Lola Young’s performance on The Tonight Show left fans all shook up! Britain’s rising alt-pop star gave an intense and emotional performance of her breakout hit “Messy,” which left many fans reaching for the Kleenexes. The 24-year-old really bared her soul on stage, using her soulful mezzo-soprano voice to just let it all out on the smouldering hit. Young appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on January 22, 2025, and her tempestuous performance has already blown up to three million views.
This time last year, Young had never charted a single, but that all changed with her May 2024 drop “Messy,” which went Gold on both sides of the Atlantic. Young doesn’t pull any punches in the scathing lyrics of “Messy,” and her mercurial live performance of the song is the perfect platform for her to show what she’s capable of as a singer-songwriter. The Music Man has a hunch that we’ll be hearing a lot more from Young!
You’ve also gotta give it up to the band, who complement Young’s soul vocals with an alt-rock soundtrack, giving the song a fresh angle musically. Fans responded to Young’s US television debut on The Tonight Show in a big way, adding comments such as “The emotion she has in this performance made me cry. She’s incredible” and “I need this version to be on Spotify. The emotions here are heavier and more heartfelt than the studio version.”
You may also like...
- Article Continues Below -
Young has produced several viral videos over the past year with her unfiltered live performances of “Messy.” Another fan favorite live cut from Young is her take on the single on Inas Nacht. This performance captures an intimate energy, with an acoustic guitar arrangement that leans into a doo-wop vocal feel, rather than her rocking appearance on her Tonight Show appearance. Don’t think she’s going too soft on the number, though, as she really opens the floodgates with her belting just before the three-minute mark.
Lola Emily Mary Young is a 24-year-old British singer-songwriter who was born on January 4, 2001, in London. She was born to an English mother and a Jamaican-Chinese father. Young grew up in a musical family and began writing songs in earnest from age 11 onward. Young released a steady stream of singles from 2019 to 2024, before scoring her commercial breakout with the release of “Messy” on May 30, 2024. The song topped the charts in the UK, Australia, and Ireland, as well as charting at number five on Billboard’s Global 200.