Sam Fender tops March’s Radar Station chart

British singer-songwriter Sam Fender, the 2019 recipient of the Brit Awards Critics’ Choice, tops the table for March, with former Nashville star Lennon Stella holding strong at number two and Mexican-American soul singer Omar Apollo coming third.

IQ’s monthly Radar Station chart uses an algorithm to identify the fastest-growing new artists by analysing data across a number of online platforms, including Spotify, Facebook, Songkick and Last.fm. Last month’s chart-topper was electronic and acoustic fusion artist Still Woozy.

Newcastle, UK-born indie singer-songwriter Sam Fender first came to attention in 2017, when his single ‘Play God’ earned him a place on the list of nominees for the BBC’s Sound of 2018. Fender went on to release his debut EP Dead Boys in November 2018.

This year, Fender won the Brits Critics’ Choice award, joining past winners Adele, Florence and the Machine, Ellie Goulding and Sam Smith. The singer recently announced he will be playing alongside Bob Dylan, Neil Young and Laura Marling in London’s Hyde Park on 12 July.

Fender won the Brits Critics’ Choice award, joining past winners Adele, Florence and the Machine, Ellie Goulding and Sam Smith

Fender is embarking on a European and UK tour this month, ahead of summer festival appearance at Glastonbury, All Points East, Isle of Wight Festival, Lollapalooza and Down the Rabbit Hole, among others.

Canadian singer Lennon Stella of Nashville fame has maintained her position at number two in the Radar Station chart. Stella released her latest single ‘Bitch (takes one to know one)’ on 15 March. The singer has explained that the song is about “girl power” and aims to reclaim the pejoratively used, gendered insult.

Stella is currently touring in the United States, following the release of her debut EP Love, me last year.

Soulful singer-songwriter Omar Apollo released his first EP Stereo in May last year. The bilingual singer, born to Mexican parents in Indiana, has recently moved to Los Angeles and is touring extensively throughout the United States.

The singer, real name Omar Velasco, makes the trip to Europe in June, with dates planned in Norway, Germany, the UK, Spain, France and Belgium.

See the full chart, along with links to artists’ Facebook pages and booking agency details, below.

 

This month	Last month	Artist	Country	Agency
1	6	Sam Fender	UK	CAA
2	2	Lennon Stella	US	CAA
3	16	Omar Apollo	US	Paradigm (USA), Coda (UK & Europe)
4	15	Crumb	US	Ground Control Touring (USA), ATC Live (Europe)
5	9	Dominic Fike	US	UTA
6	7	Jpegmafia	US	Paradigm (USA), WME (RoW)
7	38	Polo G	US	N/A
8	46	Samm Henshaw	UK	CAA
9	14	Tierra Whack	US	UTA
10	4	Idles	UK	Paradigm (USA & Canada), Coda (RoW)
11	12	Duckwrth	US	ICM Partners
12	96	Boy Harsher	US	Swamp Booking (Europe), Ground Control Touring (North America)
13	81	Gashi	US	N/A
14	17	Jade Bird	UK	Coda (UK), Paradigm (USA)
15	33	Shaed	US	Paradigm
16	60	Mallrat	US	N/A
17	18	Soccer Mommy	US	High Road Touring (North America), ATC Live (Europe)
18	29	Flora Cash	SE	Paradigm (Americas), UTA (RoW)
19	50	Badflower	US	APA
20	32	Jakob Ogawa	Nor	Paradigm (Americas), Primary Talent (RoW)

 

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