STYLES, WET LEG, BEYONCÉ RULE BRITS
Saturday night’s BRIT Awards in London was Harry Styles’ night, with the Columbia artist taking home all four nominated trophies. Domino act Wet Leg also scored big after a breakout year.
Styles, who opened the show with a rendition of “As It Was,” took Artist of the Year, Album of the Year for Harry’s House, Song of the Year for “As It Was” and Pop/R&B Act. When accepting the gong for Artist of the Year, Styles gave a nod to the controversy surrounding the all-male category by paying tribute to female acts who were considered worthy of inclusion in the list. “I’m really, really grateful for this and I’m very aware of my privilege up here tonight, so this award is for Rina [Sawayama], Charli [XCX], Florence [Welch], Mabel and Becky [Hill].”
Indie act Wet Leg, who hit #1 in the U.K. last year with their self-titled debut, got Group of the Year and Best New Artist. They performed hit “Chaise Longue,” alongside a Morris dancing troupe.
After parodying Arctic Monkey’s Alex Turner’s acceptance speech from 2014 (a tongue-in-cheek statement on the unwavering longevity of rock & roll), frontwoman Rhian Teasdale also brought the gender conversation to the fore. “Being on the telly can feel like such a boy’s club thing, I just want to thank all of the women that worked on the whole production. It’s a team of women and I really want to shout them out.”
Manchester rapper Aitch took the fan-voted Hip-Hop, Grime and Rap Act, having hit #2 with his debut on Capitol/EMI last year. “Not many people where I’m from, especially my side of Manchester, get the opportunity to stand up here and receive such an amazing gift,” he said.
Standout performances included a simple rendition of breakout hit “Go” by rising star Cat Burns and a fiery “Unholy” by Sam Smith and Kim Petras.
The show went generally without a hitch with criticism focusing on diversity. As the Guardian notes, nine out of the 15 awards were won by male acts (60%) and the awards were also dominated by white artists (Beyoncé and Rising Star winners FLO were the only acts of color to be honored this year).
2023 BRIT AWARDS WINNERS
- Album of the Year: Harry Styles, Harry’s House
- Artist of the Year: Harry Styles
- Group of the Year: Wet Leg
- Best New Artist: Wet Leg
- Song of the Year: Harry Styles, "As It Was"
- International Artist of the Year: Beyoncé
- International Group of the Year: Fontaines DC
- International Song of the Year Beyoncé, "BREAK MY SOUL"
- Alternative/Rock Act: The 1975
- Hip-Hop, Grime and Rap Act: Aitch
- Dance Act: Becky Hill
- Pop/R&B Act: Harry Styles
