Griff named as winner of BRITs Rising Star award for 2021

18 March 2021, 23:50 | Written by The Line of Best Fit

(News)

(Griff)

20-year-old Warner-signed Griff has beaten Pa Salieu and Rina Sawayama to be named the BRITs Rising Star of 2021.

Hertfordshire-born Sarah Faith Griffiths - daughter of a Chinese mother and a Jamaican father - picked up her first Radio 1 play from Annie Mac (whilst still doing her A Levels), and last summer she was nominated for an Ivor Novello Award. She fronted Disney's first Christmas ad campaign with "Love Is A Compass" and secured a Top 5 place in the BBC's Sound of 2021 poll earlier this year. A mixtape titled One Foot In Front Of The Other is due this summer.

“In my head I'm still screaming from the phone call when I found out," Griff says. "It's honestly such a miracle: how on earth did we manage to win a BRIT and break through during a pandemic?"

Past winners of the Rising Star Award, previously known as the Critics Choice Award,include Adele, Florence + The Machine, Sam Smith, and Celeste. This year's ceremony takes place on Tuesday, 11 May at the The O2 arena on ITV.