Getty ImagesSinger Myles Smith has been announced as the winner of the Brit Rising Star Award for 2025.
The 26-year-old from Luton saw off competition from soul singer Elmiene and east London indie duo Good Neighbours to take top prize.
Previous winners include The Last Dinner Party, FLO, Sam Fender and Griff, with the award designed to highlight up and coming talent selected by a panel of industry experts, in partnership with BBC Radio 1.
“I feel great, it’s been a big year full of great experiences and great moments – sharing it with great people,” the Stargazing hitmaker said.
Appearing on BBC Radio 1’s New Music Show with Jack Saunders, Myles found out he’d won live on the programme.
“You’re having me on,” he replied, before going on to call his mum, who told him she was “so incredibly proud”.
“It’s incredible to watch,” mum Deborah said.
“None of this has impacted the character he is, he’s just such a wholesome genuine individual.”
“You’ve got a habit of making me cry,” Myles replied.
Myles has had a memorable year which has included a top five single for Stargazing in the Official Charts, a Glastonbury set, more than one billion streams and being named BBC Introducing’s Artist of the Year.
To be nominated for the Rising Star Award, artists can’t have achieved a top 20 album or more than one top 20 single by 31 October.
Four years ago during the coronavirus lockdown, Myles started posting covers online and went viral in 2022 with his acoustic version of The Neighbourhood’s Sweater Weather.
After being named BBC Introducing’s Artist of the Year, Myles told Newsbeat he finally felt “comfortable in my own skin”.
“What I think this year’s taught me is that expectations are there for comfort. But very rarely are they exactly what we imagine,” he said.
Since being named 2024’s Rising Star, The Last Dinner Party have gone on to sell out a tour and release their debut album, A Prelude to Ecstasy.
The Brit Awards will be broadcast live from the O2 in London on Saturday 1 March.
