Now that live music is back, get ready to discover some of the UK’s best new artists who are ready to hit the stage in 2022. Ticketmaster is here to help you discover your new favorite artist with our curated list of the UK’s biggest breakthrough acts set to make a splash this year. For those looking to discover the UK’s best new artists to check out in 2022, our New for 2022 guide introduces you to our top picks for the hottest breakthrough artists.
Our New for 2022 list is a handpicked selection of the hottest new live acts to follow out of the UK — including bands, artists, and singer-songwriters. In past years, our lists have championed the likes of Grammy-nominated Slowthai, NME Under The Radar Award winners Pale Waves, triple MOBO nominee Kojey Radical and Mercury Prize winner Arlo Parks.
Meet Ticketmaster’s New for 2022 top picks from the UK and discover the breakthrough artists you need to follow, and keep an eye out for when these artists tour North America.
ArrDee
Brighton’s resident cheeky chappy whose hectic bars are brimming with lyrical wit.
Rising to instant fame with his feature on Russ Millions’ and Tion Wayne’s viral hit “Body (Remix),” ArrDee offers rapid-fire flows backed by heavy hooks and infectious one-liners. The young MC earned three UK Top 10 hits in just three months with “Body (Remix),” T2-sampling Digga D-collab “Wasted” and the string-laden “Oliver Twist.”
For fans of: Aitch, Unknown T
Listen to: “Flowers (Say My Name)”
Bad Boy Chiller Crew
The outrageous Bradford bad boys raving against bad vibes with tongue-in-cheek ’90s-bassline throwbacks.
The Bradford trio, made up of MC’s Kane, GK and Sam, are powering the resurgence of 2000s bassline house for the next-gen ravers. After a year packed with bursting festival tents at Parklife and Reading and Leeds, a feature documentary with VICE and an NME cover feature, Bad Boy Chiller Crew are getting ready to kick off 2022 with the release of their 16-track mixtape Disrespectful.
For fans of: T2, The Streets
Listen to: “Messages”
Central Cee
The party-starting West London rapper hyping up the drill scene with punchy one-liners and melodic sampled beats.
Shepherd’s Bush rapper Central Cee, aka Cench, released his debut mixtape Wild West last March, and has already earned two MOBOs, three Brit nominations, three UK Top 10 singles and over 800 million global streams. Moving away from his grime beginnings, the UK drill star drapes concise, straight-talking lyricism over playful jazz samples.
For fans of: Tion Wayne, Digga D
Listen to: “Retail Therapy”
Enny
The South London rapper deconstructing social stigmas with much-needed hard-hitting bars.
Best known for “Peng Black Girls,” a bouncing love letter to Black women, Enny draws from old-school grime to craft her relaxed jazz and nimble flows. After being scouted by jazz/R&B singer-songwriter Jorja Smith, she released her debut EP Under Twenty Five, an honest portraiture of the essence of young adulthood.
For fans of: Little Simz, Jorja Smith
Listen to: “Peng Black Girls”
Holly Humberstone
The BRIT Award-winning star bringing an acoustic-folk warmth to her electro-tinged confessionals.
Lockdown breakout star Holly Humberstone’s hauntingly delicate vocals are a perfect match with her soaring synth-pop. Once a violinist for the Lincolnshire Youth Symphony Orchestra, the breakthrough singer-songwriter has already earned the BRITs Rising Star Award, worked with The 1975’s Matty Healy, a hero of hers, on the single “Please Don’t Leave Just Yet,” and counted up over 200 million global streams to date.
For fans of: Phoebe Bridgers, Bon Iver
Listen to: “The Walls Are Way Too Thin”
Lola Young
The South London singer-songwriter penning neo-jazz ballads with an irresistible velvet sheen.
BRIT School graduate Lola Young’s vulnerable, hook-laden storytelling holds a musical prowess like no other. Bringing the poetism of Joni Mitchell and Prince, her haunting vocals never fail to power through and compliment her ambient electro-jazz accompaniment.
For fans of: Amy Winehouse, Pip Millett
Listen to: “FAKE”
Mimi Webb
The vocal powerhouse soundtracking her vulnerabilities with heartbreaking balladic pop.
Weaving octave-destroying ballads and confessional storytelling, singer-songwriter Mimi Webb is proving herself to be a viral pop powerhouse. Her emotional tales of open-heart honesty have captured hearts globally, and seen her become the first UK female artist, since Dua Lipa in 2017, to land two singles in the UK Top 15 before the release of her debut album.
For fans of: Griff, Becky Hill
Listen to: “Before I Go”
Priya Ragu
The Swiss-Tamil tastemaker celebrating her South Asian heritage with electronic R&B
Born to refugees of the Sri Lankan civil war and raised in Switzerland, Priya Ragu’s self-titled genre of “raguwavy” comes from appeasing the culture clash between Western influence and her parent’s traditionalism. Her soulful electo-pop beats capture Kollywood samples, Krishna mantras and her native Tamil language while keeping it in the moment.
For fans of: Jungle, Summer Walker
Listen to: “Good Luck 2.0”
Tems
The Nigerian storyteller championing West African alté through her fusion of neo soul and Afro-R&B
Hailing from Nigeria, singer, songwriter and producer Tems first introduced her smooth mix of reggae, soul and R&B back in 2018 with “Mr Rebel.” Since then, she’s gone on to be featured on Wizkid’s “Essence,” which was the first Nigerian song to chart on the Billboard Hot 100, and on Drake’s “Fountains,” taken off his latest album “Certified Lover Boy.”
For fans of: Ayra Starr, WizKid
Listen to ‘Crazy Tings’
Wet Leg
The effortlessly cool Isle of Wight duo pairing Mean Girls throwbacks with a barrage of ear worming indie-punk fun.
Wet Leg’s blend of dry wit and minimalist-punk riffs started off as a joke between Isle of Wight duo Rhian Teasdale and Hester Chambers, but 7 million streams later reality hit. With just four singles revealed from their upcoming debut Wet Leg, the hype around their amalgamation of 60s Yé-yé, Ty Segall-style garage-rock frenzies and Björk avant-garde pop is well-deserved.
For fans of: Pavement, Violent Femmes
Listen to: “Chaise Longue”