The talents of Europe’s brightest acts stretch far beyond the continent’s borders. Forbes‘ third annual list of Europe’s 30 Under 30 in Entertainment includes global pop star Dua Lipa, Hollywood favorite Daniel Kaluuya and British boxer Anthony Joshua, who is one of the world’s highest-paid athletes.
We scoured the continent for the finest candidates across music, film, television and sport to find entertainment’s new elite. Many span media: Actor Jacob Anderson appears on HBO’s hit show Game of Thrones but also releases music as Raleigh Ritchie. Singer Rita Ora hosted a season of America’s Next Top Model, designed multiple clothing collections and a lipstick with Rimmel while working on her sophomore record, due out this year.
“Being able to be an actress, be on TV and present and still put out an album, I think I’m part of a new kind of breed,” said Ora, whose pop comeback lands her a spot on the list. After a five year musical hiatus due to struggles with her former record label, her 2017 single “Anywhere” peaked at No. 2 across the pond.
Levon Biss for Forbes
In order to form the entertainment list, we invited three industry heavyweights to serve as judges: list alum Michaela Coel, actor and writer best known for her hit show Chewing Gum; Matthew O’Donohoe, an expert sports agent at CAA and Jamal Edwards, MBE, founder of online music platform SBTV and a former 30 Under 30 Europe honoree.
“More than just talent, they all represent a snapshot of the future of the music business,” said Edwards of listmakers such as Dua Lipa, AJ Tracey, Sampha and J Hus. “They all in their own rights represent the broad spectrum of opinions in British society and their music not only entertains but also inspires.”
Take versatile London rapper J Hus: His debut album Common Sense reached No. 6 on the U.K. charts while its Afrobeats-influenced hit “Did You See” also broke the top 10 and earned him a Brit award nod for Best British Single.
The music honorees span genres from grime to pop. The 22-year-old Dua Lipa’s smash hit “New Rules” reached No. 11 on the Hot 100; it has more than 925 million views on YouTube. The acerbic anthem topped the charts in the U.K., the first song by a female solo artist to do so since 2015.
Fellow pop act Little Mix are the only group on the list. This decade’s answer to the Spice Girls, Little Mix were formed–how else–during 2011’s X Factor. Their fourth album Glory Days became their first chart topper in the U.K. and made them the longest reigning girl group No. 1 since the Spice Girls’ debut 20 years earlier.
The 30 Under 30 Europe ranking includes 300 young disruptors across categories, including entertainment, finance and technology. The list features honorees from a record number of 34 European countries.
Many have had a global impact. As the star of Jordan Peele’s Get Out, Kaluuya played Chris, an amateur photographer in an interracial relationship that takes a dark turn. The racially-charged comedic horror grossed a phenomenal $254.5 million on a $4.5 million budget, and Kaluuya’s performance earned rave reviews.
The youngest list member? Thirteen year old Millie Bobby Brown. The Emmy-nominated star of Netflix’s sci-fi hit series Stranger Things has been catapulted to fame for her role as Eleven. When she’s not in the Upside Down, the actress is working on her 2019 feature film debut in Godzilla: King of the Monsters.
On the field, Paul Pogba earns a nod for his soccer skills. One of the world’s highest-paid soccer players, the current Manchester United midfielder won four Serie A championships, as well as a two Coppa Italia and Supercoppa Italiana titles with his former club Juventus. Paralympic sprinter Jonnie Peacock and former world No. 1 tennis player Karolína Plíšková are among the other athletes to make the cut.
The Europe 30 Under 30 Entertainment list is edited by Natalie Robehmed, Madeline Berg and Daniel Kleinman.
See The Europe 30 Under 30 Entertainment Class Of 2018 Full List Here