The 22-year old singer-songwriter, gaining popularity for her bubbly melodies and alternative pop hooks, has recently joined some of music’s biggest names on tour – supporting Dua Lipa on her Future Nostalgia Tour, Coldplay for their Music of the Sphere’s Tour and Ed Sheeran on his Mathematics Tour.

Griff took to Instagram to share her excitement, stating, “Guys, news!! I’m going on tour next year across the UK and Europe. It’s going to be my first headline shows in Europe! And I’ll be playing across UK again too. Can’t wait to be in the room with you all and play you the new music. Tickets are on sale this Friday. Come and find me in your nearest city.”

The Brit-award winner has recently released her new single ‘Vertigo‘, gaining attention and acclaim from US pop star, Taylor Swift, who shared the song on her Instagram page. The single has been followed by the release of her EP, Vert1go.vol.1, which gives listeners a closer insight into Griff’s personal life, saying, “This collection of songs are fragile and insular and desperately heartbroken (as usual).  Can’t wait for them to be yours.”

To celebrate the release of this latest EP, Griff has been playing a trilogy of intimate shows in London, Berlin and Paris. Playing unreleased songs to fans in London, Griff shared the news that she has collaborated with Chris Martin to write upcoming song, ‘Astronaut‘. Her return to the stage has seen fans sell-out these shows within days.

“On Wednesday I played an intimate show with some of you guys, and played the songs on volume 1. It’s been so long since I’ve been in the room with you guys for my own show and it felt so good,” she stated on X, “I hope volume 1 can become some kind of soundtrack to your days and nights.”

This latest era for Griff comes after her critically acclaimed debut mixtape, One Foot in Front of the Other, which saw the singer enter the UK album charts for the first time and peak at no.4. This also saw Griff win the Rising Star Award at the Brit Awards, making her one of the youngest recipients at just 20 years old.

Beginning in March 2024, Griff will begin her tour in Stockholm and continue her run, finishing up in London’s iconic Roundhouse venue.

Tour dates are as follows and tickets can be purchased here.

10/03/2024 – Debaser Strand – Stockholm, Sweden
11/03 – Parkteateret – Oslo, Norway
15/03 – Mojo Club – Hamburg, Germany
16/03 – Heimathafen – Berlin, Germany
18/03 – Gloria Theater – Cologne, Germany
19/03 – Tolhuisten – Amsterdam, Netherlands
21/03 – Botanique Orangerie – Brussels, Belgium
22/03 – La Machine Du Moulin Rouge – Paris, France
24/03 – O2 Academy – Bournemouth, UK
26/03 – Olympia Theatre – Dublin, Ireland
28/03 – Albert Hall – Manchester, UK
30/03 – Barrowland Ballroom – Glasgow, UK
31/03 – O2 Institute – Birmingham, UK
02/04 – Roundhouse – London, UK

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Originally birthed in Pakistan, Coke Studio was set up in 2008 to provide an international platform for both emerging and established artists. Now on its fourteenth season, the studio recorded sessions have included a myriad of musical genres whilst promoting multiculturalism. To expand the programme to a global scale, Coca-Cola has partnered with Universal Music to broaden and develop the studio’s programme to help emerging talent.

Richard Yaffa, EVP, Global Brands of Universal Music Group has spoken on the new partnership, “Collaborating with these incredible artists and the Coca-Cola team on both the music and creative vision for this launch was magic, Our companies are aligned in our deep commitment to showcasing phenomenal talent, to partnering with artists from all over the globe and to supporting them in sharing their music while creating opportunities to expand their fanbase.”

All seven covers of the classic rock track will be featured in a new documentary entitled The Conductor, which will also include behind the scenes footage and further musical content. The new documentary and recorded covers are available now and can be accessed via Coke Studio’s Youtube channel. The powerful short pays homage to the legacy of Queen’s 1986 single and aims to showcase themes associated with Real Magic, Coca-Cola’s new brand that expresses philosophical ideas of creativity and unison.

The Coca-Cola Company’s Head of Global Music Culture Marketing Joshua Burke has given the following statement, “We set out to do something different with Coke Studio. Coca-Cola has always had a strong connection with music, working with stand-out emerging talent in different communities in all corners of the world, as well as a strong heritage in connecting people across borders and cultures. Coke Studio brings these two things together in a way that’s powerful and future-facing, supporting the development of talent in the music industry, while also connecting new audiences to new music – and to each other.”

Burke continued to discuss the new documentary short “We see ‘The Conductor’ as both a homage to the legendary Queen and an opportunity to refresh and reinterpret one of their greatest tracks in different ways across cultures and musical genres, for a new generation. There’s magic in that too.”

Click here for Coke Studio’s Youtube hub.

The wildest night in music returns on 02 March, celebrating the most brilliant people in music and pop culture. The BandLab @NME Awards 2022 will feature @samfendermusic @wiffygriffy @rinasawayama and a raft of epic unpredictable moments Tickets on sale NOW at @TicketmasterUK pic.twitter.com/bukqLFMeXL

— O2 Academy Brixton (@O2academybrix) November 23, 2021

Described by NME magazine as “the wildest night in music”, this comes just after the announcement of NME Networks, which has merged NME, Uncut, Guitar.com and MusicTech. The network aims to “create and curate content that entertains, inspires and informs the world of music”. BandLab Technologies (who purchased NME back in 2019) describe it thus: “NME Networks talk to fans, stans, stars, legends, players, emerging talent and creators, sharing their access, expertise and opinions, alongside consumer events and experiences, such as Guitar.com Live and NME’s globally famous NME Awards shows and live music events”. The upcoming awards seem to be the latest way the new Network has shown its dedication to celebrating all things in pop culture.

The artists announced as part of the line-up so far all seem to have some industry buzz already. Singer-songwriter Halsey will be accepting the Innovation Award, recognising her “as a trailblazing artist who pushes musical boundaries and speaks her truth as she continues to raise the bar by merging music, fashion, art and film“. Fender, Griff and Sawayama all come off the back of critically acclaimed releases in the recent past. Fender’s number one album Seventeen Going Under (released last October) was described by NME in a four-star review as “a wiser, weightier record stuffed with sax-soaked rock epics that touch on life and death, love and heartbreak, rage and regret”. Griff’s debut mixtape One Foot in Front of the Other was described by NME as “flawless” and “sheer pop perfection” in a five-star review. Sawayama received similar five-star praise with her 2020 debut SAWAYAMA.

Can’t wait! @NME pic.twitter.com/Nty5c3VqTf — Griff (@wiffygriffy) November 23, 2021

Holly Bishop (Chief Operating & Commercial Officer at NME Networks) had this to say: “After a 12-month hiatus, it feels extra special to return to our Brixton home in March 2022 with an event that promises to be everything but predictable. We have an incredible line-up, an exciting title sponsor in BandLab – the global game-changer in music creation and a brand that shares NME’s commitment to emerging talent – alongside a host of other partners that share our mission to make 2022 the most memorable Awards in NME’s history.”

For those interested, tickets are on sale right now and can be found here. More acts and nominations are soon to be announced, but from what we’ve heard so far, it seems it’ll be a night to remember.

I’m officially playing my first ever US tour starting in January alongside new shows in the UK. Genuinely can’t thank you guys enough, can’t wait to see all your lovely faces. Tickets will be on sale everywhere from 9am on Friday Nov 05 (link in bio) x pic.twitter.com/Eq5gPeujnW

— Griff (@wiffygriffy) November 2, 2021

we sold out @o2sbe didn’t we . What was your fav moment of the show ?x pic.twitter.com/VA0J0NRnYI — Griff (@wiffygriffy) October 28, 2021

Sarah Faith Griffiths, known musically as Griff is a singer and songwriter who won the Brit Rising Star Award in 2019. The musician began her musical journey with the release of her debut single “Mirror Talk” in 2019. The singer also achieved critical acclaim and commercial success with the release of her mixtape One Foot In Front of The Other.

The singer-songwriter released her only EP to date The Mirror Talk on November 15th 2019 and has expressed her happiness at having creative control over her music career. The singer said “I have the most creative control so nothing gets released without me feeling 100% happy about it,” Although the musician possesses creative control of her musical career she described the pressure that comes with staying relevant and creating new music.

The musician’s tour in the US will be her first US tour and will begin on January 25th in Washington, the second leg of the singer’s tour will start in Europe in Copenhagen on March 3rd, the UK leg of the tour will begin on March 19th in Brighton and end in Dublin on March 29th. The singer released her single “One Night” in August and expressed her excitement of rehearsing the single live with her band for the first time.  

The singer explained the meaning of her single “One Night” in this tweet.

My new song, One Night! On nights in between going to bed and falling asleep where random anxieties come rushing back & every burden you’re carrying suddenly feels more heavy. This song is about wanting at least one night away from that. Pre save it ASAP https://t.co/a0zjuDGbP0 pic.twitter.com/vxTrYnmYX2 — Griff (@wiffygriffy) August 17, 2021

The singer also spoke recently about touring for the first time and said “That will be the first time I present my songs to a live audience” The singer is now set to continue her tour run on an even bigger scale following her announcement of her UK, US and European tour. Tickets for the singer’s tour go on sale at 09.00 am, November 5th.

See the tour dates for Griff’s UK, US and European Tour below and buy tickets here

US Tour

25/01/22 Songbyrd, Washington, DC
26/01 The Bowery Ballroom, New York, NY
28/01 The Sinclair, Boston, MA
29/01 The Foundry at The Fillmore, Philadelphia, PA
30/01 Velvet Underground, Toronto, ON
01/02 Schubas, Chicago, IL
04/02 Rickshaw Stop, San Francisco, CA
06/02 The Roxy Theatre, Los Angeles, CA

European Tour

03/03 Hotel Cecil, Copenhagen
05/03 Pauli Station, Hamburg
07/03 Parktearate, Oslo
08/03 Nalen Club, Stockholm
11/03 Berlin, Lido
13/03 Paradiso North- Amsterdam
14/03 Luxor- Cologne
15/03 Botanic Orangery, Brussels
17/03 La Gait Lyric- Paris

UK Tour

19/03 Chalk- Brighton
21/03 O2 Academy- Bristol
22/03 O2 Ritz- Manchester
24/03 O2 Academy Brixton- London
26/03 Stylus- Leeds
28/03 SWG3 Galvanizer- Glasgow
29/03 Academy- Dublin

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The show is brought to fans by War Child and supported by Youtube music, it will be a celebration of young women in music as well as raising awareness of the challenges that young women and girls face around the world.

The tickets for the event are no longer available to buy however there is a chance to win tickets on the War Child’s website. A £5 donation via the war child site will enter fans into a draw to win tickets for the event.

The winner of the rising star awards at the 2021 brit awards will be headline this special night. She is the 3rd youngest recipient of the Brits rising star award sitting in a very respectable company with the only recipients who were younger than her being 19-year-old adele 2008 and Jorja smith aged 20 winning in 2018. The 20-year-old brit from kings langley in Hertfordshire will headline the show as a sign of the impressive young women in music.

The young singer released her debut project One foot in front of the other, a title that suggested the songstresses naivety and youthfulness in the music industry. The 7 track project was released at the end of June and peaked at number 4 in the official charts and currently sits on just over 72 million Spotify streams.

Similarly to Griff, Olivia Dean is another young British star at only 22 years of age. She was named Amazon music 2021 breakthrough artist of the year, releasing a 4 track project What am I gonna do on Sunday at the end of 2020 and a 5 track project Growth in July this year.

The 22-year-old is another act that celebrates the youthful women making an impact in the UK music industry and her and Griff alongside each other will be the perfect duo for the show titled ‘Day of the Girl’.

War child’s events celebrating women in the music industry as well as raising awareness for the challenges young women and girls are facing around the world doesn’t end with their show at Lafayette on the 8th of October. They will also be holding a Day of the girl industry day at abbey road studios on the 11th of October with Griff as the keynote speaker as they look at advocating equality of gender representation and access to the music industry, along with panel discussions hosted by Abbey Road Studios, Shesaid.so and the Music Managers Forum (MMF).

More information on these events and tickets are all available on the war Child’s website and can be found here.

2021 has already developed into a promising year for Griffith’s. This year Griff was awarded the Brit Award for Rising Star as well as making it to the top 5 in the BBC’s Sound of 2021 poll. You can read about mxdwn’s coverage of Griff winning her Brit Award here. Such newfound critical acclaim has led the rising star to being praised by the likes of Taylor Swift on twitter. The release of this new single, as well as the upcoming EP is sure to confirm the success that the artist has already achieved in such a short and exciting period of time.

‘One Foot in Front of The Other’ has been described by Griff in a press release as “that feeling that you could fall at any second”. Such a feeling is reflected in the cover of her new EP, where she is seen walking on a tightrope. In discussion of the new single and upcoming EP Griff also stated that “I’ve also produced the majority of this mixtape – I heard a stat that 2% of music producers are women, and so it feels important that as a young female in the music industry I should empower myself and continue to properly do it. It was challenging, but I hope in doing so ‘One Foot In Front of the Other’ feels like a raw, emotional and unpolished body of work.”

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Griff has built an impressive reputation for her experimental pop music and is definitely one to watch out for. The mixtape EP is being released on 11^th June and is available to pre-order here.

Despite only being 20 years old, Griff doesn’t fall short of relatable and emotional lyricism in her songs. Her single ‘One Foot In Front of the Other’ proves this. Speaking to the BBC about how her age doesn’t confine her songwriting, Griff explained that “There’s lots of scenarios where you can experience heartbreak…It doesn’t have to be romantic”.  She explained this experience in terms of situations where “a friend moves away, or you lose a family member. When someone leaves your life, you feel like there’s a black hole there”.

As has already been witnessed, we can expect great things from Griff in the future. Her new single, which tesases the release of her new mixtape EP, is a confirmation of this. You can listen to ‘One Foot In Front of the Other‘ here.

Did someone say story time?? @wiffygriffy talks the moment she found out she’d WON the 2021 #BRITs Rising Star Award! pic.twitter.com/jk5fqwPU3V

— BRIT Awards (@BRITs) March 19, 2021

A young pop singer – songwriter, who grew up in Hertfordshire, has signed with Warner Records back in 2019 and released EP ‘The Mirror Talk’ the same year. Last summer she was nominated for her first award – Rising Star Ivor Novello Award, which is held every year and open to young musicians in the UK. “The new award helps discover, support, and accelerate the careers of the most promising music creators in the UK and Ireland, and demonstrates Apple Music’s continued support of the songwriter and composer community”. 

Griff’s single from 2020 ‘Love is a Compass’ peaked at No.42 in the Official UK Singles Chart. The song is a soundtrack to Disney’s Christmas Advert and has almost seven million streams on Spotify alone. A month ago the singer released new single ‘Black Hole’ and new mixtape ‘One Foot In Front Of Other’ will come out on 11th June and available to pre-save here. Every pre-order is coming with a early pass access to tickets to Griff’s upcoming Autumn Tour. The offer however ends 9am on Tuesday 23rd March. 

This prestigious Brits trophy was first handed out in 2008 and last year has changed the name from Brits Critics Choice. Since the very beginning, it has opened the career door for many successful future stars, including Adele, Florence + The Machine and last year’s winner Celeste. The Brit Awards this year had been moved from the usual February date to 11th May and will take place in O2 Arena in London.

Full list of Bri Critics Choice/ Rising Star winners is as follows:
2008 – Adele
2009 – Florence + The Machine
2010 – Ellie Goulding
2011 – Jessie J
2012 – Emeli Sandé
2013 – Tom Odell
2014 – Sam Smith
2015 – James Bay
2016 – Jack Garratt
2017 – Rag ’n’ Bone Man
2018 – Jorja Smith
2019 – Sam Fender
2020 – Celeste
2021 – Griff

Griff’s Autumn 2021 Tour includes:
22/10/2021 –  King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut – Glasgow
25/10 – O2 Academy 3 – Birmingham
27/10 – Heaven – London

We have exciting news!!!

The shortlist for the 2021 #BRITs Rising Star as supported by @BBCR1 is…
Griff (@wiffygriffy)
Pa Salieu (@KING_SALIEU)
Rina Sawayama (@rinasawayama) pic.twitter.com/lwSO1uoQR4

— BRIT Awards (@BRITs) March 11, 2021

All three musicians took to social media to commemorate the achievement. 

Griff posted: “This is not a drill. I have been nominated for a brit award. Cant believe i just typed that out. Wanna cry. Love you all.” 

Pa Salieu wrote: “Thank you @BRITs for the Rising Star nomination… GRATITUDES to you all for always supporting me… Alhamdulillah.” 

Rina Sawayama added: “BRITS RISING STAR SHORTLIST WTF… what is this journey… thank u sm I’m on the floor.” 

Griff, full name Sarah Faith Griffiths, is a 20-year-old singer-songwriter from Hertfordshire. Her pop songs have already earned her nominations for an Ivor Novello Rising Star Award and the BBC Sound Of 2021 Award. She was signed to Warner Music shortly after leaving school. 

Pa Salieu Gaye is a rapper from Slough who has collaborated with FKA Twigs, M1llionz and Mahalia. He released his debut single Frontline in January 2020. He won the BBC’s Sound Of 2021, and has performed on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. 

Rina Sawayama is a Japanese-British singer-songwriter. She released her debut single, Sleeping in Waking, all the way back in 2013. Her debut album, Sawayama, released in April 2020, was described as “an honest, genre-exploding self-portrait” by NME. She recently made headlines by successfully convincing the Mercury Prize and the BRIT awards to change their eligibility criteria to include anyone who has been resident in the UK for five years. 

The winner will be announced on 19th March, followed by the Brit Awards ceremony which will take place on 11th May, delayed from its usual timing of February. Previous winners of the award include big names such as Adele, Sam Smith, Florence and the Machine, Sam Fender, and Jessie J. 

The video has a simple and authentic feel with Griff being filmed inside a London warehouse making and mending clothes before cutting her hand on the sewing machine. The filming has an art house feel with emotive imagery and colour schemes being favoured over high end production values. The song has spiritual undertones with the lyrics in the pre-chorus stating ‘and boy you know I’ve tried to pray, i’ve bruised my knees,’ and ‘i’ve tried my best to find some kind of peace.’ The song gives the impression of a young soul searching for meaning and understanding of the difficulties faced in early adult life and relationships.

The song’s video has received a very good reception and has already received over 62 thousand views on Youtube in just a few days since it was uploaded. The song has also quickly rocked up over 748 thousand streams on Spotify, an impressive feat when such a short time has passed since its release. Griff had a very good year for streaming in 2020, with her single good stuff, a laid back piano and vocal ballad, receiving well over 21 million streams so far. Her other releases last year also performed well on the platform, with ‘Love Is A Compass,’ and ‘1,000,000 X Better,’ both reaching in excess of 5 million views.

Griffs mixtures of gentle piano ballads and alternative-tinged pop songs are an appealing combination and well suited to the social media based music consumption which looks set to dominate the 2020s, especially via TikTok which is quickly becoming seen by many as the saving grace of the music industry which has taken such a big hit from the loss of live music through the pandemic. Though will Griff’s laid back style is suitable for online consumption, her 3 million monthly listeners will surely be craving to see some of her songs performed live, so we can only hope that this will once again be possible soon.

It’s out!! What do we think?! Lyric video is up now!! https://t.co/Boqkk7dNKB pic.twitter.com/GxLBSnH4zB

— Griff (@wiffygriffy) January 18, 2021

Griff (real name Sarah Griffiths) first burst onto the scene in 2019 with her debut EP Mirror Talk and the lead single of the same name, which was hailed by Vice as “vulnerable, emotional, sincere and empowering”. The singer-songwriter went on to enjoy a productive 2020 even within the constraints of lockdown disruption, releasing six well-received singles. The last of these, Love Is A Compass, skirted just outside the fringes of the UK Top 40. The track was also used on a Disney Christmas advert, with all proceeds going to the Make-A-Wish foundation.

The Kings Langley-raised vocalist also flexed her collaborative muscles last year; linking up with London synthpop merchants Honne on 1,000,000 X Better and joining forces with German DJ Zedd on Inside Out, which Griff would perform on stage in a special show at Tate Modern in the capital November. Inside Out would also go on to reach number #12 on the Billboard Hot Dance/Electronic chart in the US.

Griff’s recent work has certainly made critics stand up and take notice: last July she was nominated for the highly sought-after Ivor Novello Rising Star Award, and more recently secured a respectable fifth-place ranking on the BBC’s Sound of 2021 shortlist. She was also included on MTV’s Push UK & Ireland list of artists to watch in 2021 alongside the likes of  indie-soul troubadour Arlo Parks and Hackney rapper Bree Runway. In introducing their shortlist, the network highlighted Griff’s penchant for “raw and ruminative pop songs“.

Griffiths could be forgiven for sitting back and letting the widespread critical acclaim she has enjoyed so early on in her fledgling career soak in. However, as the singer made clear in a recent Guardian interview, she will not let a flurry of warm words from the music press distract her from heartfelt song-writing, or her ultimate desire to reach new audiences on a much bigger scale. She said “I just love creating things. I enjoy the challenge of envisioning something in your head and then making it come to life. I don’t have trouble being brutally honest with my lyrics. Of course I want to reach the masses, that’s what pop music is for.”

There should be plenty more new music for Griff fans to look forward to in 2021. In an interview with the BBC earlier this month she said: “I’ve actually been writing loads over lockdown – maybe a hundred songs – but I never know if they’re good or not! Hopefully, I’ll release a single in January, and an EP in March or May.”