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.
Sign up to Best Fit's Substack for regular dispatches from the world of pop culture