‘It’s incredible, surreal’: Skye Newman wins BBC Sound of 2026

Loud, raw, and strikingly honest: Pop singer Skye Newman has won BBC Radio 1’s Sound of 2026.

The award caps a 12-month period in which Ed Sheeran and Lewis Capaldi personally invited the 22-year-old on tour. Sir Elton John is also on board, calling Newman “incredibly talented” and “something else”.

Newman is the 24th winner of the BBC’s annual poll, typically a bellwether of pop music success – previous winners include Adele, PinkPanthress, The Last Dinner Party and Haim.

“I can’t believe that I’ve got to this point,” she tells BBC News. “It’s incredible, surreal, just mental.”

Born in south-east London, Newman exploded onto the scene last year when her debut single, Hairdresser, went straight into the top 20. The follow-up, Family Matters, reached number five in June.

It was the first time a female artist had made the top 20 with their first two singles since Ella Henderson in 2014.

Play her music and you’ll instantly hear why.

Newman’s songs crackle with barely-contained emotion, as her ragged (and extraordinarily expressive) voice tears through lyrics of betrayal, loss and disorder.

“It’s literally the story of my life,” she says.

“It’s my way of letting out any trauma and pain that I couldn’t speak.”

On Family Matters, she describes growing up hungry in a council estate home where drug abuse and police attention were a constant presence.

At the time, she didn’t know any different. It was only later that Newman realised she “comes from a broken background”.

“There’s a lot more of it than people realise,” she says, reflecting on her experiences of violence, arguments and addiction.

“I think a lot of people have children not really understanding how big [a responsibility] it is.

“They don’t have love elsewhere in their life, so they think they can get it from a child – but then you’re just passing your pain and trauma on to them, and it doesn’t fix anything.

“You might have someone who loves you unconditionally, but you won’t be able to provide everything they should get, because you’re not happy.”

Despite Family Matters’ scathing account of her upbringing, Newman says she’s still close to her parents and five elder siblings.

“My whole family understands the same feelings, so it’s like we’re all kind of in it together,” she previously told Apple Music.

“As much as we’re all a nightmare, it works because we all understand.”

Newman has been singing since she could talk. She gave her first performance at the age of six, singing Cyndi Lauper’s notoriously tricky True Colors at a school show.

“I don’t know how, but my little voice managed to do it at the time,” she laughs.

Before the song had even finished, she knew she’d devote her life to music.

“It was just magical. It was [my] first time having an audience, and I felt so comfortable.”

Amy Winehouse – a singer who never surrendered her vulnerability in the midst of chaos – was her first true love, but it was Newman’s aunt who helped her find a path in music.

A jazz and blues singer, she’d invite her niece to concerts and recording sessions, immersing her in the world of professional musicianship.

“She was a singer-songwriter too, and she showed me how you can create magic,” she says.

“I’d watch her write and build something out of nothing. It gave me a hunger to be that person, making that magic.

“I’d go home and try it out for myself, and I found I had a way with words… I’ve always been a chatterbox, so that probably helped!”

Sadly, her aunt died when Newman was 11. At the funeral, Newman sang the 1930s folk song (You’re Gonna Miss Me) When I’m Gone, after discovering it through the film Pitch Perfect.

“I watched that film with her best friend just after she died, and [the song] just resonated with me,” says Newman. “It reminded me so much of her.”

Before long, the singer started uploading original songs and “really horrendous covers” – first on YouTube, then Music.ly, before it became TikTok.

She built a sizeable fanbase but, as issues at home piled up, her posts trailed off.

On reflection, Newman says she needed time to get her head straight. She didn’t yet have the emotional stability to deal with the pressures of a music career, let alone fame.

All the same, writing was key to her survival.

“Crazily enough, I’m someone who struggles to talk about what I feel,” she says.

“Singing is a whole different story. When I’m in the studio, I feel calm. It’s my safe space.”

Serenity is not a quality you’d associate with her music, though. Her stories are vivid, prickly, lived-in. An emotional whirlwind.

On her breakout single, Hairdresser, she sings with bitter annoyance about a one-sided friendship – depicting a girl who’ll borrow her clothes and her cash, but cancels their plans at the last minute when a man comes calling.

Her latest, Lonely Girl, is an all-too-recognisable story of a man in his early 20s taking advantage of a younger, emotionally naïve woman.

“You’re in your school uniform in his car/Don’t wanna see what’s in his search bar.“

Newman says it’s more than a cautionary tale. “Young people need advocates, but also knowledge,” she explained in a press release.

“Educate these babies on how good grooming can make them feel at first. Because that’s the point – to keep them there so these predators can control. It’s abuse.”

Even in an era of confessional pop, Newman stands out. She’s not afraid to stare down injustice, or to confront her demons before they swallow her whole.

When she plays live, the singer is often moved to tears.

“Definitely, the peace is disturbed sometimes,” she says. “There are days where I feel absolutely fine, then I get on stage and it just comes out. Music can really draw out feelings that you didn’t know were there.”

But it’s not all tears and tribulations.

Playing London’s famous Koko venue last September, Newman clambered up to the balcony and belted out her hit song FU&UF, surrounded by her best friends.

“That was a moment I’ll never forget. I may not be blessed in the sense of a perfect family, but I’m blessed in the sense of friends, that’s for sure.”

Admirably, she’s kept her friends close. Her sister is part of her management team, her best friend runs her social media, and other friends are training to handle stills photography and nail art.

“I’m just trying to pull people in that I love, because this industry can be so scary,” she says. “So any jobs I can get them in, I’m like, ‘Guys who wants a job? Who can learn how to do it?'”

She’s also getting invaluable advice from her peers, with Sheeran, Capaldi and Sir Elton taking her under their considerable wings.

“It’s just insanity, when I think about it,” she says of getting to open for two of the UK’s biggest acts.

“I was so scared, but yeah, they just opened their arms to me, and I couldn’t ask for more.”

“And it made me feel proud of myself, which is not something I always feel, to have people I respect be so kind and welcoming.”

After a breakout year in 2025, winning the BBC’s Sound Of poll sets Newman up for an even bigger 2026.

“It just feels surreal to know so many people have won this award who I’ve listened to my whole life. They’re in the place that I want to be. So this is just a step further,” she says.

She’ll celebrate with her first ever US dates, and a sold out UK tour in April. A new EP will arrive around the same time, setting her up for a run of festival appearances in the summer.

Previously, she’d been worried about taking on so much so early into her career, but touring with Capaldi last autumn put those fears to rest.

“There was a lot of dread coming up to it,” she reveals. “I worried about how my voice was going to hold up and how tired I was going to be but being on stage, and seeing so many amazing people in front of you is just incredible.

“So tired ain’t a thing really, is it?”

With her head firmly screwed on and her music’s taking off, the Skye’s the limit.