BRIT Awards: British Breakthrough Act (1977 - 2011) - Video

6 February 2012, 14:20 | Updated: 30 March 2016, 13:50

Capital FM is taking a look back at the previous winners of one of the most significant awards at the BRITs.

The British Breakthrough Act award can be one of the biggest career highlights for any artist. It can catapult an acts' career overnight and this year sees the likes of Jessie J going up against Ed Sheeran, Emeli Sande, The Vaccines and Anna Calvi.

The list of previous winners contains some of the biggest names ever in British music and whoever takes home this year's prestigious prize will be more than happy to sit alongside such acts as the ones below.

British Breakthrough Act 2011: Tinie Tempah 

Tinie was the most nominated artist at the BRITs 2011 with nods in a total of four categories. The rapper picked up his award in typical style as he sported a fetching white suit. He also managed to walk away with the Best British Single prize for his single 'Pass Out'.

Tinie has since been working on the follow up to his debut 'Disc-Overy' and has also launched a fashion design label.

Watch Tinie perform a medley of his biggest hits at the BRITs 2011 below.

British Breakthrough Act 2010: JLS

An overwhelmed and ecstatic Marvin, Aston, JB and Oritsé picked up there first ever BRIT Award in 2010 and thanked their fans for helping to make their "dreams come true" during their speech at the ceremony.  

The boy band didn't stop there as they picked up the award for Best British Single with 'Beat Again' and performed an energetic rendition of the track on the night.

JLS have become one of the most successful acts ever to have appeared on The X Factor and one of the biggest boy bands in the UK. They are currently working in their fourth studio album and hoping to work with Ed Sheeran.

Watch JLS perform 'Beat Again' at the BRITs 2010 below.

British Breakthrough Act 2009: Duffy

It was a fantastic night for Duffy as she picked up a trio of awards at the BRITs 2009. The singer was riding high on the success of her debut album 'Rockferry' which produced the smash single 'Mercy'.

The Welsh singer has since gone on to release her second studio album 'Endlessly' which has failed to make as big an impression as he first.

Watch Duffy perform 'Warwick Avenue' at the BRITs 2009 below.

British Breakthrough Act 2008: Mika

Mike beat off competition form Leona Lewis, Klaxons, Kate Nash and Bat For Lashes to take home the award. The singer opened the event in 2008 with a mash up of his singles 'Love Today' and 'Grace Kelly'. He was also joined by Gossip lead singer Beth Ditto during the performance where the pair broke out into Beth's single 'Standing In The Way Of Control'.

Mika is currently preparing to release his third studio album 'The Origin Of Love' which is scheduled for release sometime in 2012.

Watch Mika perform 'Grace Kelly' and 'Love Today' at the BRITs 2008 below.

British Breakthrough Act 2007: The Fratellis

Following the success of their debut album 'Costello Music' the Scottish trio took home the 2007 award away from favourites The Kooks. A clearly jovial Jon, Barry and Mince Fratelli were covered in beer and champagne as the announcement was made and then headed on stage to thank their fans who had been behind the band from the start.

The group have since gone on hiatus with all three members working on new musical projects. Most notably, Jon who went on to form Coedine Velvet Club with Lou Hickey before releasing his debut solo album 'Psycho Jukebox'. Barry has since joined Birmingham outfit The Twang and Mince has been working with Jon providing drums on his solo effort.

Watch The Fratellis acceptance speech at the BRITs 2007 below.

British Breakthrough Act 2006: Arctic Monkeys

The band were not in attendance for the BRITs 2006 ceremony and recorded a message from their tour bus accepting their award. However, they let We Are Scientists singer Keith Murray do the talking.

The Sheffield outfit have become one of the biggest ever British Bands responsible for such hits as 'Brianstorm', 'Crying Lightning' and 'When The Sun Goes Down'.

The band released their fourth album 'Suck It And See' last year and front man Alex Turner is set to begin work on the second Last Shadow Puppets album with Miles Kane.

Watch the the Arctic Monkeys acceptance speech at the BRITs 2006 below.

British Breakthrough Act 2005: Keane

Keane collected the award for British Breakthrough ahead of Franz Ferdinand, Joss Stone, Natasha Bedingfield and The Zutons. The band released their hugely popular debut album 'Hopes And Fears' in 2004 which was followed by 2006's 'Under The Iron Sea' and last album 'Perfect Symmetry'.

The band are currently working on their fourth studio album and in 2011 announced that Jesse Quin had been recruited as a new full time member of the group.

British Breakthrough Act 2004: Busted

Charlie, James and Matt became one of the countries most popular acts with the release of their self titled debut album and follow up 'A Present For Everyone'. Their pop punk style gave life to a new breed of boy band and they won big at the 2004 BRITs taking home the British Breakthrough and Best Pop Act.

The band split up in 2005 with Charlie concentrating on his other band Fightstar. He has since gone on to release a solo album. Matt had a short solo career and has appeared on 'I'm A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here.' James released new material with his band 'Son Of Dork' – who have since disbanded.

You can watch a clip of the band performing 'Teenage Kicks' live on the show below.

British Breakthrough Act 2003: Will Young

Will Young rose to fame as the winner of the first of the new breed of music talent shows 'Pop Idol' in 2001. He released his debut album 'From Now On' in 2002 and was crowned British Breakthrough Act at the BRITs the following year.

The singer beat The Streets, Liberty X, Ms Dynamite and Wirral band The Coral to the award on the night.

The 'Your Game' singer has since gone on to record five studio albums and a greatest hits collection.

British Breakthrough Act 2002: Blue

Boy band Blue took home the prize in 2002 following the success of their debut single 'All Rise' and follow up 'Too Close'. The band released three studio albums before announcing their split in 2005.

All four members went on to have solo careers, with Simon Webbe having the most success out of the group. Duncan James enjoyed several presenting roles, Lee Ryan has appeared in films as well as cooking show 'Hells Kitchen' and Antony Costa has featured in musicals.

The band have now reformed and even represented Great Britain at the 2011 Eurovision Song Contest. They have since announced plans to release a new album and are rumoured to have been working with Bruno Mars and Ne-Yo.

British Breakthrough Act 2001: a1

Robbie Williams was the big winner on the night, but Ben, Mark, Christian and Paul took home their first and only BRIT Award for the British Breakthrough Act.

The band had huge success with their cover of the A-ha classic 'Take On Me' and decided to call an end to their time after founding member Paul Marazzi left the group.

In 2009, they decided to reform as a trio and released their fourth studio album a year later.

British Breakthrough Act 2000: S Club 7

Jo, Tina, Jon, Bradley, Paul, Rachel, Hannah - better known as S Club 7 – won the award in the millennium year after beating off competition from the likes of Shanks and Bigfoot and the Honeyz. The evening's event saw a performance by boy band Five and Queen as well as Travis taking home the coveted British Album award for 'The Man Who'.

Their single 'Reach' has been tackled by many a music reality show hopeful and the band themselves have all gone on to have a variety of careers. Rachel Stevens is regarded as having the most success since the band's departure and there have been rumours of a possible reunion in 2012.

British Breakthrough Act 1999: Belle And Sebastian

The Indie band had to fight off Billie Piper, Five and Steps to be crowned the British Breakthrough Act of 1999. The event was held at The London Arena and also saw David Bowie take to the stage with Placebo for a stand out performance of the T-Rex classic '20^th Century Boy'.

The Scottish outfit have released eight studio albums and their BRITs success was supported by their critically acclaimed record 'The Boy With The Arab Strap'.

British Breakthrough Act 1998: Stereophonics

Welsh rockers Stereophonics took home the award for British Breakthrough Act ahead of favourites Travis in 1998. Lead singer Kelly Jones gave the acceptance speech and after thanking everyone he said: "About time for a bit of f***ing recognition."

The band have headlined Glastonbury Festival, released seven studio albums and continue to tour the world. They fired drummer Stuart Cable in 2003 and the former member sadly passed away in 2010.

British Breakthrough Act 1996: Supergrass

Gaz Coombes and co had to beat such artists as Elastica and Cast to take the British Breakthrough Act prize this year. The band achieved success after the release of their debut album 'I Should Coco' in 1995 which produced the single 'Alright'. This was also the year in which Jarvis Cocker's infamous mocking of Michael Jackson took place.

The band went on to release such singles as 'Richard III', 'Moving' and 'Pumping On Your Stereo' and also picked up a further two BRIT awards in 1998 and 2000. The group have now disbanded and are pursuing solo projects.

British Breakthrough Act 1995: Oasis

During the height of their Britpop success, the Gallagher brothers and the rest of the Manchester band picked up the first of a career total of six BRITs. The group had released their debut album 'Definately Maybe' during the previous year and were also up for the Best Album award on the night as well.

The band went on to become one of the countries most successful ever bands before announcing their split in 2009 after a falling out between Noel and Liam. Both brothers have gone on to pursue other projects, with Liam fronting his band Beady Eye and Noel going solo.

British Breakthrough Act 1977 – 1994

1994 BRITs – Gabrielle
1993 BRITs – Tasmin Archer
1992 BRITs – Beverley Craven
1991 BRITs – Betty Boo
1990 BRITs – Lisa Stansfield
1989 BRITs – Bros
1988 BRITs – Wet Wet Wet
1987 BRITs – The Housemartins
1984 BRITs – Paul Young
1982 BRITs – The Human League
1977 BRITs – Julie Covington