British R&B girl group, FLO are the winners of the BRITs Rising Star award for 2023, making them the first ever group to win.
The award is supported by BBC Radio 1 – the news being revealed by Clara Amfo on her BBC Radio 1 Future Sounds show.
“From growing up watching the BRITs, to finding each other and forming FLO, releasing our first body of work in 2022 and winning a BRIT award in the same year… we are so shocked and grateful,” said FLO.
“We are the first group to win the BRITs Rising Star! We’ve just made history and couldn’t have done it without our wonderful fans and supportive families. It’s truly a dream come true. We feel so empowered creating the music we love and we hope others feel that too.”
Seven months ago FLO, comprised of members Renée, Jorja and Stella, released their debut single Cardboard Box, which won them fans such as Brandy, JoJo, SZA, Victoria Monét, Missy Elliott, and girl group royalty, Kelly Rowland and Sugababes.
FLO went on to perform Cardboard Box on Jimmy Kimmel, Later…with Jools Holland, The Glamour Women of the Year Awards, The BET Soul Train Awards, as well as being announced as Best Newcomer nominees at the MOBOs.
The recent Happi remix of Cardboard Box became the number one sound on TikTok UK after a Polynesian-creator’s dance routine went viral on the platform, leading to over 400k creations a day at its peak and now over one million versions of the dance exist.
FLO released their debut EP, The Lead in summer 2022 to critical acclaim, which has now amassed over 70 million global streams.
Cat Burns and Nia Archives were also shortlisted for the award, originally known as Critics’ Choice – which since its launch in 2008, has identified the future stars of UK music, with an alumni of previous winners including Adele, Florence + The Machine, Sam Smith, Rag ‘N’ Bone Man, Ellie Goulding, Sam Fender, Celeste, Griff and last year’s winner Holly Humberstone.
The BRITs Rising Star award shortlist is selected by an invited panel of music editors and critics from the national press, online music editors, heads of music at major radio and music TV stations plus songwriters, producers and live bookers.
Past BRITs Critics’ Choice / Rising Star winners and nominees:
2008 Adele (Duffy, Foals)
2009 Florence + The Machine (Little Boots, White Lies)
2010 Ellie Goulding (Delphic, Marina and the Diamonds)
2011 Jessie J (James Blake, The Vaccines)
2012 Emeli Sandé (Michael Kiwanuka, Maverick Sabre)
2013 Tom Odell (AlunaGeorge, Laura Mvula)
2014 Sam Smith (Ella Eyre, Chlöe Howl)
2015 James Bay (George The Poet, Years & Years)
2016 Jack Garratt (Izzy Bizu, Frances)
2017 Rag ’n’ Bone Man (Anne Marie, Dua Lipa)
2018 Jorja Smith (Stefflon Don, Mabel)
2019 Sam Fender (Lewis Capaldi, Mahalia)
2020 Celeste (Beabadoobee, Joy Crookes)
2021 Griff (Pa Salieu, Rina Sawayama)
2022 Holly Humberstone (Bree Runway, Lola Young)
The BRIT Awards 2023 with Mastercard have also confirmed the full list of award categories for the main show.
Along with the flagship Mastercard Album of the Year, Artist of the Year and Song of the Year categories, the four new genre awards introduced for 2022 will continue, with the winner decided by public vote powered by TikTok.
The full category list for 2023 will be as follows:
Artist of the Year with YouTube Music
Group of the Year
BRITs Rising Star supported by BBC Radio 1
Best New Artist
Song of the Year with Mastercard supported by Capital FM
Mastercard Album of the Year
International Artist of the Year
International Group of the Year
Alternative/Rock Act
Pop/R&B Act
Dance Act
Hip Hop/Rap/Grime Act
The main eligibility window for the above categories (bar Rising Star), and all awards as decided upon by The BRITs Voting Academy, runs from December 10 2021 to December 9 2022.
The BRITs Voting Academy is made up of approximately 1,200 music industry experts across media, artists, labels, publishers, promoters, retailers and more, and is refreshed annually to ensure the voters are as diverse and representative as possible.
The BRITs in 2023 will also celebrate the Producer of the Year and Songwriter of the Year – honorary awards that are decided upon by the BRITs Committee.
The BRIT Awards 2023 will take place on February 11 2023.
Photo credit: John Marshall/JMEnternational