FLO have been confirmed as the winners of the BBC Radio 1’s Sound Of 2023 poll.
The R&B trio, formed in 2019 by Renée Downer, Stella Quaresma and Jorja Douglas, beat out competition from Fred Again.., Cat Burns, Nia Archives, Gabriels and more to be voted in by a panel of artists, tastemakers and music industry experts.
“Wow, we did it,” the group say in a statement. “To win this accolade not even a year after we released our debut single ‘Cardboard Box’ is wild. We feel so connected to our British music roots winning the BBC Sound Of and admire the artists who have come before us, especially our gal Pinkpantheress winning last year! Thank you to everyone who voted for us and put girl groups back on the map”
(We’re going to let that clearly unintentional shade at the mighty Little Mix pass, just this once – Ed.)
“To be recognised for our music and people to believe in our vision inspires us to go further this year! 2023 we’re ready!”
The group signed to Island Records in 2020 and only last year released their debut EP ‘The Lead’, which has been streamed more than 70 million times and led to appearances on Jimmy Kimmel’s US chat show and the BBC’s Later… With Jools Holland.
Previous winners of the annual list, which showcases the next big things in music, include Adele, Sam Smith, PinkPantheress and Sam Fender. Stormzy told the band the news, hailing them as “a breath of fresh air” who had “killed it in every single department”.
The Sound Of 2023 list was open to new artists who had yet to achieve a top five album or two top 10 singles by 31 October 2022. To be eligible, artists had to have not appeared on a TV talent show within the last three years. Other notable names on the list include Fred Again.. in second place, Nia Archives in third, Cat Burns in fourth and Gabriels in fifth.
FLO recently teased a collaboration with Stormzy, with the trio set to appear on a remix of his ‘Hide & Seek’.
