Photo: Press
The BBC Sound Of 2016 longlist has been announced, tipping the new and emerging acts set for huge things in the year of music ahead - with the likes of WSTRN, Jack Garratt, Blossoms and Rat Boy all nominated. See the full list below.
The 15 strong list will eventually be whittled down to just five, with one act emerging victorious as 'The Sound Of 2016'. Last year's winners were Years & Years, who certainly went on the earn their title by dominating the airwaves and defining a year pop.
Before them, winners included the likes of Sam Smith, HAIM, Ellie Goulding and Adele - while Chvrches, Hurts, Bloc Party, Florence + The Machine and more have also been shortlisted in the past. Now, we have a batch of new names ready to set the world on fire in 2016.
“BBC Sound Of is a definitive list of the key artists to look out for and listen to in 2016," says Annie Mac of the list. "It has real results; incredible success stories and I'm looking forward to being able to support these people on my radio shows.”
The top five will be announced on the week of 4 January 2016. Jack Garratt has already won the BRITs Critics Choice Award, while after performing on the Gigwise Stage at Live At Leeds and at an office session for us, we have very high hopes for rising guitar heroes Blossoms.
We're big fans of WSTRN too, and have had Rat Boy tipped for greatness for quite some time. Alessia Cara, Billie Marten, Dua Lipa and Section Boyz bring great things to the world of pop, electro, grime, soul and beyond, but the truth is that the wide variety of music on offer is likely to blow the game wide open. We're quite excited to see what becomes of all of these acts.
Get to know the top 15 finalists below:
Alessia Cara
Billie Marten
Blossoms
Dua Lipa
Frances
Izzy Bizu
Jack Garratt
J Hus
Loyle Carner
Mabel
Mura Masa
NAO
Rat Boy
Section Boyz
WSTRN
