BRITISH BREAKTHROUGH ACT

Hoping to follow in the footsteps of previous winners including Arctic Monkeys, Ed Sheeran, Bastille and Sam Smith are this year’s British Breakthrough nominees; Anne-Marie, Blossoms, Rag’n’Bone Man, Skepta and Stormzy.

Rag’n’Bone Man already has one trophy in the bag, having won the 2017 Critics’ Choice Award back in December. Nominated alongside him then, and again for British Breakthrough, is Anne-Marie, who rose to fame following her collaborations with Rudimental and Wretch 32. She also receives another nod as a featured artist on ‘Rockabye’ which is nominated for British Artist Video of the Year, and spent nine weeks at the UK No. 1 spot.

It’s been a busy year for Skepta, who has the most BRIT nominations this year alongside Little Mix. He’s also nominated for British Album and British Male.

After performing at The BRITs alongside Kanye West in 2015, this is Grime artist Stormzy’s first BRIT Nomination. His single ‘Shut Up’ spent two weeks in the UK Top 10. Fellow first-time nominees Blossoms reached the No. 1 spot with their debut self-titled album.

The BRIT Awards 2017 take place at The O2, London on 22 February and will be broadcast live on ITV. You can see all the nominations here.