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Page 3 Profile: Ben Howard, musician

 

Thursday 21 February 2013 20:00 EST
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British breakthrough act: Ben Howard
British breakthrough act: Ben Howard (Getty Images)

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The most boring Brit Awards in history?

It would certainly make the top five. Wednesday night's ceremony was devoid of controversy. No outrageous wardrobe malfunctions, and the squeaky clean Emeli Sandé was the biggest winner. Adele, the British music industry's leading light, took home an obligatory gong and so did One Direction. Devon's Ben Howard also landed two awards.

Ben who?

His biggest single, "Only Love", may only have reached No 37 on the charts, but his album Every Kingdom did far better. It reached number nine, and sold a total of 269,000 copies last year.

He must know a MasterCard bigwig?

His relationship with the Brits' official sponsor is unknown, but the singer from Totnes walked away with British Breakthrough Act and British Solo Male Artist. "I'm quite stoked to even come to the awards, so to come away with two of these is amazing," he said.

What's his music like?

Depending on your tastes, it's either soaringly tedious or emotive and meaningful. Howard, 25, once described Mumford & Sons as the "freshest thing on the music scene", and he slots into the same dad-pleasing bracket. His performance prompted a rush for his album. Just two hours after the Brits had ended, the Official Charts company said his sales had shot up 320 per cent. Last night, Amazon claimed the figure was closer to 4,600 per cent.

We'll be hearing a lot more of him?

Undoubtedly.

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