Ben Howard wins Brit Award voted by Radio 1 listeners

Singer Ben Howard has won British breakthrough act, as voted for by listeners of BBC Radio 1.

The Brit award recognises emerging talent and has been won in the past by Ed Sheeran, Tinie Tempah and JLS.

"It's pretty cool to hold that title for a year. I'm proud," Ben said.

"It's a good room of music in there tonight. I was pretty ominous about the Brits. When we got told we were nominated I was intrigued to see what it would be like," he added backstage.

"You are really amongst your peers, so it was amazing to walk away with that one."

BBC News: See the full list of winners

'To mum'

When accepting the award he thanked his mother, along with fans.

"Thanks a lot to everyone who has listened and voted for this. To my mum as well, she rang a lot of old friends to vote for this."

Radio 1 DJ Nick Grimshaw presented the breakthrough award to Ben Howard

Later on he tweeted "only gone and won 2 Brit awards... AAAARRRRRRRGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH - THANK YOU EVERYONE".

The musician also picked up the prize for best male solo artist, beating Plan B, Calvin Harris, Richard Hawley and Olly Murs.

His debut album, Every Kingdom, was nominated for the Mercury Prize in 2012 and has sold more than 200,000 copies in the UK.

Ben Howard has already confirmed numerous festival appearances for 2013, including Rockness, Isle of Wight and Boardmasters. He will also be playing Coachella in the US.

Follow @BBCNewsbeat on Twitter