Holly Humberstone has been crowned the winner of the BRITs Rising Star Award for 2022, after being nominated alongside Bree Runway and Lola Young.
The Lincolnshire musician was revealed as the victor in the category, which was previously known as the Critics’ Choice Award, on Clara Amfo’s BBC Radio 1 Future Sounds show yesterday (December 9).
Reacting to the news, Humberstone said in a statement: “I remember watching the BRITs with my parents each year and being totally awestruck by the artists coming together in what felt like another universe.
“Now to be named the BRITs Rising Star and nominated alongside two other incredible women, with the songs that started within those four walls at home is so mad. It just doesn’t feel real. This year has been a wild ride and a year of firsts, and I am so grateful and thankful for everyone who has helped make this happen!”
Former Rising Star winner Sam Fender broke the news to Humberstone while the pair were recording an acoustic version of his single “Seventeen Going Under”. The singer-songwriter presented the award-winning artist with the trophy, admitting he was “more nervous” to tell her than when he won the award himself.
The BRITs Rising Star Award is voted for by an invited panel of music editors and critics from the national press, online music editors, heads of music at major radio and music TV stations plus songwriters, producers, and live bookers. Past winners include Fender, Griff, Adele, Sam Smith, Florence + The Machine, Rag ’N’ Bone Man, Ellie Goulding, and more.
Humberstone released her debut EP Falling Asleep At The Wheel in 2020, immediately capturing the imagination of music fans worldwide with its personal stories set to intimate and infectious pop songs. Since then, she has been nominated for the Ivor Novello Rising Star Award with Apple Music, finished as the runner-up in the BBC’s Sound of 2021 list, shared creative, groundbreaking performances on The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon, The Late Late Show and Later… With Jools Holland.
Her second EP The Walls Are Way Too Thin arrived in November, which pushed her songwriting forward as she continued to turn her real-life experiences into universally relatable vignettes. The EP also saw her collaborate with The 1975 frontman Matty Healy on the track “Please Don’t Leave Just Yet.”
Humberstone will now perform at the BRITs 2022 ceremony, which will take place at London’s The O2 on February 8 and will be broadcast in the UK on ITV and ITV Hub. Comedian Mo Gilligan will host the show for the first time, while more performers will be announced soon. The full list of BRITs 2022 nominees will be revealed on December 18.