There is a through-line in British soul — from the postwar immigration that seeded Caribbean music in the clubs of Brixton and Notting Hill, through the generation that gave Amy Winehouse her first heroes and Sade her first audiences, to whatever is happening right now with a twenty-seven-year-old singer from Haringey whose middle name is Lauryn and whose debut album was shortlisted for the Mercury Prize. That through-line ends, for the 2026 North American touring season, in Austin, Texas, on a Saturday night in late August. Olivia Dean plays the Moody Center ATX on August 29 — the second of two sold-out nights and the final show of the North American leg of The Art of Loving Live world tour.
About Olivia Dean
Olivia Lauryn Dean was born in 1999 in Haringey, North London — the middle name a deliberate tribute to Lauryn Hill, one of the earliest voices her parents played in the house. Her father introduced her to Carole King and Al Green. Her mother brought Jill Scott and Angie Stone into the rotation. She attended the BRIT School, where a graduation concert caught her manager’s attention, and spent her early professional years as a backup vocalist for Rudimental before self-releasing her debut single “Reason to Stay” in 2018 and signing to AMF Records and Virgin EMI the following year.
Her 2023 debut Messy reached number four on the UK charts and earned a Mercury Prize nomination. Then The Art of Loving arrived in September 2025 and changed the arithmetic considerably. The record made Dean the first artist since Adele in 2021 to simultaneously top both the UK album and singles charts, with four songs charting in the UK top ten at the same time — an unprecedented achievement for a female solo artist. The lead single “Man I Need” reached number two on the Billboard Hot 100. The album placed at number seven on the Billboard 200.
In February 2026, Dean won the Grammy Award for Best New Artist and four BRIT Awards in the same month. Her Grammy acceptance speech drew attention for a specific act of historical candor: she acknowledged her grandmother’s journey as part of the Windrush generation, the wave of Caribbean immigration to postwar Britain that shaped not just her family’s story but much of the soulful lineage — from Aretha to Amy Winehouse to Dean herself — that she’s spent her career carrying forward. The moment was not incidental. It was the thesis.
Rolling Stone, covering an early arena date on the tour, wrote: “Dean’s star power is radiant and fueled by more than just charisma — she performs with an expertly assembled band.”
The Art of Loving Live spans 52 shows across Europe, North America, and Oceania. It opened April 23 in Glasgow, included six sold-out nights at London’s O2 Arena, and crossed the Atlantic for a North American run that began July 10 at Chase Center in San Francisco and has worked its way through Madison Square Garden, Crypto.com Arena, and Toyota Center in Houston before arriving at the Forty Acres for a two-night close. The Austin stand ends the continent. A dollar from every ticket sold goes to PLUS1 to support communities in Jamaica affected by Hurricane Melissa — a gesture that connects directly back to that Grammy speech and the heritage it acknowledged.
About the Moody Center ATX
The Moody Center opened in April 2022 on the University of Texas at Austin campus, replacing the Frank Erwin Center after a four-decade run. Named for the Moody Foundation following a $130 million grant and built at a cost of $338 million, the arena seats more than 15,000 and has established itself, in just four years, as Austin’s premier room for major touring productions. It sits at 2001 Robert Dedman Drive. For more shows in the Live Music Capital of the World, see our Austin concerts calendar.
Tickets & Show Details
Olivia Dean plays the Moody Center ATX on Saturday, August 29, 2026, at 8:00 PM. Get tickets via Ticketmaster.