Olivia Holt

Singer and actress Olivia Holt is an effusive pop artist who first gained attention starring in Disney Channel productions like the sitcom Kickin’ It and the 2012 film Girl vs. Monster. In 2016, she released her debut EP Olivia.
Born in 1997, Holt was raised in Tennessee and Mississippi before her family settled in Los Angeles. Along with gymnastics, she participated in community theater throughout childhood, winning several auditions for national TV commercials along the way. In 2009, she landed her first film role in the indie drama Black and Blue. Four years later, at age 13, she earned a spot in the cast of the Disney martial arts sitcom Kickin’ It. The following year, while still working on the TV series, she starred in the Disney Channel original movie Girl vs. Monster, and performed three songs for the film, which appeared on the Walt Disney music compilation Make Your Mark: Ultimate Playlist. She left Kickin’ It in 2014 for the lead in another Disney sitcom, I Didn’t Do It, and later that year signed with Hollywood Records. In 2016, amid her series and other TV episode work, she released her debut EP, Olivia. Included was the single “Phoenix,” an uplifting pop anthem written and produced by Steve Mac (One Direction, James Blunt, Kelly Clarkson) and Nina Nesbitt. She returned to acting the following year, appearing in Same Kind of Different as Me (with Renée Zellweger and Greg Kinnear) and Class Rank (directed by Eric Stoltz). In 2018, she took on the superhero role of Tandy Bowen (aka Dagger) in the Freeform Marvel television series Cloak & Dagger. More singles arrived, including “Generous,” which landed at number one on the Billboard Dance Club Songs chart. In 2019, she issued “Distance” with Nicky Romero and “Bad Girlfrien,” with “Talk Me Out of It” and “Love U Again (feat. R3hab)” arriving in 2020. ~ Marcy Donelson