Born
Olivia Somerlyn Hollins Christensen,
LIVVIA, aka
Olivia Somerlyn, is a dance-pop artist from California. Born and raised in San Francisco, she was singing, writing songs, and playing piano and guitar by her early teens. She made her recording debut while still in her mid-teens with the Olivia Somerlyn EP in 2010.
Somerlyn grew her audience with singles like "Better with You" and "Before It Began" in 2013 before her breakthrough hit, "Parachute," arrived in 2014. Co-written and produced by
Nick Jonas, it topped the Billboard Dance Club Songs chart. She had another dance number one a year later with "O X O." In the meantime,
Somerlyn had the opportunity to tour with artists such as
Meghan Trainor,
Jessie J, and
the Jonas Brothers, and in 2016, "Only" by
Somerlyn and
tyDi returned her to the dance Top Ten. While finishing up a degree in economics at the University of California, Berkeley, she headed to the studio with
Rock Mafia for her follow-up EP. Rebranded as
LIVVIA, she released the single "Catch a Body" featuring
Quavo of
Migos in January 2018. The single "Damn" followed that October. ~ Marcy Donelson