The peace is disturbed: Pop star Skye Newman wins the BBC Sound of 2026
'It's incredible, surreal': Skye Newman wins BBC Sound of 2026'
50 minutes ago
BBC
Mark Savage, Music Correspondent
Loud, raw, and strikingly honest: Pop singer Skye Newman has won BBC Radio 1's Sound of 2026. This 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.
Her 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. "There's a lot more of it than people realize," 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."
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. 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. "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."
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. 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. "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."
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.
