UMG ACTS RULE BRITS RISING STAR NOMINATIONS

Universal is home to all three of this year’s BRITs Rising Star nominees; Bree Runway (EMI), Holly Humberstone (Polydor) and Lola Young (Island) will battle it out for the award.

The winner will be announced on 12/10. In the meantime, here’s the lowdown:

Runway is a multifaceted talent who started building a following by posting videos online, garnering millions of views and finding fans in the likes of Rihanna, Missy Elliott and 6LACK. She self-released a few EPs before signing to EMI, which is where her first mixtape, 2000and4Eva, landed last year. Her sound has been described as “destructive pop.” Accolades include a BBC Sound Of shortlist spot, a BET Award and two MOBO nominations. Most recently, Runway was featured on Lady Gaga’s Dawn of Chromatica Remix album and collaborated with Glass Animals, Elliott, Maliibu Mitch and Rina Sawayama. She's signed to Motown In the U.S.

Humberstone’s debut EP, Falling Asleep at the Wheel, was released independently last year, before she signed a deal with Polydor, Darkroom and Interscope in 2021. To date, Humberstone has garnered more than 200m global streams, received an Ivor Novello Rising Star nomination, was runner-up in the BBC Sound of 2021 and has enjoyed support from YouTube and Deezer. Her latest EP, The Walls Are Way Too Thin, arrived in early November. Expect a debut album in 2022.

Young is a BRIT School graduate who has spent the past few years gigging around London. Her debut EP, After Midnight, arrived in August. Radio support has come from BBC Radio 1, and she’s had press from The Independent, Vogue, Hunger and others. Young has been working with producer Paul Epworth—who produced her latest single, “FAKE”—the result of which will be rolled out via two EPs. Young also just released a cover of Philip Oakey and Giorgio Moroder’s “Together in Electric Dreams” for the John Lewis Christmas ad campaign. Expect more singles next year and an album in Q4 2022.

Incidentally, Runway, Humberstone and Young are all featured in the up-and-coming acts section of our recently published U.K. Special issue. Read more about them here.