By James Whitehead
The biggest night in British music has passed with the 45th edition of the Brit awards. Hosted by Jack Whitehall, the star-studded event demonstrated a bright and shifting landscape in the nation’s music scene. The major awards were predominantly won by several of the hottest female artists on the planet, as Charli xcx, Chappell Roan and Sabrina Carpenter took their recent chart domination into awards season.
Charli xcx undisputedly won the night. She walked away with Album of the year for her massive 2024 success ‘Brat’. She also won Best Dance Act, Best Artist, Songwriter and Best Song for her chart-topping collaboration with Billie Eilish ‘Guess’.
It’s a wonderful story for an extremely talented artist, but it is by no means an overnight success. The British singer drew attention and interest as early as 2010 when she released her own music on the social platform Myspace. Over a decade later her sixth studio album, which charted at no.1back in June of 2024, has just won Album of the year.
Following her success, Chappell Roan also made a strong impression with two wins for Best International Artist and International song for her smash-hit ‘Good Luck, Babe!’. Formerly of Little Mix, Jade walked away with Best Pop Act and Best R&B Act went to Raye. The latter couldn’t collect her award however due to her appearance and performance at the recent Oscars Ceremony.
In terms of newcomers, The Last Dinner Party won Breakthrough Artist and Rising Star went to Myles Smith, who’s recently risen in the charts all over the world. The Luton-born singer made the most of his moment with an extremely moving speech about the importance of funding the arts in schools. The message came from his personal experiences of learning to play instruments in school because of such schemes and it certainly captivated the audience in attendance, who responded with rapturous applause.
Here is a full list of the night’s winners:
- Best Song ‘Guess’, by Billie Eilish & Charli xcx.
- Rising Star Myles Smith.
- R&B Act Raye.
- Global Success Sabrina Carpenter.
- Pop Act Jade.
- British Album ‘Brat’, Charli xcx.
- International Artist Chappell Roan.
- Alternative/ Rock Act Sam Fender.
- International Song ‘Good Luck, Babe!’, Chappell Roan.
- Breakthrough Artist The Last Dinner Party.
- Best Artist Charli xcx.
- International Group Fontaines D.C.
- British Group Ezra Collective.
- Best Songwriter Charli xcx.
- Hip Hop/ Grime Act Stormzy.
- Producer A. G. Cook.
- British Dance Act Charli xcx.
On a successful night for British music, there was plenty of talented performances and worthy winners in a year of female pop-dominance. You can follow and listen to these artists, alongside the nominees right here, on Essex Hits.
