A SINGER raised in Sussex has been nominated for an Academy Award.

Celeste has received an Oscar nomination for best original song for Hear My Voice, which she co-wrote for the Netflix film The Trial of the Chicago 7.

The 26-year-old and her song-writing partner Daniel Pemberton said they never expected the song to be received the way it has.

The pair said: "What an amazing journey a song can have. From being in lockdown, stuck at home, yet somehow still managing to write, collaborate and record over phone calls, text messages and video chats to create something from nothing that is now nominated for an Oscar is just, well, mind-blowing.”

“Hear My Voice is a song written in the spirit of protest and we wrote this song with the intention to in-still hope and belief into those who feel they aren’t heard, to know that one day they will be.

“We are so lucky to have had such a powerful film from Aaron Sorkin to inspire the song and great collaborators in each other to complete it.

“To the academy: a huge thank you we are both truly honoured.”

The song had already received a nomination for a Golden Globe award.

Celeste Waite was born in California and moved to Saltdean when she was aged five.

In her teenage years she performed in pubs and worked in charity shops in Sussex.

She moved to London with just £100 in her pocket, the BBC reported, and was signed for Lily Allen’s record label Bank Holiday Records, which released her first EP, and later by Polydor, who signed her in 2018.

Celeste says she is heavily influenced by soul singers Aretha Franklin and Ella Fitzgerald who she often listened to in her Sussex home.

Her debut album Not Your Muse clinched the top spot earlier this year and has sales to date of 41,346, according to the Official Charts Company.

The 93rd Academy Awards will take place on April 25.