Last night celebrated the 40th BRIT awards with the best of British music and entertainment this year. As usual, it did not disappoint. Presented by Jack Whitehall, the awards were filled with hilarious moments, from Lizzo necking a glass of neat tequila, to Rod Stewart dedicating his performance to Jack Whitehall’s mum, Hilary. Aside from all the goofs, though, the Brits showcased a whole host of British talent, with some surprising and worthy winners in the mix.
Male Solo Artist: Stormzy
Female Solo Artist: Mabel
Best Group: Foals
Best New Artist: Lewis Capaldi
Song of the Year: Someone You Loved (Lewis Capaldi)
Album of the Year: Psychodrama (Dave)
International Male: Tyler, The Creator
International Female: Billie Eilish
Billie Eilish also put on a dramatic performance of the new Bond theme No Time to Die, alongside composer Hans Zimmer and her Grammy-winning brother Finneas O’Connell. Eilish was just one of many excellent female performances of the night; Mabel opened the awards with an energetic performance of her hit song Don’t Call Me Up, whilst singer-songwriter Celeste delivered a dramatic ballad which left the room silent in awe. Best Group Foals and Male Solo Artist Stormzy both used their acceptance speeches to draw attention to gender inequality, with Foals saying they hoped for more female contenders in their category next year, and Stormzy crediting his team of ‘incredible females’ for his success.
Perhaps the best surprise of the night was genre-bending artist Tyler, The Creator winning International Male. He recently sparked a controversial debate at the Grammys after declaring his album IGOR winning Best Rap Album was a ‘backhanded compliment’. He criticised the American music award ceremony as pigeonholing his music into ‘urban’ categories, which he said was just a ‘politically correct way to say the n-word’. He is not the first to draw attention to race issues at awards ceremonies: Frank Ocean and Kanye West have boycotted the Grammys in recent years due to racial bias.
