Brit Girls Are the It Girls

God save the Queens of pop! These U.K.-born artists are overtaking American culture

- MOLLY McGUIGAN

Yes, queens! Clockwise from left: Raye, Allen, Young and Dean

Paul Revere may have loudly warned, “The British are coming!” in the time of the American Revolution, but the British pop-girl invasion of 2025 came more quietly, one TikTok at a time. Of course, all-American stars like Taylor Swift, Sabrina Carpenter and Ariana Grande aren't going anywhere — and they remain at the top of the charts — but up-and-comers like Olivia Dean, Raye and Lola Young are giving them a run for their money, infiltrating our playlists, mood boards and Instagram feeds — and we're not mad about it!

The most recent wave of U.K.-based female talent can be traced back to last summer, when we all were describing things as “so Julia” thanks to Charli XCX’s Grammy-winning Brat. A few months later, you couldn't turn on the radio without hearing Young's earworm “Messy,” which had made the rounds on TikTok before going mainstream. (Her 2025 album later gave us another hit, “One Thing.”) Raye's 2023 collab with