Olivia Dean named Apple Music’s Artist of the Year for 2026
Apple says Dean is the first UK artist to receive its top Artist of the Year honor. The award follows a year marked by a hit album, a Grammy and four BRIT Awards.
Apple Music named Olivia Dean its 2026 Artist of the Year on November 9, 2026, making her the first UK artist to receive that honor. The award recognizes Dean’s year in music, which Apple described as a breakthrough for her late-2025 album The Art of Loving.
- Apple says “Man I Need” has appeared on its Daily Top 100 every day since August 29, 2025.
- Dean’s 2026 recognition follows a Grammy for Best New Artist and four BRIT Awards, including Artist of the Year, according to Apple.
- iDrop News’s awards history places Dean among a run of Artist of the Year recipients that includes Billie Eilish, The Weeknd and Taylor Swift.
Why Apple chose Olivia Dean
Apple said The Art of Loving, released in late 2025, broke through in 2026. The company said “Man I Need” remained on Apple Music’s Daily Top 100 each day after first appearing on August 29, 2025. Apple also said Dean sold out her global tour, won the Grammy for Best New Artist and received four BRIT Awards, including Artist of the Year. Those chart, touring and award details are Apple’s account of her year.
Dean said receiving the recognition felt “really amazing” and described being recognized for making an impact as “really cool.” Rachel Newman, Apple Music’s co-head, said Dean’s open approach and connection with listeners turned a great year into a defining one. Apple’s description of Dean’s musical influences points to 1960s soul and pop, as well as Sade, Prince and Lauryn Hill; it also links her themes of love and connection to bell hooks’s 1999 book All About Love: New Visions.
The award comes with a physical trophy: Apple says each Apple Music Award has a custom silicon wafer suspended between polished glass, set in an anodized aluminum body. Apple also prepared playlists dedicated to Dean and to songs and voices that shaped the previous 12 months.
How the Apple Music Awards have changed
iDrop News reported that Apple launched the awards in 2019, when Billie Eilish received the inaugural Artist of the Year honor. That first year also included awards for Songwriter of the Year, Breakthrough Artist of the Year, Song of the Year and Album of the Year. iDrop said the last two were based on streaming data reflecting what Apple Music customers listened to that year.
The Artist of the Year list grew to include Lil Baby in 2020, The Weeknd in 2021, Bad Bunny in 2022, Taylor Swift in 2023, Eilish again in 2024 and Tyler, the Creator in 2025, according to iDrop. The outlet said 2021 was the last year Apple gave awards across multiple categories; those awards included regional Artist honors for Nigeria, France, Germany, Japan and Russia.
What the recognition means for UK artists
Apple calls Dean the first UK artist to receive its Artist of the Year honor. iDrop News described her as the first UK artist to receive any form of recognition from the Apple Music Awards, a broader distinction than Apple’s wording. Its account of the award history helps place the announcement: the top honor has gone to artists from several countries, while the regional categories were part of the 2021 awards. Dean’s recognition extends the Artist of the Year list to a UK artist for the first time.
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What this story rests on
2 sources from 2 organisations: 2 news outlets.
- 1Olivia Dean is Apple Music’s Artist of the Year for 2026Apple Newsroom · apple.comNews outlet
- 2Olivia Dean Makes History as Apple Music’s First British Artist of the YeariDrop News · idropnews.comNews outlet
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