The most successful BRIT Awards Rising Star winners

The prestigious BRIT Awards Rising Star has been presented annually since 2008 to the most promising up-and-coming musicians in the UK.

Previous winners have included a diverse range of artists. These include Adele, Sam Smith and Rag’n’Bone Man, all recognised for their exceptional talent and potential to impact the global music industry.

But not all recipients of the award went on to do great things. Amidst the now-household names, many Rising Star winners and nominees struggled to live up to the hype. Potentially lacking the star power required to make it in this notoriously tough industry. 

The Brit Awards Rising Star research

So, who have the most successful BRIT Award Rising Star winners? Which nascent artists didn’t quite meet the category’s high expectations? Which runners-up managed to outshine the winner in their year, and which year produced the most chart-toppers? We delved into the details to find out.  

Typically, the accolade is handed to artists just before or during their expected breakout year. We therefore looked specifically at the breakout album and single chart performance of each BRIT rising star in the year following their award win. This means we can discover the success rate of the panel of experts who make the selection every year. 

It also ensures that the data isn’t skewed heavily towards artists who have seen more success because they have simply been around longer. 

Who are the most successful BRIT Awards Rising Star winners? 

Sam Smith had the most chart success following their BRIT Awards Rising Star win 

When it comes to immediate triumph in UK album and singles sales, Sam Smith reigns supreme. Their first album “In the Lonely Hour” topped the album charts for eight consecutive weeks and remained in the Top 40 for a whopping 424 weeks altogether. The album’s lead single, “Stay with Me”, became a worldwide hit, winning a Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album in 2015. 

Sam Smith is followed by Lewis Capaldi and Dua Lipa who despite only being named as runners-up in their respective award years, also went on to do incredible things. The former managed 10 weeks at number one with his debut album “Divinely Uninspired to a Hellish Extent”, while Dua Lipa’s number one breakout single “New Rules” remained in the UK Top 40 for a huge 66 weeks. 

Who are the least successful BRIT Awards Rising Star winners? 

Chloë Howl saw the least chart success of any BRIT Awards Rising Star nominee 

At the other end of the spectrum, singer-songwriter Chloe Howl’s hotly tipped 2014 album and single “Rumour” didn’t manage to secure significant commercial success. The single charted at a disappointing 84 in the UK. 

Winner George the Poet and runner-up Frances also make the top three, with the latter only achieving 47^th place in the UK chart for 2017 album “Things I’ve Never Said.” 

Our data also found that: 

• Winning the BRIT Awards Rising Star accolade doesn’t always mean most chart success. Four in 10 of the top performing artists were nominated for the award, and didn’t win it 
• Six in 10 of the top performing artists are female 
• 2019 produced the most successful BRIT Awards Rising Stars, with an average score of 41/100. The prize was won by Sam Fender with Lewis Capaldi and Mahalia as runners-up 
• The poorest-performing year, meanwhile, was 2020, with an average weighted score of just 8/100. The award was won by Celeste and runners-up were Joy Crookes and Beabadoobee 

What’s clear from this data is the exceptional musical talent that the UK has to offer – as well as the success we have in identifying and nurturing that talent.  

The 2023 BRIT Awards Rising Star has been named as FLO. Eyes will be on the all-female R&B group as they work on their upcoming album and subsequent singles releases. But it’s not just about the winners, of course. We therefore look forward to seeing what runners-up Cat Burns and Nia Archives also have to offer.

Research methodology 

We took each artist’s breakout album or single from the 12-18 months following the announcement of the BRIT Awards Rising Star in which they either won or were nominated. 

For each album and single, we took the highest chart position, the number of weeks in the chart and number of weeks at number one as ranking factors and created a weighted rank for each artist.

All the data can be found here.

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