Olivia O'Brien

Early life

O’Brien was born on November 26, 1999 in Los Angeles, California. She has been singing since she was seven years old, and taught herself to play guitar and piano. She attended Justin-Siena High School in Napa, California.

2015–2016: Breakthrough

O'Brien initially gained the attention of gnash after posting a cover of one of his songs on Soundcloud. Gnash reached out to Olivia expressing interest in her material, and asked for her to send him any original songs that she had. O’Brien then sent a voice note of her original song, "i hate u, i love u" and gnash invited her to record the song with him in LA. "i hate u, i love u" was released in March 2016, and appears on gnash's second EP titled us. The single peaked at number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 and reached number one in Australia. The two made their television debut in July 2016, performing the song on Late Night with Seth Meyers.

2016: Debut singles

On August 12, O’Brien released her debut solo single "Trust Issues" through Island Records. "The song is empowering for girls and anyone who doesn't want to be treated like they're less than a guy or anyone who finds it hard to obtain self-worth without the approval of another person," O’Brien said of the song. “Trust Issues” premiered through Complex magazine. Her second single, "Root Beer Float" featuring Blackbear, premiered on September 15, 2016. O'Brien and gnash made their second television performance on September 19, 2016, performing "i hate u, i love u" on Today. O'Brien released a third single, "Find What You're Looking For" on October 21, 2016. On December 9, 2016, O'Brien released "hate u love u" as a single, the original solo version of "i hate u, i love u." O'Brien also released an acoustic video for the song on December 20, 2016. She released a new song titled "Empty" on February 17, 2017. In March 2017, O'Brien was nominated for an iHeartRadio Music Award for Best Solo Breakout, but lost to Zayn.