Sarah Faith Griffiths (born 21 January 2001), known professionally as Griff, is an English singer-songwriter. In 2019, she released her debut single, "Mirror Talk", through

Warner Records Warner Records Inc. (known as Warner Bros. Records Inc. until 2019) is an American record label. A subsidiary of Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division ...

. This was followed by her debut extended play of the same name, released later that year. Griff was named the Rising Star at the

2021 Brit Awards Brit Awards 2021, the 41st edition of the annual Brit Awards, was the UK's first major indoor live music event in more than a year. It was held on 11 May 2021 and celebrated the best in British and international music. Usually held in February ...

, becoming one of the youngest winners in the category at 20. Later that year, she released her debut mixtape, '' One Foot in Front of the Other'', to commercial success and critical acclaim. On 12 July 2024, Griff released her debut studio album, ''

Vertigo Vertigo is a condition in which a person has the sensation that they are moving, or that objects around them are moving, when they are not. Often it feels like a spinning or swaying movement. It may be associated with nausea, vomiting, perspira ...

''.

Early life and education

Griff was born on 21 January 2001 as Sarah Faith Griffiths, in Kings Langley, Hertfordshire. Her father Mark Griffiths is the son of Jamaican immigrants who were part of the "

Windrush generation British African-Caribbean people or British Afro-Caribbean people are an ethnic group in the United Kingdom. They are British citizens or residents of recent Caribbean heritage who further trace much of their ancestry to West and Central Africa. ...

" and her mother Kim is a first-generation migrant whose family moved to England amid the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

. Griff has stated that she feels "more in touch with my Vietnamese side". Griff's parents

foster Foster may refer to: People * Foster (surname) * Foster Brooks (1912–2001), American actor * Foster Moreau (born 1997), American football player * Foster Sarell (born 1998), American football player * John Foster Dulles (1888–1959), America ...

children and her experiences with the children were reflected in her single "Good Stuff". Griff stated that her earliest memory of loving music was being given an

iPod Shuffle The iPod Shuffle (stylized and marketed as iPod shuffle) is a discontinued digital audio player designed and formerly marketed by Apple Inc. It was the smallest model in Apple's iPod family, and was the first iPod to use flash memory. The firs ...

with the

Taylor Swift Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Known for her autobiographical songwriting, artistic versatility, and Cultural impact of Taylor Swift, cultural impact, Swift is one of the Best selling artists, w ...

album '' Fearless'' (2008) downloaded to it, when she was around the age of eight. She then taught herself to record and produce music on her older brother's laptop and used tutorials on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

to inform her on techniques. While attending St Clement Danes School, Griff kept her musical life private, because she didn’t know if she would be successful, stating: "no one likes that person at school who talks about how they want to sing". After finishing her

A Levels The A-level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational a ...

, she told teachers that she was taking a

gap year A gap year, also known as a sabbatical year, is a period of time when students take a break from their studies, usually after completing high school or before beginning graduate school. During this time, students engage in a variety of educatio ...

, rather than informing them of her music ventures. On using the

stage name A stage name or professional name is a pseudonym used by performers, authors, and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. The equivalent concept among writers is called a ''nom de plume'' (pen name). Some performers ...

Griff, she stated: "Sarah Griffiths isn't that glamorous, I sound like I have a mortgage and 4 kids, it's very corporate". Raised an evangelical Christian, Griff has said of her own faith: "I guess if you grow up with Christian Vietnamese parents, you get to a point where you ask: “Okay, do I actually believe or am I just going through the motions?” And from a young age I felt like it was something I actually do believe and so it’s always been something that I’ve owned."

Career

On 4 July 2019, it was announced that Griff had been signed to

. On the same day, she released her debut single "Mirror Talk", accompanied by a music video.

Annie Mac Annie Macmanus (born 18 July 1978), known professionally as Annie Mac, is an Irish DJ, broadcaster and writer. She hosted a variety of shows on BBC Radio 1, including BBC Switch and ''Future Sounds''. She also DJed in various locations, includ ...

featured the song on

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...

under the ''New Name'' playlist. She stated that the writing process for the song took an hour. Griff described the release as a career highlight, since it was released immediately after she had finished her A Level exams. ''Billboard'' described the song as an "electrifying debut", and praised her "powerful voice and vulnerable lyrics". In August 2019, Griff released her follow-up single, "Didn't Break It Enough", accompanied by a music video in which the clothing worn was made by Griff herself. She released the single "Paradise" in October 2019, which was followed by the release of her debut

extended play An extended play (EP) is a Sound recording and reproduction, musical recording that contains more tracks than a Single (music), single but fewer than an album. Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have a playing time of 1 ...

, ''The Mirror Talk'', on 15 November 2019. In December 2019, Griff released a cover of

the Bangles The Bangles are an American all-female band, all-female pop rock band formed in Los Angeles, in 1981. They are known for hit singles during the 1980s that made them one of the most successful pop rock groups of the decade. The band’s biggest ...

' 1989 song "

Eternal Flame An eternal flame is a flame, lamp or torch that burns for an indefinite time. Most eternal flames are ignited and tended intentionally, but some are natural phenomena caused by natural gas leaks, peat fires and coal seam fires, all of which ca ...

". On 7 February 2020, Griff released the single "Good Stuff". Despite people thinking the song is about a romantic breakup, she clarified that the subject of the song is about missing children that her family fostered, since they felt like siblings. In March 2020, a song titled " I Love You's", that Griff co-wrote, was released by American singer

Hailee Steinfeld Hailee Steinfeld (born December 11, 1996) is an American actress, singer, and songwriter. She had her breakthrough with the western film ''True Grit (2010 film), True Grit'' (2010), which earned her List of awards and nominations received by H ...

. This was followed by "Forgive Myself", a song released by Griff on 29 May 2020, described by ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

'' as an "anthem". In July 2020, Griff was nominated by

The Ivors Academy The Ivors Academy (formerly known as British Academy of Songwriters Composers and Authors – BASCA) is one of the largest professional associations for music writers in Europe. The academy works to protect and support and also campaigns the int ...

for an

Ivor Novello Ivor Novello (born David Ivor Davies; 15 January 1893 – 6 March 1951) was a Welsh actor, dramatist, singer and composer who became one of the most popular British entertainers of the first half of the 20th century. He was born into a musical ...

Rising Star Award, and later that month, she released the song "Say It Again". In October 2020, she was part of two collaborative songs; "1,000,000 X Better" with English band

Honne Honne or Hönne may refer to: * Honne and tatemae, Japanese words that describe the contrast between a person's true feelings and desires, and the behavior and opinions one displays in public * Hönne, a river in Germany * Honne (band), an English ...

, and " Inside Out", a song with German DJ

Zedd Anton Zaslavski (; born 2 September 1989), known professionally as Zedd (), is a German record producer and DJ. His stage name, Zedd, was derived from ''zed'', the Z#Name and pronunciation, English pronunciation, barring American English, for ...

. In January 2021, she released "Black Hole", which ''NME'' described as a "dark pop anthem". On 19 March 2021, Griff won the

Brit Award for Rising Star The Rising Star Award (previously Critics' Choice Award) is an award given by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), an organisation which represents record companies and artists in the United Kingdom. The accolade is presented at the Brit Awar ...

and performed "Black Hole" at the 2021 ceremony. Later that day, she announced details of her debut mixtape, '' One Foot in Front of the Other'', which was released on 18 June 2021. Two months later, Griff followed up the mixtape with single "One Night". In October 2021, she embarked on a tour across the United Kingdom in support of her mixtape. She later did European and North American tour dates. In November 2021,

Dua Lipa Dua Lipa ( ; born22 August 1995) is an English and Albanian singer, songwriter and actress. List of awards and nominations received by Dua Lipa, Her accolades include seven Brit Awards and three Grammy Awards. Lipa worked as a model before v ...

announced Griff as one of her three supporting acts for the European dates of the

Future Nostalgia Tour The Future Nostalgia Tour was the second concert tour and first arena tour by English and Albanian singer Dua Lipa, in support of her second studio album, ''Future Nostalgia'' (2020). It began on 9 February 2022 at the FTX Arena in Miami and en ...

in 2022. In September 2022, she performed on eight dates of the

+–=÷× Tour The +−=÷× Tour (pronounced The Mathematics Tour) is the ongoing fourth concert tour by English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran. Comprising 168 shows, the tour commenced on 23 April 2022 in Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, and is scheduled ...

Ed Sheeran Edward Christopher Sheeran ( ; born 17 February 1991) is an English singer-songwriter. Born in Halifax, West Yorkshire, and raised in Framlingham, Suffolk, he began writing songs around the age of eleven. In early 2011, Sheeran independently r ...

. In 2023, she also took part in the

Music of the Spheres World Tour The Music of the Spheres World Tour is the ongoing eighth concert tour undertaken by British Rock music, rock band Coldplay. It is being staged to promote their ninth and tenth studio albums, ''Music of the Spheres (Coldplay album), Music of t ...

by British band

Coldplay Coldplay are a British Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1997. They consist of vocalist and pianist Chris Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman, drummer and percussionist Will Champion, and manager Phil Harvey (band m ...

as opening act for a few European dates including Portugal, Switzerland, Denmark, Sweden and the Netherlands. In August 2023, after a break from music whilst on the Future Nostalgia Tour, Griff released the single "Vertigo". The song was promoted by

Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...

, who said she "loved" the song. She released an EP to support the single, ''Vert1go Vol. 1'', in October 2023. Later that month, Griff announced her single "Astronaut", which was written in collaboration with

lead vocalist

Chris Martin Christopher Anthony John Martin (born 2 March 1977) is an English singer, songwriter, musician and producer. He is best known as the vocalist, pianist and co-founder of the rock band Coldplay. Born in Exeter, Martin went to University Colleg ...

and released in December. She released a third single "Miss Me Too" in February 2024, followed by an EP, ''ver2igo vol.2'' in April 2024. On 12 July 2024, Griff released her debut album, ''

'', to generally positive reviews from critics. In November 2024, Griff released a new single "Last Night's Mascara". On 20 June 2024, Griff was announced as an opener for

Sabrina Carpenter Sabrina Annlynn Carpenter (born May 11, 1999) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She first gained prominence starring on the Disney Channel series ''Girl Meets World'' (2014–2017). She signed with the Disney Music Group, Disney ...

's Short n' Sweet Tour. On 22 June 2024, Griff opened for

as part of

the Eras Tour The Eras Tour was the sixth concert tour by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. It began in Glendale, Arizona, United States, on March 17, 2023, and concluded in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, on December 8, 2024. Spanning 149 sh ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

alongside

Paramore Paramore is an American rock band formed in Franklin, Tennessee, in 2004. Since 2017, the band's lineup includes lead vocalist Hayley Williams, lead guitarist Taylor York, and drummer Zac Farro. Williams and Farro are founding members of ...

Discography

Albums

Mixtapes

Extended plays

Singles

Other singles

Music videos

Songwriting credits

Tours

Headlining

2024 Tour

Vertigo World Tour

Supporting

(2022) *

(2022─23) *

The Eras Tour The Eras Tour was the sixth concert tour by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. It began in Glendale, Arizona, United States, on March 17, 2023, and concluded in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, on December 8, 2024. Spanning 149 sh ...

(2024) *

- Short n' Sweet Tour (2024) *

Gracie Abrams Gracie Madigan Abrams (; born September 7, 1999) is an American singer-songwriter. The daughter of the director J. J. Abrams, she signed with Interscope Records in 2019, and gained recognition after releasing her debut extended play, '' Minor' ...

The Secret of Us Tour The Secret of Us Tour is the ongoing fourth concert tour by American singer-songwriter Gracie Abrams, in support of her second studio album, ''The Secret of Us'' (2024). The tour began on September 5, 2024, in Portland, United States, and is sc ...

(2025)

Awards and nominations

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Griff 2001 births 21st-century English women singers 21st-century English singers Brit Award winners British Asian musicians English women pop singers English people of Chinese descent English people of Jamaican descent Living people Musicians from Hertfordshire People from Kings Langley Warner Records artists English Christians