On Tuesday 8th February, the Brit Awards Ceremony returned with a bang, showcasing the wide variety of talent currently on display in the United Kingdom. With performances from Little Simz, Anne-Marie and KSI, Liam Gallagher, Holly Humberstone, Adele, Sam Fender, Dave and a particularly baffling collaboration between Ed Sheeran and Bring Me The Horizon, this certainly won't be a ceremony that you’ll forget anytime soon. So, let’s take a look at this year’s round-up of winners.
Adele takes the crown
As the only artist to take home more than one award, Adele has officially been crowned the queen of this year’s Brit Awards for her victories in 3 different categories. After a long hiatus from releasing music, Adele has returned with new music for the first time since 2015. Taking home 3 awards this year gives Adele a total of 12 awards throughout her career, leaving her just one award shy of all-time leader Robbie Williams.
Mastercard Album of The Year – ‘30’
It’s been a rough couple of years for Adele, whose very public divorce from Simon Konecki has been covered by media all over the globe. Thankfully, Adele has managed to channel her emotions into her latest studio album, ‘30’, which tells the story of her divorce and its impact on her and her family. The album sold over 600,000 copies in just 6 weeks, a huge figure considering today's preference for streaming over buying music. Featuring tracks like ‘Easy On Me’ and ‘I Drink Wine’, the album is full of beautiful vocal melodies and truly moving narratives throughout, so it’s no surprise that it has been selected above the other nominations for the Album of The Year award.
Other nominations: Dave – We're All Alone In This Together Ed Sheeran – = Little Simz – Sometimes I Might Be Introvert Sam Fender – Seventeen Going Under
Song of The Year – ‘Easy On Me’
Partnering nicely with Adele’s Album of The Year award is her Song of The Year award, granted to her for her first single from the album, titled ‘Easy On Me’. The stripped-back piano and vocal-only arrangement offers a beautifully simple setting for Adele to deliver her iconic powerful vocals. Such a minimalist production offers Adele’s voice the vulnerability required to really translate the lyrical message into a moving and delicate recording, sealing her the award for best song of the year. There is a lesson in this for all musicians – less is more.
Other nominations:
A1 & J1 – Latest Trends
Anne-Marie, KSI, Digital Farm Animals – Don't Play
Becky Hill & David Guetta – Remember
Central Cee – Obsessed With You
Dave ft Stormzy – Clash
Ed Sheeran – Bad Habits
Elton John & Dua Lipa – Cold Heart (Pnau Mix)
Glass Animals – Heat Waves
Joel Corry, RAYE, David Guetta – BED
KSI – Holiday
Nathan Evans, 220Kid, Billen Ted – Wellerman
Riton x Nightcrawlers Ft Mufasa & Hypeman – Friday (Dopamine Re-Edit)
To Wayne & Russ Millions – Body
Tom Grennan – Little Bit Of Love
Artist of The Year – Adele
Given the success of her single ‘Easy On Me’ and her album ‘30’, it was almost inevitable that Artist of The Year would go to Adele. Such a commercial success is hard to ignore, especially when it blows up on such a global scale. Having taken radio stations, streaming services and record sales all over the world by storm, this award is well-deserved and few can argue with the outcome.
Other nominations:
Dave
Ed Sheeran
Little Simz
Sam Fender
Best Dance Act goes to Becky Hill
For the first time in over 15 years, The Brit Awards have had a category for Best Dance Act. For those of us that live and breathe Dance music, this is great news, as it shows that current Dance music is getting a level of recognition that hasn’t been seen for a long time, and who better to receive this award than vocalist legend Becky Hill.
Becky Hill has had an incredible year, with her first studio album ‘Only Honest On The Weekend’ reaching number 7 in the UK singles charts. The album boasted 3 top 40 singles, ‘Last Time’, ‘My Heart Goes (La Di Da)’ (Produced by Topic) and ‘Remember’ (produced by David Guetta), with the latter reaching third in the UK singles charts.
Aside from her huge album, she has also featured on ‘Kiss My (Uh Oh) (Girl Power remix)’ by Anne-Marie and Little Mix (also featuring Raye & Stefflon Don), ‘Don’t Know About you’ by B Live (also featuring Grime legend JME). To top this all off, she had a feature on Drum and bass legend Netsky’s 2021 album with the track ‘Hold On’.
With a year like that, it's not hard to see how her vocals and work rate have carried her right the way through to the title of Best Dance Act 2022, but did you know Becky Hill also did a live session with us in 2021? You can check out the full live session here.
Other nominations:
Calvin Harris
Fred Again
Joel Corry
RAYE
Dave wins Best Hip hop/Grime/Rap Act
With singles ‘Titanium’ and ‘Mercury’ reaching the UK top 10 and top 40 respectively, Dave had had an incredibly productive year even before you consider the release of his second studio album ‘We’re All Alone In This Together’. Reaching number 1 in the UK Album Charts and selling over 150,000 copies, this album has gone down a storm amongst Hip hop and Grime fans in the UK and across the globe. After his politically charged performance at the Brit Awards back in 2020, Dave is no stranger to making an impact at the event. After winning Best Album of The Year that same year, Dave has added best Hip hop/Grime/Rap Act to his trophy cabinet, reaffirming his position as one of the top dogs in the UK game.
Other nominations:
AJ Tracey
Central Cee
Little Simz
Little Simz awarded Best New Artist
For her first Brit Award nomination, Little Simz has done incredibly well this year after releasing her studio album ‘Sometimes I Might Be Introvert’. The album twists the normalities of Hip hop/Rap music with soundscapes that don’t usually come with it. Most notably, the title track ‘Introvert’ showcases a wide variety of timbres ranging from orchestral breakdowns through to Gospel-inspired vocal sections. The wide variety of sounds available within this LP makes it a fantastic release for any artist, let alone an artist making her first trip to the Brit Awards. Expect to see more of Little Simz on the Brit Awards stage in years to come.
Other nominations:
Central Cee
Griff
Joy Crookes
Self Esteem
Dua Lipa takes Best Pop/R&B Act
Another artist adding to their collection of Brit Awards this year was Dua Lipa. Her nomination this year resulted in her receiving the fifth Brit award of her career. It's been a relatively quiet year for Dua Lipa in comparison to some of her recent years, but this hasn't prevented her from releasing 2 top 40 singles including one with British Pop music royalty Elton John. This collaborative reimagining of 2 of Elton’s old classics, remixed by producer PNAU into a chart House anthem, has been grabbing the hearts of new and old music lovers alike since its release in late 2021 and has earned Dua Lipa the title of Best Pop/R&B Act 2022.
Other nominations:
Adele
Ed Sheeran
Griff
Joy Crookes
Best Rock/Alternative Act goes to Sam Fender
When it comes to Alternative music acts, nobody has had a bigger year than Sam Fender. His Springsteen-inspired sounds thrived during the COVID lockdowns, as people craved less Dancey music for home listening. His album ‘Seventeen Going Under’ was a smash hit last year, with the title track reaching third in the UK Singles Chart and the album going all the way to number 1 in the UK Albums Chart too. His first Brit Award came in 2019 after the release of Hypersonic Missiles earned him the Critics Choice Brit Award, but one thing is for certain – you can expect to see more of Sam Fender at future Brit Awards ceremonies.
Other nominations:
Coldplay
Glass Animals
Tom Grennan
Wolf Alice
Wolf Alice claim Best Group
With hot competition from Coldplay, Little Mix and D-Block Europe, Wolf Alice had to fight hard to earn the award for Best Group this year. The group’s third studio album ‘Blue Weekend’, including the singles ‘The Last Man on Earth’ and ‘Smile’, catapulted them into the top spot. The group’s ‘glitzy production values’ and their feisty, charismatic lead singer, Ellie Rowsell, have captured the hearts of the UK alternative listeners effectively, and great cheers were given off as the collective received their award.
Other nominations:
Coldplay
D-Block Europe
Little Mix
London Grammar
International Awards
The international awards this year were a showcase of the finest non-British musicians that have influenced the UK sound and achieved popularity amongst its listeners and charts. As is often the case, this category was dominated by some of the best-selling American artists throughout the year.
International Artist of The Year – Billie Eilish
Billie Eilish continued to win over the British audience this year with her second studio album ‘Happier Than Ever’. The popular singer’s husky, soulful voice and productions from her brother Finneas have yet again kept her in the global spotlight. The album showcases a more mature sound than many of her previous releases, showing how she has continued to adapt to the challenges faced by an artist that found fame as a teenager.
Other nominations:
Doja Cat
Lil Nas X
Olivia Rodrigo
Taylor Swift
International Group Of The Year – Silk Sonic
Initially formed ‘as a joke’ by Bruno Mars and Anderson Paak in 2017, Silk Sonic has gone on to take the industry by storm with their debut album ‘An Evening With Silk Sonic’. At the start of this project, the pair set out to recreate the Rhythm & Blues sounds of the 70s and no detail has been spared. The pair famously went on a hunt for rare vintage drum skins in an attempt to precisely capture the vibe of an era 50 years ago. The result was a rampant success, with singles ‘Leave The Door Open’ and ‘Smoke Out The Window’ both seeing success in the UK Top 40 Singles Charts and helping them to beat the 70s legends ABBA to the award.
Other nominations:
ABBA
BTS
Måneskin
The War On Drugs
International Song of The Year – Olivia Rodrigo with ‘good 4 u’
California born Olivia Rodrigo made her debut at the Brit Awards this year with her song ‘good 4 u’. Most famous for her role in ‘High School Musical: The Series’, this was her first time receiving a Brit Award, as well as her first time attending the ceremony. This track, a retrospective look at a relationship post-breakup, showcases an up-tempo, high-energy chorus amid lower-energy verses, displaying the erratic nature of the emotions that follow a dramatic breakup.
Other nominations:
ATB, Topic, A7S – Your Love (9PM)
Billie Eilish – Happier Than Ever
Ckay – love nwantiti (ah ah ah)
Doja Cat ft SZA – Kiss Me More
Drake ft Lil Baby – Girls Want Girls
Galantis, David Guetta, Little Mix –Heartbreak Anthem
Jonasu – Black Magic
Kid Laroi & Justin Bieber – STAY
Lil Nas X – MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name)
Lil Tijay & 6LACK – Calling My Phone
Måneskin – I Wanna Be Your Slave
Polo G – Rapstar
Tiësto – The Business
The Weeknd – Save Your Tears