Holly Humberstone says BRITs Rising Star nomination is “out of this world”
"It's really encouraging and so affirming"
By Tom Skinner
Holly Humberstone has described the experience of being nominated for the BRITs Rising Star award as “out of this world”.
The singer-songwriter, who released her second EP ‘The Walls Are Way Too Thin’ last month, shares the category with Bree Runway and Lola Young. A winner will be announced on Friday (November 10) ahead of the BRIT Awards 2022 ceremony, which takes place on February 8.
In a new video, Humberstone explained: “To be shortlisted for BRITs Rising Star is so, so weird but really, really cool. Making music and performing music has always been my whole life.
“Writing is so important to me and just to get my music recognised by the BRITs is just out of this world and really encouraging and so affirming.”
She continued: “It’s also lovely to be nominated alongside two other incredible female artists that are just so inspiring and amazing. [I’m] just excited to make more music and to carry on.”
Humberstone said she hopes her music helps fans to realise they’re “not alone” with their problems. “I write about stuff that I’m going through and stuff that my friends are going through,” she continued.
“Going into the studio and writing is my way of processing all of the changes that I’m going through and everything around me that’s confusing and weird. I guess I’m not writing about anything particularly unique; it’s pretty universal stuff that everyone can probably relate to.”
She added: “I love really personal music that I feel like I can connect to, and I find some kind of comfort in. I hope that can be what my music does for somebody else.
Later, Humberstone spoke of working with last year’s BRITs Rising Star winner Griff. “She’s amazing – so, so inspiring – and yeah, I loved her performance at the BRITs last year. It was so cool,” she said.
You can watch the interview in full above.
This year’s three nominees have also shared special performances recorded ahead of the 2022 BRIT Awards.
Last month (November 22), the BRIT Awards announced full details of its 2022 ceremony, including the reveal of new host Mo Gilligan, who is replacing Jack Whitehall, who spent four years hosting the show.
The traditional ‘Male’ and ‘Female’ award categories will be removed at the 2022 BRITs and replaced instead with ‘Artist of the Year’ and ‘International Artist of the Year’ at the February 8 ceremony at The O2 in London, in a move designed to be as inclusive as possible so artists are celebrated for their work first and foremost.
Speaking about the new category changes, BRIT chair and Co-President of Polydor Records, Tom March said: “It is important that The BRITs continue to evolve and aim to be as inclusive as possible. It feels completely the right time to celebrate the achievements of artists for the music that they create, and the work that they do, irrespective of gender.”