Myles Smith, Elmiene, and Good Neighbours have been named as the artists shortlisted for the Brit Rising Star Award in 2025. The award, which is in partnership with BBC Radio 1, celebrates new talent and is selected by a panel of industry experts. The winner of the award will be announced on December 5, ahead of the Brit Awards on March 1, 2026, and will take over from The Last Dinner Party, who won the award in 2024.
To be nominated for the award, the artists cannot have had a top 20 album or more than one top 20 single by October 31st. Myles Smith, who peaked at number four on the Official Charts with his song Stargazing, was “incredibly honoured” to be nominated for the award. The 26-year-old artist from Luton was named BBC Introducing’s Artist of the Year earlier in the month. After posting covers online during lockdown four years ago, he went viral in 2022 with his acoustic version of The Neighbourhood’s Sweater Weather. Since then, he has played at Glastonbury and even featured on former US President Barack Obama’s summer playlist.
Soul singer Elmiene from Oxford, who was named one to watch by BBC Radio 1 in January, has had a big year. He has released two EPs since then and says he is “extremely grateful” to be nominated for the award. Despite being called “the Michael Jackson kid,” Elmiene did not start writing music until his music GCSE, and he did not think writing music was something for him. However, after a video of him singing in his back garden in 2021 went viral, he has since blown up online, with more than a million monthly listeners on Spotify and backing from legends such as Missy Elliot and SZA.
East London indie duo Good Neighbours, composed of Scott Verrill and Oli Fox, complete the list of nominees. Their debut single Home has been streamed more than 450 million times across the world, and the judges describe their music as “bursting with hope and joyous abandon,” inspired by the likes of MGMT, Passion Pit, and Bleachers. The Last Dinner Party won the Rising Star Award in 2024, and since then, they have sold out a tour and released their debut album, A Prelude to Ecstasy. The Brit Awards will air live from the O2 in London on Saturday, March 1, 2026
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