Izzy Bizu announced as BBC Music Introducing Artist of the Year at the BBC Music Awards

BBC Music has announced Izzy Bizu as the winner of its BBC Music Introducing Artist of the Year Award at the 2016 BBC Music Awards which takes place at the ExCeL London on Monday 12 December. 

Izzy Bizu says: “It’s an amazing honour to have won BBC Music Introducing Artist of the Year. The BBC has been hugely supportive of my music ever since my independently released Coolbeanz EP and it’s a real honour to follow in the footsteps of acts like Jack Garratt and Catfish and the Bottlemen.”                                             

BBC Introducing, the BBC’s scheme for emerging musical talent, showcases undiscovered and unsigned artists and has helped to kick-start the careers of James Bay, Jake Bugg, Florence and the Machine, and George Ezra plus many more since its launch in 2007, providing a platform to propel the best new acts from across the UK onto the national stage.

Jason Carter, Head of BBC Introducing says: “Izzy is a huge talent that I’m certain will be a huge success story both at home and abroad.  I’m proud of the part that BBC Introducing has played in launching her career and look forward to her live performance at the BBC Music Awards, and supporting her in the years to come.”

Born in London, Izzy Bizu started her journey with BBC Introducing back in 2013 when she uploaded her EP Coolbeanz to the talent scheme’s website.  Picked up by her local BBC Introducing show on BBC Radio London, the unsigned singer-songwriter gained exposure on the Radio 1 and 1Xtra BBC Introducing playlist slots, garnering support from the likes of Jamie Cullum who played her on his Radio 2 show before being chosen to perform at the BBC Introducing stage at Glastonbury in 2014. She then supported Sam Smith, Rudimental and Foxes on their UK tours, and last year performed on Later…with Jools Holland and was shortlisted for Critics’ Choice Award at the Brit Awards. This year Bizu was longlisted for BBC Music Sound of 2016, performed at and was nominated for Best Newcomer at the 2016 MOBO Awards, opened the 2016 BBC Music Day concert from Cornwall's Eden Project on BBC ONE, and was the voice of the BBC Euro 2016 theme tune, singing her version of Edith Piaf’s ‘La Foule’.  Now signed to Epic Records Sony, she released her debut album ‘Moment of Madness’ in September. Alongside other BBC Introducing artists Spring King and Sundara Karma, Izzy recently performed at the first ‘BBC Music Presents US’ tour - a partnership between BBC, Live Nation and the GREAT Britain campaign - showcasing the best UK talent in the US. Beginning in November 2016 and running over the next 12 months, BBC Music Presents will deliver four tours across America, with the first tour visiting New York City, Boston, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Detroit, Chicago and Washington, DC.

Izzy Bizu will perform live on BBC One and bbc.co.uk/music on Monday 12th December from 8.30 – 10pm with additional programming on Radio 1 and Radio 2, alongside Kaiser Chiefs, Craig David, Lukas Graham, Zara Larsson, John Legend, Emeli Sandé, Robbie Williams and The 1975.

Last year’s winner was Jack Garratt who since his performance at the BBC Music Awards in 2015 has gone on to release his debut album and be named the BBC Music Sound of 2016. The first ever recipients of the award in 2014, Catfish and the Bottlemen, have enjoyed continuing success in the UK and the US appearing on The Late Show with David Letterman and winning the Brit Award for British Breakthrough act in 2016.

Tickets are now on sale, and are priced from £42 to £62 (plus booking fee). Visit bbc.co.uk/music for full details.

BBC Introducing
With nearly 600,000 unique tracks uploaded to the BBC Introducing website and over 150,000 artists registered since its launch in 2007, BBC Introducing provides a network dedicated to supporting the best emerging talent from across the UK and a platform to propel them onto the national stage through Radio 1, 1Xtra, Radio 2, 6 Music, Radio 3 and the Asian Network, plus giving up-and-coming artists broadcast opportunities on BBC Radio, Television and Online alongside the chance to perform at major festivals and showcases. It has helped launch the careers of acts such as Jake Bugg, George Ezra and Florence + the Machine, with over 500 acts performing for BBC Introducing at major UK festivals.

December 2, 2016 5:33am ET by Newsdesk  

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