GRIFF WINS BRITS RISING STAR

Warner Records signing Griff has won this year's BRITs Rising Star award, battling competition from labelmate Pa Salieu and Dirty Hit's Rina Sawayama. She's set to release her debut mixtape, One Foot in Front of the Other, this summer.

Griff, 20, writes what the podcast Bringin' It Backwards called “blistering, sparse, emotional” pop songs. She released her debut collection, The Mirror Talk EP, in 2019 after signing to Warner that year and has since released a string of singles, including latest track "Black Hole"—her biggest airplay record to date. Lyrical themes span the trials of modern teenage life—young love, mental health, family and friendship.

Last year, the artist born Sarah Griffiths took over the Tate Modern for her second-ever London show, lent her voice to Disney's first Christmas ad campaign on "Love Is a Compass" and received a nomination for the Ivors Rising Star Award. She came in fifth on the BBC Sound of 2021 poll in January.

Griff is managed by Deleon Blake.

Last year the prize evolved from its original name, BRITs Critics' Choice. Since its inception in 2008, it has successfully predicted the future stars of British music, including Adele, Florence + The Machine, Sam Smith, Rag 'N' Bone Man and last year's winner, Celeste, whose debut album, Not Your Muse (Polydor), hit #1 on the U.K.'s Official Albums Chart in January. The total global album sales for all previous winners sits at more than 135m.