's got loads of money to enjoy your favorite album. Full stop.'
Her strong statement on the issue comes after fellow Brit Harry Styles was branded 'greedy' and 'out of touch' over the sky-high ticket prices for his Together Together tour.
Seats on the London leg range from £44 ($60.80) to a £466.24 ($642.76) for seats, while the standing prices range from £144 ($199.45) to £279 ($385.34), and VIP packages cost from an eye-watering £468.85 ($646.50) to £725 ($1,000).
Meanwhile fans waiting in the online queue for tickets to see Harry in New York's Madison Square Gardens were told: 'Tickets for this event have been priced in advance by the tour from $50 to $1,182.40, including service fees.'
In New York, it's also thought the most expensive VIP package is currently priced at $1,667.
In comparison, his 2022 residency at Madison Square Garden ranged in price from $39.50 to $199.50, while his sold-out run at Wembley Stadium in London in 2022 started at only £45 and went up to £99.
The costs have sparked a furious reaction from Harry's fans, with many blasting the star for making music 'inaccessible' for a large portion of his young fanbase.
Oasis faced similar backlash when tickets for their 2025 reunion tour were released with prices rising to £350.
When the eagerly-anticipated tickets dropped, fans were left appalled as £148 standard prices sky-rocketed to more than £350, with many unable to secure a seat at one of the coveted gigs.
The ordeal in fact caused such controversy that it prompted a UK watchdog to investigate the use of dynamic ticket pricing.