SOUL singing superstar Rag ’n’ Bone Man has revealed how he took a model of the West Pier to the Brit Awards to make his performance about a place close to his heart.

The chart-topping singer and songwriter spoke to The Argus after an event focused on encouraging youngsters to get involved in making music and performing live.

He explained why he chose to use the landmark as a backdrop on stage.

Rag ’n’ Bone man, whose real name is Rory Graham, sang at this year’s Brits with a flaming model of the structure behind him.

Speaking to The Argus after appearing as a panel member at the What Next? event in Worthing, he said: “I am always involved in those things.

“Obviously being something like the Brits they always want to make it big and spend as much money as possible apparently.

“They were like ‘what do you want to do?’, so I said ‘if you’re going to do something big you have to make it about the place I’m from’.

“It was a pretty good idea.”

Rory, who spent many years of his life living and performing in Brighton, but now lives in Uckfield, took home an award for Best British Single after the success of his track Human.

The spectacular model brought the West Pier ruins to the attention of millions of viewers.

It was created by Misty Buckley, who also designed sets used during performances by Dua Lipa and Foo Fighters at the awards ceremony.

She was given the chance to base the set on scenery that would link back to Rory’s past to give his performance a more personal feel.

London-based Misty, who studied interior architecture at Brighton University, worked on all the projects for the ceremony for six months.

Her time at university gave her first-hand experience of what the pier’s ruins mean to Brighton residents and artists.

Rag ’n’ Bone Man was also shortlisted for the Best British Album and Best Solo Artist awards at the ceremony.

To read our full interview with Rag ’n’ Bone Man see page 23 of today’s Guide supplement.