Tom Odell

Early Life

Thomas Peter Odell was born on November 24, 1990, in Chichester, West Sussex, England, to an airline pilot father and a primary school teacher mother. He has an older sister and spent part of his childhood in Auckland, New Zealand. Odell's early education took place at Bishop Luffa School and Seaford College in West Sussex, where he began writing songs. His experiences in a band that struggled to maintain a lead singer inspired him to take on that role himself, leading him to develop his unique sound. At 18, he decided to pursue music full-time, abandoning plans for university to attend a music college in Liverpool. After a year, he moved back to Chichester and began traveling to London to perform and promote his music.

Career

Odell's career took off when he was signed to In the Name Of, a label under Columbia Records, after being discovered by Lily Allen. His debut EP, "Songs from Another Love," was released in 2012, earning him the BRITs Critics' Choice Award, making him the first male artist to win this honor. His first full-length album, "Long Way Down," was released in 2013 and topped the UK Official Chart. Following this success, he released several albums, including "Wrong Crowd" (2016), "Jubilee Road" (2018), and "Monsters" (2021). In 2022, he became an independent artist and released "Best Day of My Life," followed by "Black Friday" in 2024, featuring the hit single "Black Friday."

Activism

Beyond music, Odell is known for his activism, particularly in support of refugees. He has collaborated with the charity Choose Love and performed at various events to raise awareness and funds for refugees in Calais, Greece, and Ukraine. His song "Another Love" gained renewed attention as a protest anthem during the Ukraine crisis, and he has continued to use his platform to advocate for social issues, including gun control in America with the re-release of "Streets of Heaven" in 2023.