Brit Award for Best New Artist
2024 winner Raye
CountryUnited Kingdom (UK)
Presented byBritish Phonographic Industry (BPI)
First awarded1977
Currently held byRaye (2024)
Websitewww.brits.co.uk

The Brit Award for Best New Artist (previously Brit Award for British Breakthrough Act)[1] is an award given by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), an organisation which represents record companies and artists in the United Kingdom.[2] The accolade is presented at the Brit Awards, an annual celebration of British and international music.[3] The winners and nominees are determined by the Brit Awards voting academy with over 1,000 members, which comprise record labels, publishers, managers, agents, media, and previous winners and nominees.[4]

Throughout its tenure, the category has been known by a number of different names. Originally presented as two gendered categories in 1977, the inaugural recipients were Graham Parker and Julie Covington. The Human League were the first group to win the award. Paul Young and Lisa Stansfield were the first male and female solo artists to receive the combined award, winning in 1984 and 1990 respectively. In January 2023, Sam Ryder became the first Eurovision artist to be nominated in this category.[5] The current holder of the award is Raye, who won in 2024.

History

The award was first presented in 1977 as two awards: British Male Newcomer and British Female Newcomer which were won by Graham Parker and Julie Covington.[6] When the Brit Awards was held for the second time in 1982, these categories were combined and rules were changed so that groups were also eligible. The inaugural recipients of the new British Newcomer award were The Human League.[7] From 2003 to 2019, the award was presented as British Breakthrough Act.[8] The award received its current name Best New Artist starting in 2020, bringing it in line with similar international awards such as the Grammy Award for Best New Artist. Mabel and Dave are the only artists who have been nominated for this award more than once. Dave was nominated 2018 and 2020 and Mabel was nominated in both 2019 and 2020.

Winners and nominees

British Male/Female Newcomer (1977)

Year Recipient Nominees
1977 Graham Parker
Julie Covington

British Newcomer (1982–2002)

The Human League were the first winners of the combined award
1984 recipient Paul Young
1991 winner Betty Boo
Oasis won the award in 1995
1996 winners Supergrass
Stereophonics received the award in 1998
2000 winners S Club 7
2002 winners Blue
Year Recipient Nominees
1982 The Human League
1983 Yazoo
1984 Paul Young
1985 Frankie Goes to Hollywood
1986 Go West —
1987 The Housemartins
1988 Wet Wet Wet Nominated
Eliminated[citation needed]
1989 Bros —
1990 Lisa Stansfield
1991 Betty Boo
1992 Beverley Craven
1993 Tasmin Archer
1994 Gabrielle
1995 Oasis
1996 Supergrass
1997 Kula Shaker
1998 Stereophonics
1999 Belle and Sebastian
2000 S Club 7
2001 A1
2002 Blue

British Breakthrough Act (2003–2019)

Arctic Monkeys won the award in 2006
2008 winner Mika
2009 winner Duffy
Tinie Tempah received the award in 2011
2012 winner Ed Sheeran
Dua Lipa won the award in 2018
Year Recipient Nominees
2003 Will Young
2004 Busted
2005 Keane
2006 Arctic Monkeys
2007 The Fratellis
2008 Mika
2009 Duffy
2010 JLS
2011 Tinie Tempah
2012 Ed Sheeran
2013 Ben Howard
2014 Bastille
2015 Sam Smith
2016 Catfish and the Bottlemen
2017 Rag'n'Bone Man
2018 Dua Lipa
2019 Tom Walker

Best New Artist (2020–present)

2021 award recipient Arlo Parks
Year Recipient Nominees
2020 Lewis Capaldi
2021 Arlo Parks
2022 Little Simz
2023 Wet Leg
2024 Raye

Notes

References

  1. ^ "We're back!". BRIT Awards. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
  2. ^ "About the BPI". British Phonographic Industry (BPI). Archived from the original on 6 December 2015. Retrieved 20 July 2014.
  3. ^ "BRIT Awards". British Phonographic Industry (BPI). Archived from the original on 6 September 2018. Retrieved 20 July 2014.
  4. ^ "And the nominees are..." Brits.co.uk. British Phonographic Industry (BPI). Retrieved 20 July 2014.
  5. ^ "Brit Awards: Harry Styles and Wet Leg lead male-dominated nominations". BBC News. 2023-01-12. Retrieved 2023-01-16.
  6. ^ "The BRITs 1977". Brits.co.uk. British Phonographic Industry (BPI). Retrieved 20 July 2014.
  7. ^ "The BRITs 1982". Brits.co.uk. British Phonographic Industry (BPI). Retrieved 20 July 2014.
  8. ^ "The BRITs 2003". Brits.co.uk. British Phonographic Industry (BPI). Retrieved 20 July 2014.
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