The annual BRITs awards have announced their short list for the “Best Rising Star” Category. The title is awarded each year to a new British artist which has the potential to make it big in the music industry. Every years the BRITs, in collaboration with BBC, choose artists who haven’t yet achieved a top twenty album on UK charts and no more than one top twenty song to be selected for the prestigious award.
The nominations this year are: indie duo Good Neighbours, Luton-born Myles Smith and soul singer Elmiene.
The Good Neighbours are a duo formed in East London by Scott Verrill and Oli Fox. Earlier this month, the duo was included in BBC’s sound of 2025 list along with the likes of Chappel Roan. The two had first begun their careers as singer separately: Fox had opened for Sigrid’s UK tour in 2018, and afterwards in 2020 and 2021 had released two Eps titled “Sunburt” and “The Season”. Verrill had also released Eps as a solo artist: “Animals” in 2015, “Wildlife” in 2017 and a collection titled “Fka Kyko” in 2019. After forming the duo, Good Neighbours begun teasing their single “Home” on TikTok, and it quickly vent viral. When the song was eventually released, in February 2024, it began climbing UK charts, peaking at 27. Myles Smith was named, earlier this month, BBC’s introducing artist of the year. Smith first gained popularity during lockdown, posting covers, and went viral in 2022 with a cover of The Neighborhood’s “Sweater Weather”. Smith made UK charts with his album “A Minute”, released in 2024, which peaked at number 63. His song “Stargazing” peaked at number four in the UK, and recently “Nice To Meet you”, off the album, achieved number 12.
@mylessmithuk Replying to @tararogers96 the same… but prettier. Can I be them? Sometimes you can sit and fantasise about being the person for someone that you dream about. But how often do we sit and wander about who is right for us? I guess for me, learning to be selfish is hard, but it’s needed. #theneighbourhood #sweaterweather #acousticcovers #artistsoftiktok #Love ♬ Sweater Weather Cover – Myles Smith
Elmiene, originally from Oxford, rose to fame in 2021 after a friend posted a video of him singing in his backyard. In January 2024, he was named one to watch by BBC Radio 1. Elmiene released his debut EP titled “EL-MEAN” in 2023, and it was followed by another EP titled “Marking my Time” and in 2024 Elmiene released “Marking my Time (Again)” and “Anyway I can”.
Previous years’ winners include many names that, today, are well known and have topped charts and won many awards. The rising star of 2008 was Adele, followed by Florence + The Machine in 2009, then Tom Odell, Sam Smith and more recently, Sam Fender in 2019, Griff in 2021 and FLO in 2023.
The winner of title, previously known as BRIT’s Critics Choice, will be announced on December 5, in anticipation of the much-awaited BRITs ceremony which this year will take place on March 1. The announcement will be live on the BBC Radio 1.
