Tom Odell | |
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 Odell in 2013 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | Thomas Peter Odell (1990-11-24)24 November 1990 (age 35) Chichester,West Sussex, England |
| Genres | |
| Occupations |
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| Instruments |
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| Years active | 2012–present |
| Labels | |
Spouse | Georgina Odell (m. 2023) |
| Website | tomodell |
Thomas Peter Odell (born 24 November 1990) is an English singer-songwriter. His debut extended playSongs from Another Love was released in 2012, earning him aBRITs Critics' Choice Award. He has won an Ivor Novello Award for Songwriter of the Year in 2014.[1] His debut studio album,Long Way Down, was released on 24 June 2013, and was followed by his second album,Wrong Crowd, on 10 June 2016. Odell went on to releaseJubilee Road[2] (2018) andMonsters[3] (2021), both throughColumbia Records. In 2022, he became an independent artist[4] and released two more studio albums:Best Day of My Life (2022) andBlack Friday (2024), the latter featuring the breakout track "Black Friday" which became one of his most successful singles to date.[5]
Odell was born inChichester, West Sussex, England, to an airline pilot father and a primary school teacher mother.[6] He has an older sister.[7] He spent part of his childhood living inAuckland,New Zealand after his family moved to the country. He was educated atBishop Luffa School andSeaford College in West Sussex but also recalls attending school in New Zealand.[8][9]
Throughout his school years, Odell wrote songs in a band that had trouble maintaining a lead singer. This trouble inspired him to start singing the songs he wrote, and Odell says he "sang [the songs] how [he] wanted them to sound" rather than worrying about someone else not bringing his vision to life.[10]
At 18, Odell abandoned plans to attend theUniversity of York[11] and attempted to gain a place at a music college inLiverpool.[12] A year later, he moved back to Chichester after being made redundant from his job as a barman.[12] Using his grandmother's car, he travelled regularly to London to play shows and to put advertisements in music schools.[13] He studied at theBrighton Institute of Modern Music (BIMM) in Brighton[14] playing as part of the band Tom & the Tides before moving to London where he decided to become a solo artist because he "didn't want to have to rely on people".[15]
Odell was signed toIn the Name Of, an imprint ofColumbia Records. He was discovered by the label headLily Allen, who remarked that "his energy onstage reminded me ofDavid Bowie".[16] He released his debutextended play,Songs from Another Love, in October 2012.[17] He made his television debut in November 2012 as a performer onLater... with Jools Holland; the show's producer Alison Howe later described it as "a classicLater debut".[12][18] Odell was announced as one of 15 nominees for theBBCSound of 2013 poll in January 2013.[19] Also that month, his single "Another Love" was used by the BBC to advertise their 2013 schedule.[20] Odell's music has been used in numerousBurberry fashion runway shows.[21] He was named theBRITs' Critics' Choice Award winner, previously won by artists such asAdele andFlorence and the Machine and was the first male artist to win the award,[22] and was interviewed alongside previous winnerEmeli Sandé during the television ceremony in February 2013.[16]
Odell's debut album,Long Way Down, was released on 24 June 2013[23] and reached No. 1 in the UK Official Chart. He was due to supportThe Rolling Stones at London'sHyde Park on 13 July 2013,[24] but was unable to perform because of illness.[25]
Odell performed his first new song since the release ofLong Way Down, entitled "Alex", on 7 February 2014 at thePlymouth Pavilions.[26] The show kicked off the last leg of his UK Long Way Down Tour.
Odell was named 'songwriter of the year' at the 2014Ivor Novello Awards ceremony.[27]Odell's song "Can't Pretend" was used in the TV seriesThe 100. "Can't Pretend" and "Long Way Down" were also featured onThe Blacklist and the award-winning movieThe Fault In Our Stars. His song "Grow Old With Me" was featured in an episode ofReign. The song was also featured in a major 60 second ad campaign forKaiser Permanente entitled "Thrive".[28] His song "Heal" was also used in the filmIf I Stay andThe Miracle Season, and the TV seriesNCIS,The Vampire Diaries andElementary along with "Another Love".
Odell's next song, a cover of "Real Love" byThe Beatles, was the audio track to the 2014John Lewis Christmas advert and gained him great publicity. Within hours of the advert being aired for the first time, the track reached to the top of the music recognition serviceShazam’s trending list. Within three days of release, it went straight to 21 in the UK top 40, peaking at 7.
In 2014, duringTomorrowland (festival), Swedish DJAvicii premiered a collaboration between him and Odell.[29] It hasn't been released, but it was titled "Can't Love You Again", according to the official tracklist.[30] Avicii has previously stated onQuora, that the song was due to release on a 2016 album, but both the album and the song was cancelled later.[31]
Odell's music was featured in aSony advert in 2016, with a cover of "True Colours" byCyndi Lauper.
Odell began working on his second studio album in 2015, and played a variety of new songs at Forest Live, a concert series in England's forests by theForestry Commission.[32] On 4 April 2016, the first single, "Wrong Crowd", was released, and an upcoming second studio albumof the same name was announced. In addition, Odell announced that he would be going on tour in the US and Europe.[33] On 15 April 2016, the second single from the album, "Magnetised", was released. The next day, Odell revealed that his sold-out shows were titled the No Bad Days Tour, which kicked off on 20 April 2016 in London.[34] The full album was released on 10 June 2016.[35] In an interview withHolly Willoughby andPhillip Schofield onThis Morning, Odell revealed that in some countries outside the UK, audiences have misunderstood the title of the album to be an insult, that they are in fact a bad crowd or so to speak the 'wrong crowd'.
On his No Bad Days tour, Odell revealed he was writing for his third album and played several new songs live. In November 2017, he toured Germany on the New Fall Festival inDüsseldorf andStuttgart and announced that the album had been finished and a first single was to be released imminently. On 20 December 2017 Odell announced in an interview onBBC Radio 2 that the album was scheduled for release in mid-2018. On 14 June 2018, the first single from the album, "If You Wanna Love Somebody", was released worldwide. The album,Jubilee Road, was released on 26 October.
Jubilee Road was inspired by his past neighbours and community. The title "Jubilee Road" is supposed to be a reference to a terraced street in east London that Odell lived on, but when he asked his neighbours if he could use the real name, they responded that they were afraid it would become a tourist destination and would rather him create a fictional name.
"Numb", the first single from Odell's fourth album, was released in February 2021. In an interview withThe Gentleman's Journal on 27 February 2021, it was revealed that Odell's fourth studio album is titledMonsters.[36] He stated that the album would feature darker,electro-pop tones, and the lyrics were inspired by artists such asXXXTentacion,Drake andTravis Scott. The second single from the album, "Monster v.1", was released in March 2021. The record touches on heavy subjects and rough experiences he had during a "fever pitch" in his life, particularly struggling withanxiety and panic attacks.[10] The album was released on 9 July 2021.
On 8 September 2022, Odell announced the release of his fifth studio album,Best Day of My Life, released on 28 October 2022. The album was preceded by the singles "Best Day of My Life", "Sad Anymore", "Flying" and "Smiling All the Way Back Home".[37]
Odell released the piano ballad "Butterflies" on 27 January 2023, which featuredAurora,[38] and a reimagined version of "Streets Of Heaven" on 18 August, a track previously released on his 2022 albumMonsters.[39]
Odell released the track "Black Friday" on 22 September 2023,[40] which was followed by "Somebody Else" on 13 October - along with an announcement that his sixth album,Black Friday, would be released on 26 January 2024.[41] "Answer Phone" was released on 17 November,[42] and "The End" was released on 22 December.[43][44]
Odell's 7th studio album,A Wonderful Life, was released on 5 September 2025.[45]A Wonderful Life was written as a reaction to the news cycle and the sense that the world is ending in some capacity.[46]
Odell grew up listening toElton John. One of the first albums he listened to wasGoodbye Yellow Brick Road (1973). He also citesDavid Bowie,Jeff Buckley,Bob Dylan,Arthur Russell,Leonard Cohen,Leon Russell,Billy Joel,Randy Newman,Tom Waits,Rodríguez andBruce Springsteen as influences.[47][48][49][50][51] He is a fan ofAdele,James Blake,Cat Power,Blur,Beach House,Radiohead,Coldplay andBen Folds.[47][50][52][53]
Odell has said his lyrics are inspired by his "inability to sustain a relationship with someone for longer than six months." He says, "I find that I write much better songs when I'm being honest, and writing about things that happen to me. It can get a little weird though, when friends or girlfriends work out that a song is about them. But it's amazing what you can get away with it. Artistic licence, I think they call it."[54]
In February 2016, Tom began a long-standing relationship with Choose Love / Help Refugees and has worked with them throughout his career.[55] ActorJude Law and singer Tom Odell were among a host of famous faces who took to the stage at the Jungle camp in Calais in a bid to raise the plight of refugees.[56]
In 2017, Tom Odell played an intimate one-off show to help raise money for refugees in Calais, Greece, Syria and beyond for the charity.[57] In September of that year, Tom performed to raise money for refugees as part of the Give A Home series with Amnesty International.[58]
In March 2022, Tom performed at a series of events aimed at raising awareness and aid for Ukraine. While working with Choose Love on the ground there getting aid to refugees, Tom performed spontaneously in Bucharest as Ukrainian refugees arrived on trains from Kiev.[59] Tom performed at a concert, along withEd Sheeran and others, which raised over £11M for Ukraine.[60] Tom also performed in a concert in Bucharest which raised over €1M for the Red Cross effort in Ukraine.[61]
In 2022, a remix ofAnother Love by Tom Odell andTiesto was used to help raise money for Ukraine.[62]Another Love appeared on UK’s Official Charts after becoming a viral protest song for Ukraine and women in Iran.[63]
In August 2023, the song “Streets of Heaven” was re-released in conjunction with Everytown.org to raise money and awareness for gun control in America.[64]
Odell married model and artist Georgina Odell (née Somerville) in November 2023.[65][66]
Studio albums
Headlining Tours
Opening Act
| Year | Organisation | Award | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | MTV | Brand New For 2013[67] | Nominated | |
| BRIT Awards | Critics' Choice Award[16] | Won | ||
| BBC | Sound of 2013[19] | Nominated | ||
| 2014 | BRIT Awards | British Male Solo Artist | Nominated | |
| British Breakthrough Act | Nominated | |||
| Ivor Novello Awards | Songwriter of the Year | Won | ||
| 2023 | Los 40 Music Awards | Best International Live Act | Won | |
| Ivor Novello Awards | Best Song Musically and Lyrically[a] | Nominated | [68] | |
| 2024 | Ivor Novello Awards | Best Song Musically and Lyrically[b] | Nominated | [69] |
| International | |
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| Other | |
