Who is CMAT? Everything You Need To Know About Irish Star Up ...

Irish singer CMAT has been honoured among this year’s BRIT Award nominations, joining Jazzy, another one of our own.

CMAT is up for International Artist of the Year at the 2024 BRITs, sharing the category with Asake, Burna Boy, Caroline Polachek, Kylie Minogue, Lana Del Rey, Miley Cyrus, Olivia Rodrigo, SZA, and Taylor Swift.

The 27-year-old hilariously reacted to her nomination, thanking one of her fellow nominees for the honour.

‘I would like to personally thank God and Kylie Minogue for this nomination (same thing),’ the star joked.

Here’s everything you need to know about CMAT.

Professionally known as CMAT, Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson is a singer and songwriter. She originally hails from Dublin but her family moved to Dunboyne, Co Meath when she was a child.

CMAT returned to the Irish capital to study at Trinity College at 18, but dropped out and made the big move to Denmark where she spent three months.

The 27-year-old then relocated to Manchester, UK, where she soon formed the band Bad Sea with her now ex-boyfriend.

Speaking to the Guardian in July 2023, Thompson admitted that the five-year relationship was a toxic one, and she turned to alcohol in order to cope with it and other things. It was around this time that the singer ended up quitting music for a while.

However, the saving grace came from pop icon Charli XCX when CMAT was invited to a listening session at a London studio. The session let musicians listen and hear different unreleased songs and give their opinions on them.

After the session, CMAT found herself being given a talk by Charli, who asked why the Irish singer was not making solo music. She told the Guardian: ‘She looked right through me and said in a slightly mean way, “Sort your s**t out.”‘

Having found new inspiration and that much-needed kick, Thompson broke up with her then partner on the bus back to Manchester, and moved back to Dublin to become the CMAT we know today.

Now officially CMAT, the singer moved back to Ireland and started to release her own music online, which was quickly noticed by RTE Radio 1 and BBC 6 Music.

Her debut studio album If My Wife New I’d Be Dead came out in February 2022 and soared to number one on the Irish Albums Chart. It also won the RTE Choice Music Prize for Album of the Year.

CMAT’s second album Crazymad, For Me was then released in October 2023. It was also a massive success, joining its predecessor at the top of the Irish Albums Chart.