James Bay

Bay later studied guitar at Brighton's British and Irish Modern Music Institute. He told The Sun: "The time I spent just living in Brighton away from home for the first time and in such a musical place – that's what got me about what I needed to achieve to get further with my music."

Building up a solid live reputation in the capital, prestigious support slots started flooding in, including a life-changing opening set for The Rolling Stones at their Hyde Park show in the summer of 2013.

By winning the Brit Awards "Critic's Choice" statue in 2015, Bay became the recipient of a solid predictor for worldwide crossover success. Previous winners include Adele, Florence + The Machine, Ellie Goulding and Sam Smith.