Holly Humberstone, Bree Runway and Lola Young have been shortlisted for next year’s BRITs Rising Star award.
As was the case in 2018 and 2020, all three nominees for the prize (fka the Critics’ Choice award) are female solo artists. Griff took home the statue at the BRITs 2021, with Celeste winning at the previous year’s ceremony.
The BRITs Rising Star award, which is judged by a panel of industry experts, recognises British acts that had not had a top 20 album or more than one top 20 single before October 31, 2021.
Humberstone’s latest EP, ‘The Walls Are Way Too Thin’, came out this month. In a four-star review, NME hailed it as “a soul-baring triumph”.
Reacting to the BRITs nod on Twitter, she wrote: “Pinching myself how is this even real !!!!!!!! This is so so cool !!! nominated for an actual BRIT Award […] wtf thank youuuu.”
In a statement, Humberstone added: “Music has always been my entire life, and being nominated for such a prestigious award really means everything to me.
“Recognition from the BRITs is something I am struggling to comprehend at the moment! it’s truly an honor to be nominated for the BRITs Rising Star Award alongside two other incredibly inspiring female artists.”
Runway released her debut EP ‘2000AND4EVA’ last November and has been working on the follow-up in LA. Her first new track of 2021 arrived in March, the Busta Rhymes-sampling “Hot Hot”. She also collaborated with Glass Animals on “Space Ghost Coast To Coast” and worked on Lady Gaga’s Chromatica remix album.
“I feel so honored to be recognized by the BRITs in this way, it’s all so exciting especially as previous nominees have gone on to do such amazing things, I hope I’m struck by that same luck,” Runway said.
“Attending the BRITs alone has been something I’ve wanted to do for years, but attending as a Rising Star nominee is a DREAM.”
Young, meanwhile, is the voice behind this year’s John Lewis Christmas advert. The singer contributed a tender rendition of Philip Oakey and Giorgio Moroder‘s 1984 hit “Together In Electric Dreams” for the commercial. She released the EP ‘After Midnight’ earlier this year.
“I can’t believe I’ve been nominated for this award,” Young said. “It feels surreal and completely unexpected. I actually have to pinch myself looking at the other artists that have been nominated previously. It is such a big step for me and I feel very excited to have been nominated!”.
The winner of this year’s BRITs Rising Star award will be announced on Friday, December 10.
Previous recipients include Adele (2008), Florence + The Machine (2009), Sam Smith (2014), James Bay (2015), Jorja Smith (2018) and Sam Fender (2019).