Tom Grennan has been announced as the winner of this years BBC Music Introducing Artist of the Year Award 2018. The ‘Lighting Matches’ singer has brought an incredible 12 months to a close by being selected for the prestigious accolade, which honours the best new British artist of the past year and he admits it is “an incredible honour” to get the prize, which he insists he owes to the support of his family and fans.
This year Tom Grennan picks up the illustrious BBC Music Introducing Artist of the Year award, with him following in the footsteps of previous winners including Declan McKenna (2017), Izzy Bizu (2016), Jack Garratt (2015) and Catfish and the Bottlemen (2014).
Speaking about winning the award, Grennan said: “It’s an incredible honour for me to pick up such a prestigious award as the BBC Music Introducing Artist of the Year. I have seen other people I admire greatly pick up this trophy over the years so for me to now receive it is pretty mind blowing and a real landmark moment in my life. I want to sincerely thank my family, management team, and record label for giving me the strength to challenge myself and become the best I can be, and to BBC Music Introducing for their incredible support and for giving my work the recognition they have. And most importantly of all, I want to thank my fans, because without them I am nothing!”
BBC Music Introducing Artist of the Year, is the BBC’s scheme for emerging musical talent, which showcases undiscovered and unsigned artists. The award has helped to kick-start the careers of chart toppers such as James Bay, Jake Bugg, Florence + the Machine and George Ezra, since it was launched in 2007.
Speaking about why Grennan was selected as this year’s recipient of the Artist of the Year Award 2018, Head of BBC Music and BBC Music Introducing, James Stirling said: “BBC Music Introducing has supported Tom Grennan for over five years now, via BBC Local Radio and our National Radio stations and television shows. It’s such a pleasure to see his music making a significant impact and to be able to add his name to our list of talented former winners.”
Grennan, 23, first came to the attention of his local Introducing show in Beds, Herts and Bucks in 2012, when he uploaded his former band’s, The Jebs, music to the talent scheme’s website. Grennan subsequently went solo and shared his first solo tracks in 2016, which saw him quickly begin to make a name for himself.
Before releasing his debut LP ‘Lighting Matches’ in July, Grennan dropped a number of EPs and featured as a guest artist on Chase and Status’ ‘All Goes Wrong’ and Bugzy Malone’s ‘Memory Lane’. It was his feature on the Chase & Status track ‘All goes Wrong’, that he received his big break.
The song was picked up by Radio 1’s Annie Mac as her Hottest Record, on the 21st of September 2016. After being longlisted for the BBC Sound of 2017, it was only a matter of time until the BBC invited him down to Maida Vale studios to record a solo session for BBC Music Introducing, which saw him named as “one of the most exciting, emerging songwriters in the UK today”.
