Dean Lewis Grant Loaney (born 21 October 1987) is an Australian pop singer and songwriter, known professionally as Dean Lewis. Lewis is best known for his 2016 single "

Waves United States Naval Reserve (Women's Reserve), better known as the WAVES (for Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service), was the women's branch of the United States Naval Reserve during World War II. It was established on July 21, 1942, ...

", which has been certified 7× platinum in Australia, his 2022 single " How Do I Say Goodbye", which achieved worldwide popularity on social media and has been certified gold or platinum in over ten countries, and his 2018 single " Be Alright", which reached number one in Australia and was certified platinum within four weeks of release, eventually reaching 11× platinum in Australia and multi-platinum worldwide, including double platinum in the United States. Lewis released his debut studio album, '' A Place We Knew'', in 2019 and his second, '' The Hardest Love'', in 2022. His third, '' The Epilogue'', was released in October 2024.

Early life and education

Lewis competed in

esports Esports (), short for electronic sports, is a form of competition using video games. Esports often takes the form of organized, multiplayer video game competitions, particularly between professional players, played individually or as teams. ...

, representing Australia in '' Halo2'' at the

World Cyber Games 2005 The World Cyber Games 2005 was held in Singapore at Suntec Singapore International Convention and Exhibition Centre from 16 to 20 November 2005. There were over 800 players from 67 countries. Over 39,000 spectators turned up at the games to ch ...

in Singapore.

2016–2017: Career beginnings and ''Same Kind of Different''

Lewis was inspired to pursue music after watching a live

Oasis In ecology, an oasis (; : oases ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment Liam Gallagher William John Paul Gallagher (born 21 September 1972) is an English singer and songwriter. He is the lead singer and co-founder of the rock band Oasis (band), Oasis and fronted the rock band Beady Eye from 2010 to 2014, before starting a succes ...

walk out with this hat and red jacket and watching him with Noel, they were just the coolest guys ever. I spent the next five years watching every Oasis video – Noel Gallagher basically taught me how to write songs." Lewis signed his recording contract with Specific Music in 2014, and a major contract with

Island Records Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in Jamaica by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in 1959, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, another ...

and

Universal Music Australia Universal Music Australia Pty Ltd. (UMA) is the largest Australian music corporation. It is a division of the Universal Music Group. Universal Music Australia's corporate headquarters are located in Sydney, Australia. Labels Universal Music ...

in March 2016. Lewis released his debut single "

" on 30 September 2016 which peaked at number 12 on the Australian

ARIA Charts The ARIA Charts are the main Australian record chart, music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA beca ...

. The song was featured in a number of American television shows such as '' Suits'', ''

Grey's Anatomy ''Grey's Anatomy'' is an American medical drama television series focusing on the personal and professional lives of surgical internship (medicine), interns, residency (medicine), residents, and attending physician, attendings at the fictional ...

'', '' Valor'', '' Riverdale'', '' All American'', '' Shadowhunters: The Mortal Instruments'' and '' Magnum P.I.''. The song has since been certified 7× Platinum by

ARIA In music, an aria (, ; : , ; ''arias'' in common usage; diminutive form: arietta, ; : ariette; in English simply air (music), air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrument (music), instrumental or orchestral accompan ...

. Lewis released " Need You Now" in April 2017 and his debut

extended play An extended play (EP) is a Sound recording and reproduction, musical recording that contains more tracks than a Single (music), single but fewer than an album. Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have a playing time of 1 ...

Same Kind of Different ''Same Kind of Different'' is the debut extended play (EP) by Australian indie pop artist Dean Lewis. It was released on 12 May 2017. In an interview with ''Stack Magazine'', Lewis said "I go through phases when I'm writing songs; if I'm surging ...

'' on 12 May 2017 which peaked at number 27 on the ARIA Album Charts. Lewis received five ARIA Award nominations at the

ARIA Music Awards of 2017 The 31st Annual Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (generally known as ARIA Music Awards or simply The ARIAs) are a series of award ceremonies which include the 2017 ARIA Artisan Awards, ARIA Hall of Fame Awards, ARIA Fine ...

. " Lose My Mind" and "

Chemicals A chemical substance is a unique form of matter with constant chemical composition and characteristic properties. Chemical substances may take the form of a single element or chemical compounds. If two or more chemical substances can be combin ...

" were also released as singles from the EP and have been certified Platinum and Gold respectively.

2018–2020: ''A Place We Knew'' and collaborations

In June 2018, Lewis released " Be Alright". The single reached number one in Australia for five consecutive weeks,Peaks in Australia: * All except noted: becoming his first chart-topper in the country, and has been certified eight times platinum in Australia. It also reached number one in Belgium, top five in New Zealand, Sweden and Ireland, top 10 in the Netherlands and Switzerland, top 20 in the United Kingdom and Scotland, top 30 in the United States and number one in the Billboard Adult pop chart. In January 2019, Lewis released " 7 Minutes". Lewis released his debut studio album '' A Place We Knew'' on 22 March 2019. Lewis performed "Be Alright" and "Waves" at the

2019 AFL Grand Final The 2019 AFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Richmond Football Club and Greater Western Sydney Giants at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 28 September 2019. It was the 124th annual grand final of the Austra ...

. In 2019, Lewis signed with WME for representation in all areas. Lewis released a single in collaboration with Dutch DJ/producer

Martin Garrix Martijn Gerard Garritsen (; born 14 May 1996), known professionally as Martin Garrix (or Ytram and GRX), is a Dutch Republic, Dutch DJ and record producer who was ranked number one on ''DJ Mag''s Top 100 DJs list for three consecutive years—20 ...

on 31 October 2019 called " Used to Love". Regarding the collaboration with Garrix, Lewis explains that "Since my career began, collaborations never felt like something I saw myself pursuing. As a songwriter, who also sings, the entire concept just felt foreign. Until I met Martin. We spent about a week together locked behind closed doors in Amsterdam working on a song, which thought might end up be sung by someone else. But as the track progressed is started to sound a lot like me, but also very Martin. It's a real collaboration with a guy who's now become a great friend". An acoustic version of the song was released in 2020.

2022–present: ''The Hardest Love'' and ''The Epilogue''

On 5 March 2021, Lewis released the single " Falling Up". Lewis stated the song is about "being online and focusing on that one negative comment in a sea of good". On 22 October 2021, Lewis released " Looks Like Me", which was inspired by a personal relationship where an ex was "hanging" with a guy that she said looked like Lewis. This was followed by " Hurtless" on 1 April 2022. On 2 September 2022, he released the single " How Do I Say Goodbye". In 2024, Lewis opened several shows for AJR on their tour for ''

The Maybe Man ''The Maybe Man'' is the fifth studio album by the American pop trio AJR. It was released on November 10, 2023, following their previous studio album '' OK Orchestra'' (2021). It is the band's first album released as part of its deal with Merc ...

'' (2023). In June 2024, Lewis announced his third studio album '' The Epilogue'', released in October 2024, alongside Australian tour dates.

Discography

* '' A Place We Knew'' (2019) * '' The Hardest Love'' (2022) * '' The Epilogue'' (2024)

Awards and nominations

ARIA Music Awards

The

ARIA Music Awards The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (commonly known informally as ARIA Music Awards, ARIA Awards, or simply the ARIAs) is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Austr ...

is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of

Australian music The music of Australia has an extensive history made of music societies. Indigenous Australian music forms a significant part of the unique heritage of a 40,000- to 60,000-year history which produced the iconic didgeridoo. Contemporary fusions o ...

. Lewis has won three awards from 16 nominations. ! , - ! scope="row" rowspan="5",

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

, rowspan="3", "

" , Best Pop Release , , rowspan="10", , - , Breakthrough Artist , , - , Song of the Year , , - , Michael Jones for Dean Lewis "Waves" , Best Video , , - , John Castle for Dean Lewis "Lose My Mind" , Engineer of the Year , , - ! scope="row" rowspan="5",

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

, rowspan="3", " Be Alright" , Best Male Artist , , - , Best Pop Release , , - , Song of the Year , , - , Jessie Hill and Dean Lewis – "Be Alright" , Best Video , , - , 2017 National Tour , Best Australian Live Act , , - ! scope="row" rowspan="4",

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

, rowspan="3", '' A Place We Knew'' , Album of the Year , , rowspan="4", , - , Best Male Artist , , - , Best Pop Release , , - , "7 Minutes" , Song of the Year , , - ! scope="row" rowspan="1",

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

, rowspan="1", "Falling Up" , Song of the Year , , , - ! scope="row" rowspan="1",

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

, "Hurtless" , Song of the Year , , , - ! scope="row" rowspan="1",

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

, "How Do I Say Goodbye" , Song of the Year , , , -

APRA Awards

The APRA Awards are held in Australia and New Zealand by the

Australasian Performing Right Association APRA AMCOS consists of Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) and Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (AMCOS), both copyright management organisations or copyright collectives which jointly represent over 100,000 songwri ...

to recognise songwriting skills, sales and airplay performance by its members annually. Lewis has won seven awards. , - ! scope="row" rowspan="2",

, rowspan="2", "Waves" , Pop Work of the Year , , - , Most Played Australian Work , , - ! scope="row" rowspan="4",

, rowspan="2", "Be Alright" , Pop Work of the Year , , - , Song of the Year , , - , Himself , Breakthrough Songwriter of the Year , , - , Himself , Outstanding International Achievement Award , , - ! scope="row" rowspan="2",

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

, rowspan="2", "7 Minutes" , Most Performed Australian Work of the Year , , - , Most Performed Pop Work of the Year , , - ! scope="row" rowspan="3",

, rowspan="2", "Used to Love" (with Martin Garrix) , Most Performed Australian Work of the Year , , - , Most Performed Dance Work of the Year , , - , "Be Alright" , Most Performed Australian Work Overseas , , - ! scope="row",

, "Falling Up" , Most Performed Most Performed Alternative Work , , - ! scope="row" rowspan="2",

, rowspan="2", "Hurtless" , Most Performed Most Performed Australian Work , , - , Most Performed Most Performed Alternative Work , , - ! scope="row" rowspan="2",

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

, rowspan="2", "How Do I Say Goodbye" , Most Performed Australian Work , , - , Most Performed Pop Work ,

MTV Europe Music Awards

The

MTV Europe Music Awards The MTV Europe Music Awards (originally named MTV European Music Awards, commonly abbreviated as MTV EMA) are awards presented by Paramount International Networks to honour artists and music in pop culture. It was originally conceived as an al ...

is an award presented by

Viacom International Media Networks Paramount International Networks (PIN) is the international division of the Paramount Media Networks subsidiary of Paramount Global that oversees the production, broadcasting and promotion of its brands outside of the United States. These brand ...

to honour artists and music in

pop culture Popular culture (also called pop culture or mass culture) is generally recognized by members of a society as a set of practices, beliefs, artistic output (also known as popular art pop_art.html" ;"title="f. pop art">f. pop artor mass art, some ...

. , - ! scope="row",

, Himself , rowspan="2", Best Australian Act , , - ! scope="row",

, Himself ,

National Live Music Awards

The

National Live Music Awards The National Live Music Awards (NLMAs) are annual Australian music awards, established by Heath Media in 2016. They were preceded by the AU Live Music Awards in the previous two years. The awards are given in categories that recognise the best ...

(NLMAs) are a broad recognition of Australia's diverse live industry, celebrating the success of the Australian live scene. The awards commenced in 2016. , - ! scope="row",

, Himself , Best Live Act of the Year – People's Choice ,

Rolling Stone Australia Awards

The

Rolling Stone Australia Awards The ''Rolling Stone Australia'' Awards are awarded annually in January or February by the Australian edition of ''Rolling Stone'' magazine for outstanding contributions to popular culture in the previous year. The awards initially commenced i ...

are awarded annually in January or February by the Australian edition of ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' magazine for outstanding contributions to popular culture in the previous year. ! , - , 2025 , Dean Lewis , Rolling Stone Global Award , , , -

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Dean 1987 births 21st-century Australian singers ARIA Award winners APRA Award winners Australian pop singers Musicians from Sydney Living people