Michael Kiwanuka

A singer-songwriter with a deep, rich voice and an ingrained love of timeless soul music, Michael Kiwanuka came to fame in 2012 as one of Britain's most talented young stars. Born on 3 May 1988 in London and raised in Muswell Hill, London by Ugandan parents, he worked as a session guitarist before a string of acoustic gigs in London led to a deal with Communion Records, founded by Mumford and Sons' Ben Lovett. His EPs Tell Me a Tale (2011) and I'm Getting Ready (2011) brought him to wider attention before he won the BBC Sound of 2012. Led by the single of the same name, his debut album Home Again (2012) showed the full range of his talent, dipping between classic Otis Redding-style soul, acoustic folk fragility and neo-soul crooning. The album reached number four in the UK charts and established him as the leading light of British soul and modern folk music and an accomplished songwriter with a wide array of influences. In 2016 he released his second studio album, Love & Hate, which topped the UK Albums Chart. The album's opening track, "Cold Little Heart," was chosen as the theme song for the HBO drama Big Little Lies, and his tracks have also featured in shows including Animal Kingdom, Grace & Frankie and the Netflix miniseries When They See Us. He released his third studio album, Kiwanuka, in November 2019. His fourth studio album Small Changes arrived in 2024.