Why is the winner of The Masked Singer US called ‘Bishop Briggs’? Singer-songwriters Bishopbriggs origins explained

The ninth series of The Masked Singer US has come to a close - with the winner Medusa crowned and revealed to be none other than Bishop Briggs - but why is their an artist named after a town outside Glasgow?

The American version of the masked singer saw artists across all genres of music and culture - from metal icons to sports stars and even an acapella act - all of them went head to head in a musical showdown in which every contestant is hidden underneath bizarre costumes.

Last night (May 17) saw the grand final of the American musical show-down, in which Macaw and Medusa went head-to-head in front of the judging panel to win bragging rights and the ‘Golden Mask’ grand trophy.

Macaw came second with covers of ‘Hold Back The River’ by James Bay and ‘All by Myself’ by Eric Carmen, Macaw took the second place spot and was revealed to be American Idol finalist David Archuleta.

The judges Ken Jeong and Nicole Scherzinger both correctly guessed his identity, while Robin Thicke thought it was Jason Mraz, and Jenny McCarthy Wahlberg believed it to be Neil Patrick Harris - of all people.

It was Medusa who won the competition however, after weeks of facing off agaisnt other contestants.

She performed ‘Elastic Heart’ by Sia and ‘Welcome to the Black Parade’ by My Chemical Romance.

When it was revealed who Medusa was, it was none other than Bishop Briggs - no doubt confusing many Glaswegian fans of the show who know the name as a town outside of Glasgow.

Of course it wasn’t the town of Bishopbriggs, that could never have fit into the costume, it was the best-selling singer by the same name, Bishop Briggs.

This made Briggs the first British singer to win the American version of The Masked Singer, and the youngest winner in the show’s history at the age of 30

Given her accent, one judge (Jeong) believed it to be Susan Boyle underneath the Medusa costume, while others believed it to be Grimes or Fergie.

Only one judge, Scherzinger, guessed the singer’s identity correctly.

Speaking to the audience and the judging panel after her win, the artist said:“When I was on the show, I was six months postpartum

“My most recent memory was performing at Coachella while pregnant, which was such an undertaking.

“I feel like compared to that, this was okay. That made a huge difference that I had something so intense to compare it to, being six months pregnant and performing in the desert heat. And so, I think that helped my endurance a little bit.”

Briggs spoke about her motivations for being on the show following her win, saying she was curious about “having the opportunity to really make it about [her] voice”.

She continued: “It was an adventure performing underneath the costume, for sure. I feel like I could see at the beginning of each song and then by the end of it, who knows what I could see. But my expectations going in were just to be as authentic as possible. And my hope was that the emotion would come through.”

Who is Bishop Briggs and why is she named after Bishopbriggs?

It’s not just a freak coincidence, as funny as Americans naming their children things like Sauchie Hall or Buchan Ann would be, that’s not the case.

Bishop Briggs is just a stage name used by the artist Sarah McLaughlin - a singer born in London in 1992 to Scottish parents from the town of Bishopbriggs, which inspired her stage name.

She chose the name Bishop Briggs due to her parents connections with the town and the stories they would tell of growing up outside Glasgow.

It would be a bad business decision to perform under her own name, Sarah McLaughlin, as she shares it with Canadian singer-songwriter Sarah McLachlan - an already established artist.

Speaking of her decision to choose the stage-name, Sarah McLaughlin(Bishop Briggs) told the Chicago Tribune in 2018:”I’m a ’90s baby, and Sarah McLachlan is queen.

“I knew from a very young age that I could never compete with her. I really wanted a fresh start, and I wanted to be reminded of my hometown.

“It felt like this grounding thing, to have that as my name every time I introduced myself.”

Does this mean we can expect other Scottish towns turned singer-songwriters to pop-up in America? Maybe Mother Well? Or perhaps Ruther Glen? Mayhaps even Cumber Nauld?

Probably not. Nonetheless congratulations to Sarah McLaughlin, and hopefully the singer-songwriter can continue championing the town of Bishopbriggs to our cousins over the Atlantic.