The last year of British singer/songwriter Lola Young's life has been a whirlwind of accolades, accomplishments and firsts — especially since her vintage rock inflected pop gem "Messy" went viral on TikTok late last year. But don't call the 24-year-old a TikTok star.

As her No. 1 hit demonstrates, the South Londoner has a penchant for deeply vulnerable and memorable lyrics that capture the challenges of being a young woman dealing with mental health challenges and societal pressures. She joins the ranks of the lovingly rough-around-the-edges women in pop —  Chappell Roan, Charli xcx, Sabrina Carpenter, Olivia Rodrigo and Remi Wolf — with a powerful, unique voice that is at times feminine, gritty or talky, with plenty of texture and range.

The sixth single from Young's critically acclaimed sophomore album This Wasn't Meant For You Anyway, "Messy" was her first charting single and first No. 1 hit (in the U.S. and the U.K.). Yet Lola Young has been penning gut-punching songs and pursuing a career in music since she was just 14. At 18, she signed with Island Records and began a rather prolific run of releases as she continues to hone her craft.

Even with the wild schedule that comes with viral fame — including a packed run of festival performances beginning with her Coachella debut this year — the "One Thing" singer already has another album up her sleeve. Ahead of her third album, I'm Only F**king Myself, due Sept. 19, let's get to know Lola Young.

Lola Young Is No Overnight Sensation

“Coming from an artistic family was really helpful because they understood that music is a real job, that I can make money from it," Young told The Telegraph in February 2022. "I never had a plan B."

Young grew up in a musical home in Beckenham, South London, with her mother and professional bass player stepfather, who ran salsa nights together. Her mom always played music at home and signed her daughter up for piano, guitar and singing lessons when she was just 6. At 14, the "Good Books" singer enrolled in the BRIT School, the performing arts school attended by Amy Winehouse, who Young is often compared to, and Adele.

This was a momentous time in her burgeoning music career as she began furiously writing and recording music and performing in the local open-mic scene. At 15, she beat 9,000 hopeful singers in the Open Mic UK contest, and soon after met manager Nick Shymansky, who hadn't managed an artist since he worked with Winehouse in her early days. (He stopped working with the late songstress after she wouldn't get sober. Her response was the triple-GRAMMY-winning hit "Rehab.")

In 2019, Young signed with Island Records and released her debut single and EP. She dropped her second EP, Renaissance, about a month into the COVID-19 lockdowns, followed by a string of singles and, finally, her debut album, My Mind Wanders and Sometimes Leaves…, in 2023. During this time, she was building a buzz in the U.K. around her fresh vintage-soul-inflected pop music, and was nominated as a Rising Star at the 2021 Brit Awards. 

She Thinks "Messy" Is One Of Her Best Songs

"'Messy' is a great introduction. It’s raw, honest, and encapsulates a lot of the themes of the album. It’s about embracing imperfections and finding strength in who I am," Young told Atwood Magazine last year. "Those lyrics are, in my opinion, some of my best."

"I'm not skinny / and I pull a Britney every other week / But cut me some slack / who do you want me to be? / 'Cause I'm too messy / and then I'm too fucking clean," Young sings on her massive breakout hit.

"Messy" was a slow burn that exploded and is still aflame. After Sofia Richie Grainge (Lionel Richie's 27-year-old daughter) vibed to the song alongside fellow influencer Jake Shane, the track went viral on TikTok. The video, posted on his account on Nov. 28, has 2.4 million likes at the time of writing.

On the day the video was posted, "Messy" had racked up 3.9 million streams in the U.S. that week. Two weeks later, its weekly stream count was 9.1 million. The song climbed the Billboard charts and eventually hit the No. 1 spot on the Alternative Airplay chart on April 5 and the Pop Airplay chart on May 17. The single hit No. 1 in the U.K. on Jan. 24, where she kept the top spot for four weeks, making her the first British female artist to do so since Adele's "Easy on Me" in 2021.

"You can’t catch the moments between your fingers — they pass too quickly. Honestly, it’s been a dream come true. Having a number one that became one of the biggest songs in the world," she told Elle UK. It’s weird to even talk about."

She won the Rising Star Award at 2025 Ivor Novello Awards because of the hit, which was also nominated for Best Song Musically and Lyrically, alongside a Best Album nod, which made her the most-nominated artist that year. "Messy" also brought her back to the BRIT Awards in 2025 (after her first nomination in 2021), where she performed the song and was nominated for Best Pop Act.

Unabashedly Real Lyrics Are Her Specialty

"Women are standing for what we believe in. We’re saying, 'f— you, we won’t conform to certain ideologies,' and it’s resonating with others — not just other women, but men too," she affirmed to Elle UK.

Similarly to bawdy pop peer Sabrina Carpenter, many of her lyrics pick apart toxic men and relationships, as well as her penchant for them. Young's lyrics are also sharp and memorable, as evidenced on "Conceited," the raucous 2023 lead single to This Wasn't Meant for You Anyway: "Told me that you loved me / you're just talking to yourself."

On "Big Brown Eyes," self-deprecation, set to a chilled '70s surf rock beat, takes center stage: "And I could have anybody else / but I love what I like. / You can call me a bitch / if you say it / with your big brown eyes."

This Wasn’t Meant For You Anyway saw Young embrace the messiness of being in your 20s and lean further into vulnerable songwriting. “It’s more confident, more honest, and slightly more unapologetic, although I have always been unapologetic in my writing” Young told Atwood Magazine last year.

"Finding my voice has been a journey of resilience. There have been times when I’ve felt silenced or overlooked, but music has always been my way of expressing my power and reclaiming it to a certain degree," she continued.

Her New Album Came With Healing

She told The New York Times that I’m Only F**king Myself sees her "crawling out of my own self-sabotage."

Young wrote much of it over six months in Paris with producers/songwriters Manuka and Solmonophonic, and recorded it at New York City's iconic Electric Lady Studios. She's worked with the British production duo Manuka since her early releases in 2019, and first linked up with California alt-pop production wizard Solomonophonic (who's also worked with SZA, Remi Wolf and Reneé Rapp) on her sophomore album, a collab she’s found very fruitful and inspiring to her songwriting.

Young was diagnosed with a schizoaffective disorder as a teen and severe ADHD more recently, and has used songwriting and performing as a cathartic solace. But she's also struggled with substance use and sobriety, a frequent theme in her music, especially on her upcoming album. In November, before "Messy" went viral and before she recorded  I’m Only F**king Myself, Young spent five weeks in rehab. In the midst of her many big festival gigs, interviews and the promotion of her new singles, she relapsed and returned to rehab in July.

On "Dealer," Young illustrates the fine line between sobriety and relapse as she repeats "Tell my dealer I'll miss him" as if it were a spell. The single got the attention of Elton John, who called it "the biggest smash I have heard in years." (The GRAMMY-winning pop icon famously battled with his own substance use earlier in his career and has been sober since 1990.)

"All the songs connect to me in some way," she told Elle UK about her upcoming album. "It tells the story of everything I’ve been through over the past couple of years — discovering different parts of life and what can threaten you."

She's Cautious About Fame

Young and her manager are mindful of the impacts of fame and a busy schedule on her well-being, and they know she's working with a delicate balance.

"Her work ethic’s amazing and her commitment to herself is amazing but there’s inevitably going to be moments where she can’t keep up with both," Shymansky told NYT about Young.

She is grateful to have found success in music, but she's wary of what comes with fame — the pressure, the haters, and most of all, the adulation.

"People treat you differently. They know who you are before you walk in. I’ve never spoken about this before, but it’s something I’m still grappling with. It’s strange. You have to know who you can turn to — who’ll tell you when you’re being a s—," she told Elle UK.

The bright side is that it gives her a platform for more people to hear and feel seen in her lyrics, to know that they are not alone. Through her music and interviews, she's become an honest mental health advocate — something that feels impossible to have existed in the pop sphere even 10 years ago.

"I’ve tried to be open from the start," she told Elle UK.

"People don’t see what happens behind the scenes. I still have really bad days, but through music I can always find joy. They can coexist. If I picture my inner child, the girl playing guitar at 14, I know she’d be shocked but proud. I try to link it back to that: this is my dream, and I have to continue."