Broadstairs singer-songwriter Olivia Rogers will star alongside McFly at the Chelmsford Summer Series this August.
Olivia, 20, first opened for McFly at Dreamland last summer and says this year the band’s management got in touch to say they wanted her to open the gig once again.
She said: “Last year it was us contacting them but because the feedback (from Dreamland) was so good and my following has increased by thousands, McFly’s management contacted us this year saying they had requested me to open for them.
“It’s really crazy and exciting. The fact they asked me to do it shows I did something right last year!”
Talented Olivia made The Voice semi-finals in 2024 after initially earning a chair turn from McFly’s Tom Fletcher and Danny Jones.
Although she did not take the winning spot – that was won by Ava Mannings who was also on Team Tom and Danny – Olivia kept in touch with the McFly duo.
Since opening for the band at Dreamland, alongside Sam Ryder, Olivia says she has been working on new material and she has also released a single -Don’t Take Too Long.
That song has had some 30,000 downloads from platforms such as Spotify and a recent Facebook video of her singing gained some one million views.
She has had booking from across the country and saying singing is now her “full-time job.”
Olivia also says her singing career is a way of keeping her dad’s legacy alive. Dad Justin was her biggest supporter and would have been very proud. Sadly, the former Royal Marine passed away in 2023 from cancer.
Olivia said: “He passed away in 2023 but singing is what makes me feel closer to my Dad and what keeps me going.
“I have dusted off the guitar that’s been sitting on my wall since he passed away and I have been writing music for the guitar and the piano. There are some really exciting things coming up this year and next year.”
The former Canterbury Academy student added: “Losing a parent young, I’m now 20 but lost my dad when I was 17, (means) grief comes in waves. You lose people, you gain friends and lose them, even family, but singing is something that has never left my side.
“A lot of my singles coming out this year and next year, and potentially an album, will be about the story of my life and how I have become the person I am now.
“For those grieving a parent and losing them young, it hits different. You can’t hold them when you need them most.
“I want people to understand and not feel alone through my music.”
Olivia takes to the stage at Central Park, Chelmsford, with McFly and support acts Twin Atlantic, Rianne Downey and Ordinary Boys, on August 29th.
Find tickets at: https://www.seetickets.com/event/chelmsford-summer-series-2026-mcfly/central-park/3624798
Find the single on Spotify at: https://open.spotify.com/artist/74KgvhWXRtxKC7lOZUSFCt
When I worked at Margate Winter Gardens, I refused to let them in to their own gig as I didn’t know who they were (I got a bollocking from my manager, but I’m quite proud of it in a way!).
I remember hearing A1 were on MTV next in the late 1990’s & wondered why they were doing a piece about a paper size. Amazed anybody could recognise any of them-I had enough trouble differentiating between Boyzone & Westlife & could not tell the difference between One Direction & JLS, let alone all these incredibly even more inferior weedy soyboy boy bands that popped up in-between like this lot that sounded exactly the same, had the usual haircut like Busted, Damage, 911 etc.
You shouldn’t be
Big fan?
She is the best singer and musician in kent by miles
Is that faint praise of grading on the curve, or a compliment?
If I remember correctly Olivia Rogers did a gig a few months ago at the Seaview pub in Birchington
Easy walking distance for Checksfield to support her
I remember seeing the poster! Maybe next time. I wish her well.