In 2015, Taylor Swift asked the audience on her whopping world tour to welcome to the stage all manner of people. She had regular squad guests Gigi Hadid, Selena Gomez and Ellie Goulding, and more random ones, such as the US Women’s Soccer team and Matt LeBlanc. Now the tour’s over, we’re pretty sure Taylor has used up all her friendship favours. So if she needs some new pals, here are the female musicians set to take over in 2016, and very possibly be welcomed onstage with Tay…
Elle King
Elle grew up in rural America, listening to rockabilly and Americana and smoking cigars. Meghan Trainor she ain’t. You’ll know the bluesy Ex’s & Oh’s, which is big on the radio both here and in the US, and we can only hope her dream duet with Dolly Parton comes true.
Dua Lipa
Sad-girl pop is the best kind, and Dua Lipa makes melancholy melodies even Robyn would be proud of. Born in Kosovo, Dua moved to London a few years ago, learnt a bit of showbiz at Sylvia Young and got snapped up by Lana Del Rey’s management. Her latest single Be* The One* already sounds like a No 1.
Allie X
Katy Perry’s already a fan, and now it’s time for the rest of us to fall in love with Allie X’s brand of electro-pop. Like Lady Gaga, Allie loves to express herself through unsettling videos and elaborate costumes. We love the sugary sweet sound of Catch.
Sara Harman
Nineteen-year-old Sara has only released one song so far,* Monster Lead Me Home*, but it’s been played on Spotify for what seems like years, and on loop in the heat office for the last month. It has all the makings of a radio hit.
Empress Of
Empress Of makes super-cool electronic R&B, lives in Brooklyn, and is signed up to the same label as FKA twigs. She ran away to Mexico, where she wrote and produced her fab debut album Me. Watch out for the disco track How Do You Do It.
Anne-Marie
Anne-Marie’s spent the last few years as a featured vocalist with the likes of Magnetic Man and Rudimental. Now she’s stepping out with her own solo career in 2016. Her playful lyrics on Boy remind us a lot of Lily Allen’s “Don’t give a monkey’s” attitude and she brings a bunch of Essex sass to her music.
Zara Larsson
You know Zara from Never Forget You – her duet with MNEK – but her solo material will launch in the UK next year. She’s one of Sweden’s biggest pop stars, and sounds so much like Rihanna we can almost cope with no sign of Anti landing any time soon. Lush Life is your must-listen.