Austin City Limits will tape a performance by Lola Young on Friday, October 9th at 8 pm at ACL Live at The Moody Theater (310 W. 2nd Street, Willie Nelson Blvd). Austin City Limits Taping Giveaways are presented by AXS Events.
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Twenty-five year-old British singer-songwriter Lola Young makes her Austin City Limits debut following a meteoric run that has transformed her into one of contemporary alternative pop’s most compelling voices. With a South London accent and talent in spades, Young signaled her arrival with the 2025 breakthrough anthem “Messy,” from her acclaimed sophomore album This Wasn’t Meant For You Anyway. An acerbic, whip-smart reckoning with both a toxic lover’s judgments and her own conflicting personality, “Messy” resonated with millions, particularly a generation drawn to Young’s heroically confessional lyrics and unflinching explorations of mental health and the messiness of being human. She earned two 2026 GRAMMY nominations, including Best New Artist, and took home her first GRAMMY Award for Best Pop Solo Performance.
Young’s extraordinary rise continued with five 2026 BRIT Award nominations and a Breakthrough Artist win, following her 2025 Ivor Novello Rising Star Award. Her acclaimed follow-up album, I’m Only F**king Myself, finds Young digging even deeper into the contradictions of her inner world, exploring self-sabotage, addiction, sexual liberation, toxic relationships, romantic longing, and existential despair with the lacerating honesty that has earned her a devoted global following. Mostly written and produced with longtime collaborators Manuka and SOLOMONOPHONIC, the album finds Young turning deeply private struggles into blisteringly candid songs.
On “D£aler,” a deceptively sunny melody masks a meditation on self-destructive behavior, while throughout the album her sharp lyrical zingers and powerhouse vocals illuminate the complicated spaces between vulnerability and defiance. Rolling Stone hails Young as “one of pop’s most fiercely honest songwriters, transmitting messy truths with a powerhouse voice.” Young has built a career on saying the things others might be afraid to utter out loud. Her music is strikingly sincere, brash, funny and painfully human—a rare combination that has made her one of the genre’s most original new stars—with a voice impossible to mistake and a willingness to tell the truth, however messy, that has become her greatest strength.