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Harry Styles Wins Four BRIT Awards
The BRIT Awards 2023 went down at The O2 London, Feb. 11, celebrating the most successful British and international music over the last 12 months.
A total of 15 awards were presented throughout the afternoon and evening (full winners list below), alongside an all-star line-up of live performances from this week’s Pollstar cover star Lewis Capaldi, Sam Smith and Kim Petras, Lizzo, Cat Burns, David Guetta, Stormzy, Wet Leg, who won two BRITS on the night, and this year’s biggest winner, Harry Styles.
The English singer and songwriter swept the board with wins in all four categories he was nominated for. It included the coveted Album of the Year award for his third studio album, Harry’s House, the biggest selling UK album of 2022, which already earned him a Grammy in last week’s ceremony.
His number-one single “As It Was” won Song of the Year, and Styles also took home the Artist of the Year, and Pop/R&B Act, one of four genre awards voted for by fans.
Styles just got back from the States, where he made good on three LA shows at the Kia Forum, Jan. 26-29, originally scheduled as part of a 15-date residency in November, but postponed due to the flu. The three shows sold 51,342 tickets for a gross of $9,623,023, according to Pollstar Boxoffice. He was supported by fellow-BRIT winners Wet Leg on those concerts.
Styles also sold out two nights at Acrisure Arena in Greater Palm Springs, Jan 31-Feb. 1, selling 20,939 tickets, and grossing $5,577,876. He is all set to continue his Live Nation promoted “Love On Tour” world tour in Oceania, Asia and Europe throughout the first half of the year, again supported by Wet Leg.
At the time of writing, Styles was leading Pollstar’s Live 75 chart, which ranks worldwide active tours by the average tickets sold for reported shows taken place over the last 30 days, and ranked two on the Artist Power Index.
Isle of Wight duo Wet Leg won Group of the Year and Best New Artists, and performed their hit “Chaise Longue” alongside an all-female Morris dancing collective against a backdrop of leafy foliage, bringing country flavor to the set.
This year’s brighter star at the Grammys also shone bright at the BRITS, as both the International Artist of the Year and International Song of the Year award went to Beyoncé, who accepted her awards via video message.
Three more genre award winners were chosen by the fans: Becky Hill picked up her second consecutive BRIT for Dance Act, Aitch was presented with the award for Hip Hop/Grime/Rap Act, and The 1975 were voted winners of Alternative/Rock Act.
International Group of the Year went to Fontaines D.C.; lead singer Carlos O’Connell accepted the award on behalf of the group who also sent in a video message from Australia. David Guetta was presented with the Producer of the Year award, before closing the show with a euphoric three-song performance, for which he was joined on stage by Becky Hill, Ella Henderson, and Sam Ryder.
Earlier in the day, as part of the BRIT Awards 2023: Red Carpet Show, the 2023 BRITs Rising Star award went to FLO, and Kid Harpoon was presented with the Songwriter of the Year award.
Presenters on the night included: Ellie Goulding, Salma Hayek Pinault, Daisy May Cooper, Jodie Turner Smith, Leigh-Anne Pinnock, Alex Scott, Naomi Ackie, Georgia May Jagger and Stanley Tucci.
For the first time in the show’s 43 year history, the event took place on a Saturday night, broadcasting live on ITV1 and ITVX and streamed on YouTube for non-UK viewers.
Full list of nominees and winners:
Album of the Year
The 1975 – Being Funny In a Foreign Language
Fred Again – Actual Life 3 (Jan 1 – September 9 2022)
Harry Styles – Harry’s House
Stormzy – This Is What I Mean
Wet Leg – Wet Leg
Artist of the Year
Central Cee
Fred Again
George Ezra
Harry Styles
Stormzy
Group of the Year
The 1975
Arctic Monkeys
Bad Boy Chiller Crew
Nova Twins
Wet Leg
Song of the Year
Aitch and Ashanti – “Baby”
Cat Burns – “Go”
Dave – “Starlight”
Ed Sheeran and Elton John – “Merry Christmas”
Eliza Rose and Interplanetary Criminal – “B.O.T.A. (Baddest Of Them All)”
George Ezra – “Green Green Grass”
Harry Styles – “As It Was”
Lewis Capaldi – “Forget Me”
LF System – “Afraid to Feel”
Sam Smith & Kim Petras – “Unholy”
Best international artist
Beyoncé
Burna Boy
Kendrick Lamar
Lizzo
Taylor Swift
Best international group
Blackpink
Drake & 21 Savage
First Aid Kit
Fontaines D.C.
Gabriels
International song of the Year
Beyoncé – “Break My Soul”
David Guetta & Bebe Rexha – “I’m Good (Blue)”
Fireboy DML & Ed Sheeran – “Peru”
Encanto cast – “We Don’t Talk About Bruno”
Gayle – “ABCDEFU”
Jack Harlow – “First Class”
Lizzo – “About Damn Time”
Lost Frequencies & Calum Scott – “Where Are You Now?”
OneRepublic – “I Ain’t Worried”
Taylor Swift – “Anti-Hero”
Best new artist
Kojey Radical
Rina Sawayama
Sam Ryder
Mimi Webb
Wet Leg
Rising Star
Flo
Cat Burns
Nia Archives
Best alternative / rock
The 1975
Arctic Monkeys
Nova Twins
Tom Grennan
Wet Leg
Best dance
Becky Hill
Bonobo
Calvin Harris
Eliza Rose
Fred Again
Best hip-hop / rap / grime
Aitch
Central Cee
Dave
Loyle Carner
Stormzy
Pop / R&B
Cat Burns
Charli XCX
Dua Lipa
Harry Styles
Sam Smith
Producer of the Year
David Guetta
Songwriter of the Year
Kid Harpoon
About the BRITS 2023:
The BRITs 2023 was chaired by Damian Christian (Managing Director and President of Promotions at Atlantic Records, part of Warner Music UK) who oversaw the BRITs creative team which included set and stage design by Misty Buckley, BRITs TV Executive Producer Sally Wood and BRITs TV Director Phil Heyes.
The awards categories for Mastercard Album of the Year, Artist of the Year, Group of the Year, Best New Artist, Song of the Year with Mastercard, International Artist of the Year, International Group of the Year and International Song of the Year were voted on by The BRITs Voting Academy; around 1200 people drawn from across the music industry including artists, managers, producers, publishers, retailers and media. The winners of the four genre awards – Alternative/Rock Act, Hip Hop/Grime/Rap Act, Dance Act and Pop/R&B Act were decided by public vote powered by TikTok. The BRITs Rising Star award shortlist is selected by an invited panel of music editors and critics from the national press, online music editors, heads of music at major radio and music TV stations plus songwriters, producers and live bookers – those working with new rising talent on a regular basis.
The 2023 ceremony marked 30 years of ITV as broadcast partner, 25 years of Mastercard as headline sponsor and 13 years with the show held at The O2 arena. All three long-standing partners have supported The BRITs’ ambition to host an unforgettable and far-reaching evening of live music and entertainment that, additionally, helps raise money for The BRIT Trust, the charitable arm of the awards, who distribute funds to charities that promote education and well-being through music, including The BRIT School and Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy.
Mastercard returned as headline partner of The BRIT Awards for the 25th year, bringing cardholders closer to their passion for music through a range of BRITs experiences. This year, Mastercard continued to partner with The BRIT School to celebrate and give a platform to the next generation of creative talent and once again sponsored the much sought after Mastercard Album of the Year award, as well as Song of the Year with Mastercard.
YouTube Music is the Official Digital Music Partner and has been bringing fans closer to the BRITs than ever before. As the home of the official livestream on YouTube, audiences around the world were able to watch the whole journey of the BRITs unfold, from the nominations, through the run-up, to the awards themselves and will be able to watch the performances back on demand. Fans were also able to watch exclusive behind-the-scenes footage on the night on YouTube Shorts, a short-form video experience right on YouTube, as well as listen to their favourite artists’ playlists on YouTube Music.