List & Guides

Musicians To Watch In 2025: 10 Artists You Need To Know

Some of the musicians to watch in 2025 have been grafting for years. Others have taken off seemingly overnight. All demand your attention.

Back

Matt Bower Kail

27 December 2024

In the ever-changing era of TikTok breakout stars, the emergence of another exciting new talent is always around the corner – which means it can be challenging to keep tabs on all the up-and-coming artists out there. To make life easier, here’s a list of the musicians to watch in 2025: each one of them worth keeping your eye on.

Listen to our Chart playlist here, and check out the musicians to look out for in 2025, below

Musicians To Watch In 2025: 10 Artists You Need To Know

10: Fat Dog

Fat Dog are shaking up the UK rock scene, and we’re here for it. Emerging from South London, this five-piece offers one of the most exciting live experiences of the moment. Consistently delivering wild gigs, the group create controlled chaos on stage in a way that has been sorely lacking in music, while their debut album, WOOF, proved they could replicate that energy in the studio. A mix of electro-punk, rock and techno, their sound has been astutely defined by frontman Joe Love as “screaming-into-a-pillow music”. Fat Dog are something really special among the musicians to watch in 2025, and it seems they’ve only just begun to hint at what they’re capable of.

Must hear: King Of The Slugs

9: English Teacher

With their unique blend of alternative rock and soul music, English Teacher have quickly made a name for themselves through tight live performances and captivating songs woven together with hypnotic melodies. With a rapidly growing fanbase behind them, the Leeds-based four-piece are certain to reach even greater heights in 2025. Keep an eye on this talented group as they fly in the face of any suggestions that bands have become irrelevant in the 2020s.

Must hear: The Best Tears Of Your Life

8: Lauren Mayberry

With her confident step into solo artistry, CHVCHES’ theatrical frontwoman, Lauren Mayberry, more than earns her place on this list of the musicians to watch in 2025. In one fell swoop, Mayberry proved her colourfully anthemic chops with the single Crocodile Tears, from her debut solo album, Vicious Creature. With a massive US tour scheduled for 2025, Mayberry is set to be one of the hottest tickets of the year – and doubtless she has more surprises up her sleeve.

Must hear: Something In The Air

7: Florence Road

Female quartet Florence Road have a rare spellbinding charisma. Already attracting the attention of leading artists such as Olivia Rodrigo, who praised the group’s rendition of her stalker’s anthem obsessed, they have gained attention with staggering speed. Hailing from Wicklow, Ireland, Florence Road are barely out of school yet they have already racked up more than ten million likes on TikTok. Their songs are bold, brimming with youthful energy while also displaying an introspection that’s wise beyond their years. Try to catch them now, before they really take off.

Must hear: another seventeen

6: Benson Boone

Having taken 2024 by storm, Benson Boone is certain to reach new heights in the year to come. Not only has he captivated audiences around the world, but he’s also won the support of some of the biggest players in the music game. Gaining notice just a few short years ago as a fan favourite on America’s Got Talent, Boone scored a massive global hit, Beautiful Things, at the start of 2024, leading to a career-defining spot supporting Taylor Swift at London’s Wembley Stadium in the summer. He’s continuing to gain recognition for his unique cocktail of country and pop music, topped off with soulful vocals and undeniably catchy melodies – and he’s also been known to do a backflip or three on stage. Characterised by its heartfelt lyrics and honest storytelling, Boone’s songs resonate with people of all ages; talented and determined, he is poised to become a major force in the mainstream, with droves of fans already likening him to Harry Styles. With his debut album, Fireworks And Rollerblades, sitting among the best new releasees of 2024, fans are already clamouring for a follow-up.

Must hear: Ghost Town

5: Kenya Grace

Kenya Grace is at the start of an already impressive career. Finding her feet on the underground London clubbing scene, her homemade dance tracks have spread like wildfire on TikTok. Since then, Grace has refined her sound and honed her rhapsodic vocals – and the wider world is finally taking notice. She’s already secured eternal bragging rights for being – along with none other than Kate Bush – just one of two British female solo artists to write, produce and perform a No.1 hit, as she did with 2023’s Strangers. Drawing from a rich palette of tastefully borrowed club, R&B and pop music influences, Grace has created a style that is truly her own. With a well-defined artistic vision and a growing fan base, she is a force to be reckoned with among the musicians to watch in 2025.

Must hear: Only In My Mind

4: CHINCHILLA

Defiance and female rage underly the appeal of the sensational emerging artist CHINCHILLA, who has generated massive online buzz with songs such as Cut You Off and Little Girl Gone, the latter of which has already racked up more than 100 million streams. Spending the best part of 2024 mastering her craft on an exhausting run of live shows – including a stint supporting McFly – the London-born artist took to the main stage at The Great Escape Festival in May, a booking that usually proves to be a stepping stone to mega-stardom. Her second EP, Flytrap, quickly gained widespread appreciation for its effortless genre-switching sound, showcasing CHINCHILLA’s growing prowess as a songwriter as she tackles subjects such as toxic relationships as well as her own personal struggles in the music industry.

Must hear: 1:5

3: Good Neighbours

East London indie-rock duo Good Neighbours are bringing back that cool 2000s aesthetic. Coinciding with the release of their five-track self-titled debut EP, an autumn tour of the UK set them up for shows in Europe later in the year, to be followed by a stateside stint in early 2025. And the hard work is definitely paying off. On the road, Oli Fox and Scott Verrill have developed a mesmerising chemistry that’s displayed on polished tracks such as Home and their addictive rendition of Sabrina Carpenter’s Espresso, the latter of which was deployed during an appearance on Triple J’s Like A Version. With one foot in the sonic world of MGMT and the other in Vampire Weekend’s warm party aura, Good Neighbours’ are two of the brightest talents among the musicians to watch in 2025.

Must hear: Daisies

2: Ren

If you’re yet to catch wind of the phenomenon that is Ren, know that he has been growing his loyal following both on YouTube and among Brighton’s busking circuit for more than a decade. The 34-year-old’s first record deal didn’t result in the big break that every artist dreams of, as his struggles with Lyme disease and its effect on his mental health ultimately derailed what should have been his breakout moment, in 2010. Pouring these troubles into his sophomore record, Sick Boi, Ren used his sharp lyrical ability to tell his story in a sophisticated, genre-fluid fashion that finally took him to the UK No.1 spot. Throughout 2024, Ren played several high-profile gigs, including a rare set at Secret Garden Party, where he performed solo for the first time in four years. We are predicting even more success for Ren in 2025.

Must hear: Money Game Part 3

1: Rachel Chinouriri

With her exciting new take on alt-pop, Rachel Chinouriri is finally getting the recognition she deserves. The singer took her first tentative steps towards a music career on SoundCloud in 2018, but it was her evocative 2022 viral hit, All I Ever Asked, that first brought her mainstream attention, with big hitters such as Lewis Capaldi and Adele rushing to praise the singer. Since that first taste of stardom, Chinouriri has developed an impressive performance style, displaying confidence and charisma in abundance. Exemplifying her knack for immersive storytelling and her rich, electric sound, Chinouriri’s debut album, What A Devastating Turn of Events, was released to widespread acclaim in in the spring of 2024. As one of the few pop artists to reliably capture the nuanced experience shared by many Black working-class Brits, she easily tops this list of the musicians to look out for in 2025.

Must hear: It Is What It Is

Dig

Musicians To Watch In 2025: 10 Artists You Need To Know

Listen to our Chart playlist here, and check out the musicians to look out for in 2025, below