Jake Bugg

Raised on a diet of Britpop and Bob Dylan, Jake Bugg, born Jake Kennedy on 28 February 1994 in Nottingham, England, developed through 2012 into a spectacularly popular troubadour whose ear for infectious, acoustic melodies brought him a Number 1 album. Picking up the guitar as a 12-year-old after hearing Don McLean's song “Vincent” on an episode of The Simpsons, he started uploading his own compositions to the BBC Introducing website for unsigned artists and, at 17, was invited to appear at the Glastonbury Festival. Signed by Mercury Records, he toured with Lana Del Ray and Michael Kiwanuka as the music industry began to drool over early singles “Lightning Bolt” and “Taste It”. His track “Country Song” became part of a huge advertising campaign for Greene King IPA beer and an impressive performance on Later...with Jools Holland sent his self-titled debut album straight to the top of the UK charts. He capped his incredible year by earning a Brit Award nomination for Best Breakthrough Act. 2013’s Shangri La hit Number 3 with the single “What Doesn’t Kill You” just missing the top 40. In 2015 he captured the NME’s Best Solo Artist award. 2016’s On My One tackled darker material and again went top 5. Hearts That Strain hit Number 7 in 2017. 2021’s Saturday Night, Sunday Morning became his fifth straight top 10 album. He returned three years later with A Modern Day Distraction, which leaned more heavily into bluesy, rock 'n' roll-cut indie-rock than his previous effort.