London R&B trio FLO win BBC Sound of 2023

Throwback R&B girl group FLO have been crowned BBC Sound of 2023 winners.

The trio won against a competitive field that included fred again.., Nia Archives, Cat Burns, Gabriels and Ireland's Biig Piig, securing the top spot having been voted for by more than 130 experts in the industry.

Past winners of the annual list, which is renowned for announcing the next big thing in music, include Adele, Sam Smith and Sam Fender.

Stormzy, who delivered the news to the group, branded the girls, "a breath of fresh air" who had "killed it in every single department.”

The trio, aged 19 to 21, signed to Island Records in 2010. FLO released their debut single ‘Cardboard Box’ in 2022 before their first EP, The Lead, arrived later in the year.

Released in July, the breakout EP has been streamed over 70 million times, which was followed up with appearances on Jimmy Kimmel’s chat show and the BBC’s Later… With Jools Holland.

This year’s judges comprised of more than 130 music industry experts included representatives from Spotify, Apple Music, Glastonbury Festival, the BBC and former nominees including Dua Lipa, Stormzy, Sam Smith and Foals.

The list was open to new artists who had yet to achieve a top five album or more than two top 10 singles by 31 October, 2022.

Newly crowned winners FLO have teased an upcoming collaboration with Stormzy, where they are set to appear on a remixed version of his ‘Hide & Seek.’

who better to tell @flolikethis they had won, than stormzy 🥺🥺🥺

congratulations flo on being the winner of radio 1’s sound of 2023 ✨ pic.twitter.com/fAgv5YMJom

— BBC Radio 1 (@BBCR1) January 5, 2023