Singer Griff wins BRITs Rising Star award

Singer-songwriter Griff has won the 2021 BRITs Rising Star award, organisers of Britain's pop music honours said on Friday.

The Mirror Talk and Forgive Myself singer beat off competition from rapper Pa Salieu and singer Rina Sawayama to the prize, whose past winners include Adele, Sam Smith, Emeli Sande and Celeste.

"In my head I'm still screaming from the phone call when I found out," the 20-year-old, who released several songs last year, said in a statement.

"It's honestly such a miracle: how on earth did we manage to win a BRIT and break through during a pandemic?"

Born to a Chinese mother and Jamaican father, Griff, who sings about teenage love and mental health in her latest song Black Hole, was last year nominated for an Ivor Novello Rising Star award.

The BRIT Awards will take place in May.