Sharon And Ozzy To Host BRITS

"The world’s favorite rock ‘n’ roll royal couple," as the press statement puts it, is to host next year’s BRIT Awards.

Rock legend Ozzy Osbourne and wife Sharon will compère the February 20th event at Earls Court in front of a crowd of about 11,000. ITV1 will screen it live to a U.K. audience of several million.

Ozzy and Sharon have become British television’s best-loved couple after arriving on U.K. TV in 2002 with their hugely successful reality TV show, "The Osbournes."

Sharon has gone on to become a popular TV personality as a judge on ITV’s record-breaking "X Factor."

The nominations for The BRIT Awards 2008 will be unveiled at London’s Roundhouse January 14. The launch will be televised on ITV2 that same night at 9 p.m.

The BRITs come at a time when the U.K. music industry could claim to be thriving creatively, with last year being a good one for homegrown talent.

U.K. acts accounted for more than half of all albums sold in the U.K., the highest share since 1998.