Tom Odell
Thomas Peter Odell (born 24 November 1990) is an English singer-songwriter. He released his debut extended play, Songs from Another Love, in 2012. He won the BRITs Critics' Choice Award in early 2013. Odell's debut studio album, Long Way Down, was issued on 24 June 2013. Three years later, his follow-up studio album, Wrong Crowd, was released, on 10 June 2016. This was followed by several other albums.
Tom Odell
Thomas Peter Odell
24 November 1990
Chichester, West Sussex, England
- Singer-songwriter
- musician
- Vocals
- piano
- keyboards
- organ
- guitar
2012–present
Georgie Somerville (2023-present)
Early life[edit]
Odell was born in Chichester, West Sussex, England, to an airline pilot father and a primary school teacher mother.[1] He has an older sister.[2] He spent part of his childhood living in Auckland, New Zealand after his family moved to the country. He was educated at Seaford College in West Sussex but also recalls attending school in New Zealand.[3][4]
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.[5]
At 18, Odell abandoned plans to attend the University of York[6] and attempted to gain a place at a music college in Liverpool.[7] A year later, he moved back to Chichester after being made redundant from his job as a barman.[7] Using his grandmother's car, he travelled regularly to London to play shows and to put advertisements in music schools.[8] He studied at the Brighton Institute of Modern Music (BIMM) in Brighton[9] 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".[10]
Career[edit]
2012–2013: Career beginnings and Long Way Down[edit]
Odell was signed to In the Name Of, an imprint of Columbia Records. He was discovered by the label head Lily Allen, who remarked that "his energy onstage reminded me of David Bowie".[11] He released his debut extended play, Songs from Another Love, in October 2012.[12] He made his television debut in November 2012 as a performer on Later... with Jools Holland; the show's producer Alison Howe later described it as "a classic Later debut".[7][13] Odell was announced as one of 15 nominees for the BBC Sound of 2013 poll in January 2013.[14] Also that month, his single "Another Love" was used by the BBC to advertise their 2013 schedule.[15] Odell's music has been used in numerous Burberry fashion runway shows.[16] He was named the BRITs' Critics' Choice Award winner, previously won by artists such as Adele and Florence and the Machine and was the first male artist to win the award,[17] and was interviewed alongside previous winner Emeli Sandé during the television ceremony in February 2013.[11]
Odell's debut album, Long Way Down, was released on 24 June 2013[18] and reached No. 1 in the UK Official Chart. He was due to support The Rolling Stones at London's Hyde Park on 13 July 2013,[19] but was unable to perform because of illness.[20]
Influences[edit]
Odell grew up listening to Elton John. One of the first albums he listened to was Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (1973). He also cites David Bowie, Jeff Buckley, Bob Dylan, Arthur Russell, Leonard Cohen, Leon Russell, Billy Joel, Randy Newman, Tom Waits, Rodríguez and Bruce Springsteen as influences.[37][38][39][40][41] He is a fan of Arcade Fire, Adele, James Blake, Cat Power, Blur, Beach House, Radiohead, Coldplay and Ben Folds.[37][40][42][43]
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."[44]
Activism[edit]
In July 2020, Odell signed an open letter to the UK Equalities minister Liz Truss calling for a ban on all forms of LGBT+ conversion therapy.[45]
