Upcoming singer, Sarah Faith Griffiths also known as Griff, has been named the winner of the 2021 Brit Awards’ Rising Star prize, which recognises pop’s most promising talents to watch.
The 20-year-old star from Hertfordshire provided the song for Disney’s first Christmas TV advert last year.
Griff also appeared on the BBC’s Sound of 2021 list and has been endorsed by Taylor Swift.
She has joined the league of past winners including Celeste, Jorja Smith and Adele.
“In my head, I’m still screaming from the phone call when I found out,” Griff said in a statement. “It’s honestly such a miracle: how on earth did we manage to win a Brit and break through during a pandemic?”
From Kings Langley, Griff discovered music after hearing Stevie Wonder sang at the age of five and learned to sing in her church choir.
But she told BBC that “the first album I think I really loved out of choice was Taylor Swift’s Fearless”.
Griff had her first recording session at the age of 10, “just doing embarrassing things in a band”.
By the time she left school, she’d signed a deal with Warner Music, releasing her first single in July 2019, two weeks after she finished her A-levels.
The Brits prize was formerly known as the Critics’ Choice but has now been rebranded the Rising Star. Other past winners include Sam Fender, Rag ‘n’ Bone Man, James Bay, Sam Smith, Emeli Sande and Jessie J.
This year’s other nominees were British-Japanese singer Rina Sawayama and Coventry rapper Pa Salieu, who won the BBC’s Sound of 2021 earlier this year.
The rest of this year’s Brit Award winners will be announced at a ceremony on 11 May.
