The Brit Award for British Breakthrough Artist (previously Brit Award for Best New Artist and Brit Award for British Breakthrough Act) is an award given by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), an organisation which represents record companies and artists in the United Kingdom. The accolade is presented at the Brit Awards, an annual celebration of British and international music. The winners and nominees are determined by the Brit Awards voting academy with over 1,000 members, which comprise record labels, publishers, managers, agents, media, and previous winners and nominees.
Throughout its tenure, the category has been known by a number of different names. Originally presented as two gendered categories in 1977, the inaugural recipients were Graham Parker and Julie Covington. The Human League were the first group to win the award. Paul Young and Lisa Stansfield were the first male and female solo artists to receive the combined award, winning in 1984 and 1990 respectively. In January 2023, Sam Ryder became the first Eurovision artist to be nominated in this category. The current holder of the award is Lola Young, who won in 2026.
History The award was first presented in 1977 as two awards: British Male Newcomer and British Female Newcomer which were won by Graham Parker and Julie Covington. When the Brit Awards was held for the second time in 1982, these categories were combined and rules were changed so that groups were also eligible. The inaugural recipients of the new British Newcomer award were The Human League. From 2003 to 2019, the award was presented as British Breakthrough Act. The award received its current name Best New Artist starting in 2020, bringing it in line with similar international awards such as the Grammy Award for Best New Artist. Mabel and Dave are the only artists who have been nominated for this award more than once. Dave was nominated 2018 and 2020 and Mabel was nominated in both 2019 and 2020.
Winners and nominees British Male/Female Newcomer (1977) YearRecipientNominees 1977 Graham Parker Heatwave (band) Julie Covington Bonnie Tyler
British Newcomer (1982–2002)
YearRecipientNominees 1982 The Human League Depeche Mode Linx Soft Cell Toyah Willcox 1983 Yazoo ABC Culture Club Musical Youth 1984 Paul Young Big Country Howard Jones Tracey Ullman Wham! 1985 Frankie Goes to Hollywood Bronski Beat Nik Kershaw 1986 Go West align="center" rowspan="2" 1987 The Housemartins 1988 Wet Wet Wet Nominated Rick Astley The Christians Johnny Hates Jazz T'Pau Eliminated Black Curiosity Killed the Cat Living in a Box Mel and Kim Pepsi & Shirlie The Proclaimers Swing Out Sister 1989 Bros align="center" 1990 Lisa Stansfield The Beautiful South Shakespears Sister Soul II Soul The Stone Roses 1991 Betty Boo Beats International The Charlatans Happy Mondays The La's 1992 Beverley Craven Cathy Dennis EMF Kenny Thomas Seal 1993 Tasmin Archer Dina Carroll KWS Take That Undercover 1994 Gabrielle Apache Indian Jamiroquai Shara Nelson Suede 1995 Oasis Echobelly Eternal PJ & Duncan Portishead 1996 Supergrass Black Grape Cast Elastica Tricky 1997 Kula Shaker Alisha's Attic Ash Babybird The Bluetones Lighthouse Family Longpigs Mansun Mark Morrison Skunk Anansie Space Spice Girls 1998 Stereophonics All Saints Beth Orton Conner Reeves Embrace Finley Quaye Olive Roni Size & Reprazent Shola Ama Travis 1999 Belle and Sebastian Another Level Billie Piper Cleopatra Cornershop Five Gomez Hinda Hicks Propellerheads Steps 2000 S Club 7 Groove Armada Honeyz Phats & Small The Wiseguys 2001 A1 Artful Dodger Coldplay Craig David Toploader 2002 Blue Atomic Kitten Elbow Gorillaz Mis-Teeq So Solid Crew Starsailor Tom McRae Turin Brakes Zero 7
British Breakthrough Act (2003–2019)
YearRecipientNominees 2003 Will Young The Coral Liberty X Ms. Dynamite The Streets 2004 Busted The Darkness Dizzee Rascal Jamie Cullum Lemar 2005 Keane Franz Ferdinand Joss Stone Natasha Bedingfield The Zutons 2006 Arctic Monkeys James Blunt Kaiser Chiefs KT Tunstall The Magic Numbers 2007 The Fratellis Corinne Bailey Rae James Morrison The Kooks Lily Allen 2008 Mika Bat for Lashes Kate Nash Klaxons Leona Lewis 2009 Duffy Adele The Last Shadow Puppets Scouting for Girls The Ting Tings 2010 JLS Florence and the Machine Friendly Fires La Roux Pixie Lott 2011 Tinie Tempah Ellie Goulding Mumford & Sons Rumer The xx 2012 Ed Sheeran Anna Calvi Emeli Sandé Jessie J The Vaccines 2013 Ben Howard Alt-J Jake Bugg Jessie Ware Rita Ora 2014 Bastille Disclosure Laura Mvula London Grammar Tom Odell 2015 Sam Smith Chvrches FKA Twigs George Ezra Royal Blood 2016 Catfish and the Bottlemen James Bay Jess Glynne Wolf Alice Years & Years 2017 Rag'n'Bone Man Anne-Marie Blossoms Skepta Stormzy 2018 Dua Lipa Dave J Hus Loyle Carner Sampha 2019 Tom Walker Ella Mai IDLES Jorja Smith Mabel
Best New Artist (2020–2025)
YearRecipientNominees 2020 Lewis Capaldi Aitch Dave Mabel Sam Fender2021 Arlo Parks Bicep Celeste Joel Corry Young T & Bugsey2022 Little Simz Central Cee Griff Joy Crookes Self Esteem2023 Wet Leg Kojey Radical Mimi Webb Rina Sawayama Sam Ryder2024 Raye Mahalia Olivia Dean PinkPantheress Yussef Dayes2025 The Last Dinner Party English Teacher Ezra Collective Myles Smith Rachel Chinouriri
British Breakthrough Artist (2026–present) YearRecipientNominees 2026 Lola Young Barry Can't Swim EsDeeKid Jim Legxacy Skye Newman
Notes Sam Smith (2014), Rag'n'Bone Man (2017) also won Brit Award for Rising Star Paul Young (1985), Ed Sheeran (2012, 2015), Ben Howard (2013) also won Brit Award for British Male Solo Artist Lisa Stansfield (1991–1992), Duffy (2009), Dua Lipa (2018, 2021) also won Brit Award for British Female Solo Artist Oasis (1996), Arctic Monkeys (2007–2008, 2014) also won Brit Award for British Group Blue (2003), Busted (2004) also won Brit Award for British Pop Act
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