Isobel Bizu Beardshaw (born 28 April 1994), better known as Izzy Bizu, is an English-Ethiopian singer-songwriter signed to

Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was founded predominantly as a jazz and classical m ...

. Bizu has garnered mainstream radio support from

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 current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance ...

Annie Mac Annie Mac (born 18 July 1978), 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, including hosting her AMP (Annie Mac Presents) ...

and

Phil Taggart Philip Taggart (born 10 June 1986) is a Northern Irish DJ and radio presenter on BBC Radio Ulster. Early life Philly Taggart was born in Derry but was raised in Drumragh, a townland on the outskirts of Omagh in County Tyrone. He attended the ...

and

BBC Radio 1Xtra BBC Radio 1Xtra is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It broadcasts black music and urban music, including hip hop and R&B and is a sister station to Radio 1. Launching at 18:00 on 16 August 2002, it had been ...

's Trevor Nelson. She has supported

Coldplay Coldplay are a British rock band formed in London in 1997. They consist of vocalist and pianist Chris Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman, drummer Will Champion and creative director Phil Harvey. They met at University ...

Sam Smith Samuel Frederick Smith (born 19 May 1992) is an English singer and songwriter. After rising to prominence in October 2012 by featuring on Disclosure's breakthrough single "Latch", which peaked at number eleven on the UK Singles Chart, they ...

Rudimental Rudimental are a British drum and bass band, signed to Asylum Records, Atlantic Records and Black Butter Records. The band consists of Piers Aggett, Kesi Dryden and Leon "Locksmith" Rolle. They were nominated for a Mercury Prize in 2013, and w ...

, and Foxes on their latest UK tours. In November 2015, Bizu was shortlisted for a Brit Critics' Choice award and longlisted for BBC's Sound of... 2016. She won the BBC Music Introducing Award at the 2016 ceremony. On 25 June 2016, Bizu performed on the Park Stage at the

Glastonbury Festival Glastonbury Festival (formally Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts and known colloquially as Glasto) is a five-day festival of contemporary performing arts that takes place in Pilton, Somerset, England. In addition to contemp ...

Biography

Izzy Bizu is from southwest

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, and attended

Stamford High School, Lincolnshire Stamford High School is an independent school for girls in Stamford, Lincolnshire, England, situated on High Street, St Martin's. From September 2023, Stamford Endowed Schools (SES) will become co-educational. Education Stamford High School ...

. Her mother is

Ethiopian Ethiopians are the native inhabitants of Ethiopia, as well as the global diaspora of Ethiopia. Ethiopians constitute several component ethnic groups, many of which are closely related to ethnic groups in neighboring Eritrea and other parts of ...

and her father is

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

. She grew up between Ethiopia and Bahrain, where her father worked, before moving to London as a teen. She studied music tech in college, but dropped out shortly afterwards.

Career

Izzy Bizu at the Victorious Festival 2016

2013: ''Coolbeanz''

After the girl group SoundGirl split, Bizu won an open mic night competition in February 2013 winning over the crowd, which included Emeli Sande and

Naughty Boy Shahid Khan ( ur, شاهد خان; born 1 January 1981), better known by his stage name Naughty Boy, is a British DJ, record producer, songwriter and musician. In 2012, Khan signed a three–year publishing deal with Sony ATV, as well as a rec ...

, who were in attendance. She released her first independent EP, ''Coolbeanz'', in September 2013, which debuted at number 3 on the

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mu ...

Soul and RnB Chart and has sold 50,000 copies. The EP’s lead single, "White Tiger", was also chosen as

Zane Lowe Alexander Zane Reid Lowe (born 7 August 1973) is a New Zealand radio DJ, live DJ, record producer, and television presenter. After an early career in music creation, production and DJing, he moved to the UK in 1997. He came to prominence thro ...

’s ‘Next Hype’. In October 2013, she supported

on his UK tour, and in November

Jamie Cullum Jamie Cullum (born 20 August 1979) is an English jazz-pop singer, songwriter and radio presenter. Although primarily a vocalist and pianist, he also accompanies himself on other instruments, including guitar and drums. He has recorded nine stu ...

handpicked her to open for him at

The Roundhouse The Roundhouse is a performing arts and concert venue situated at the Grade II* listed former railway engine shed in Chalk Farm, London, England. The building was erected in 1846–1847 by the London & North Western Railway as a roundhous ...

in London.

2014–16: ''A Moment of Madness''

In January 2014, Bizu entered

's Emerging Talent Competition and made it to the final 8 of the competition, performing at the live finals of the event at Pilton Working Men's Club in April 2014. Bizu was named runner-up, winning £2,500 from the PRS Foundation and a slot at that year's Glastonbury Festival. In June 2014, Bizu was also selected by

BBC Introducing BBC Music ''Introducing'' is BBC Radio's platform supporting unsigned, undiscovered, and under-the-radar UK music talent. It gives artists the opportunity to be played on Local BBC Radio and nationally on BBC Radio 1, 1Xtra, Radio 2, Radio 3, ...

to perform at the

. In July 2014, she signed to Epic Records UK. A year later, she released the first singles from her debut album, "Adam & Eve" and "Diamond", which enjoyed support from

, Radio 2 and

1Xtra BBC Radio 1Xtra is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It broadcasts black music and urban music, including hip hop and R&B and is a sister station to Radio 1. Launching at 18:00 on 16 August 2002, it had been code ...

, and performed at

Glastonbury Glastonbury (, ) is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated at a dry point on the low-lying Somerset Levels, south of Bristol. The town, which is in the Mendip district, had a population of 8,932 in the 2011 census. Glastonbur ...

for the second time. In September 2015, following the release of her single "Give Me Love", she also made her TV debut on '' Later... with Jools Holland''. Bizu supported both

and Foxes on their UK headline tours. In November 2015, Bizu was shortlisted for a Brit Critics' Choice award. In January 2016 Bizu's song 'White Tiger' featured on the advert for National Citizen Service (NCS) and in March 2016 she performed at NCS Yes Live alongside Tinie Tempah and Jess Glynne. Her debut album, '' A Moment of Madness'', was released on 2 September 2016. In April 2016, Bizu recorded (with the BBC Concert Orchestra) an uptempo, updated version of the Edith Piaf 1957 hit "

La Foule "" (; "Let no one know my suffering"), also known as "" (; "Love of my loves") is a song originally composed by that has been recorded by numerous Spanish language artists such as Alberto Castillo, Julio Iglesias and María Dolores Pradera. Howe ...

" as the theme music for the BBC's coverage of the

Euro 2016 The 2016 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2016 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2016) or simply Euro 2016, was the 15th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe o ...

Football Tournament. Izzy Bizu was featured as a vocalist on Milky Chance's track "Bad Things" on their 2017 album ''

Blossom In botany, blossoms are the flowers of stone fruit trees (genus ''Prunus'') and of some other plants with a similar appearance that flower profusely for a period of time in spring. Colloquially, flowers of orange are referred to as such as ...

''.

Artistry

Bizu has described herself as a fan of jazz-fusion mixes and a lover of squat parties and warehouse raves. She grew up listening to

Whitney Houston Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer and actress. Nicknamed "Honorific nicknames in popular music, The Voice", she is Whitney Houston albums discography, one of the bestselling music artists ...

Ella Fitzgerald Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April 25, 1917June 15, 1996) was an American jazz singer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing, timing, in ...

Bettye Swann Betty Barton (born Betty Jean Champion, October 24, 1944), better known by the stage name Bettye Swann, is a retired American soul singer. She is best known for her 1967 hit song " Make Me Yours". Career Swann was born in Shreveport, Louisiana ...

and

James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, dancer, musician, record producer and bandleader. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th century music, he is often referred to by the hono ...

and draws on these influences alongside newer influences such as

Amy Winehouse Amy Jade Winehouse (14 September 1983 – 23 July 2011) was an English singer and songwriter. She was known for her deep, expressive contralto vocals and her eclectic mix of musical genres, including soul, rhythm and blues and jazz. A membe ...

and

Adele Adele Laurie Blue Adkins (, ; born 5 May 1988), professionally known by the mononym Adele, is an English singer and songwriter. After graduating in arts from the BRIT School in 2006, Adele signed a rec ...

to create a fusion of soul, funk, jazz and pop. She lists The Black Keys,

Diana Ross Diana Ross (born March 26, 1944) is an American singer and actress. She rose to fame as the lead singer of the vocal group the Supremes, who became Motown's most successful act during the 1960s and one of the world's best-selling girl groups ...

Grammatics Grammatics were a British alternative rock band from Leeds, England, predominantly influenced by British bands of the 1990s such as Blur, Pulp, and Suede. The band also quotes the following musical influences: Cursive, My Bloody Valentine, Ni ...

and

Sam Cooke Samuel Cook (January 22, 1931 – December 11, 1964), known professionally as Sam Cooke, was an American singer and songwriter. Considered to be a pioneer and one of the most influential soul music, soul artists of all time, Cooke is common ...

among her other influences.

Discography

Albums

Extended plays

Singles

As lead artist

As featured artist

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bizu, Izzy English people of Ethiopian descent Epic Records artists English soul musicians English women singer-songwriters English soul singers Living people Singers from London British contemporary R&B singers 21st-century Black British women singers 1994 births People educated at Stamford High School, Lincolnshire