Photography - JM Enternational
The BRIT Awards 2024 with Mastercard took place tonight from The O2 arena in London, with a live audience of music fans, BRIT School students and invited guests from the music industry, all coming together to celebrate the great and the good of British and International music from the last year.
For the second consecutive year, the event took place on a Saturday night, broadcasting live on ITV1 and ITVX, and streamed on YouTube for non-UK viewers. Hosted by a holy trio of leading entertainment broadcasting talent - Clara Amfo, Maya Jama and Roman Kemp - the show saw a total of 17 awards presented throughout the evening, punctuated by eight thrilling and show-stopping performances on the O2 arena stage from a diverse mix of artists and genres hailing from the UK and beyond, for one unforgettable night of non-stop entertainment and live music.
The scene was set back in January, with RAYE breaking the record for the highest number of nominations by a single artist in any one year, having garnered seven nominations when the shortlists were unveiled during an exclusive live stream on BRITs’ Instagram and Facebook. And tonight was unequivocally the night of this 26 year old BRIT School graduate from South London. Having already been announced as the winner of Songwriter of the Year in advance of tonight’s ceremony, RAYE went on to pick up five more awards on the night - bringing her total haul to six. Her award wins for Mastercard Album of the Year, Best New Artist, Artist of the Year, Song of the Year with Mastercard, R&B Act and Songwriter of the Year puts RAYE at the top of the BRITs leaderboard for having the most wins in one night, making BRIT Awards history by beating the previous record of four, held by Harry Styles (2023), Adele (2016) and Blur (1995). RAYE’s on-stage time during the ceremony was extended further through her triumphant medley performance.
Over half of this year’s nominations featured women - supported by category changes for 2024 that saw The BRITs extend the number of nominees in the Artist of the Year categories from five to ten and the introduction of a new R&B genre award; and the winners tonight continued to reflect this level of representation, with three quarters of award wins featuring women and non-binary people.
Dua Lipa opened The BRITs 2024, with her debut UK performance of ‘Training Season’, accompanied by a troupe of black leather-clad dancers and aerial performers, and won the award for Pop Act - one of the five fan-voted awards - taking her total BRIT tally to date to seven since her first BRIT win in 2018. Jungle - whose performance on the show tonight perfectly demonstrated the value and power of The BRITs platform to showcase the rich diversity of British music - were presented with Group of the Year, and collected their gong from US punk-rockers Green Day.
The International categories were completely dominated by women - SZA winning International Song of the Year for her global hit ‘Kill Bill’, boygenius beating the likes of Foo Fighters and Paramore to win International Group of the Year, and Miley Cyrus won International Song of the Year for ‘Flowers’ - which earlier this week was confirmed as the biggest- selling global single of the year by IFPI.
Alternative/Rock Act was won by Bring Me The Horizon - who last appeared on the BRITs stage as a special guest of Ed Sheeran for his opening performance in 2022, Dance Act was won by Calvin Harris - whose electric performance of ‘Miracle’ with Ellie Goulding earlier on the night wowed the audience, and Hip Hop/Grime/Rap Act was won by CASISDEAD - who arrived on the red carpet in a futuristic military vehicle flanked by his crew and a cabal of six shadowy robo-security guards. Producer of the Year was awarded to Chase & Status - who performed on the night with Becky Hill in a high-energy drum ‘n’ bass take on their hit single ‘Disconnect’.
Multi-million selling international pop phenomenon Kylie Minogue was honoured as a BRITs Global Icon, and was presented with her award by Dua Lipa - ahead of a huge medley number, showcasing her inimitable catalogue of music and pop prowess, which closed the show.
Ahead of the main ceremony, the winners of this year’s Rising Star award, The Last Dinner Party, were presented with their award by triple GRAMMY winning US musician St Vincent live on The BRITs’ Red Carpet show on ITV2, which was hosted this year by Yinka Bokinni and Jack Saunders.
Additional performances in tonight’s BRITs billing came from International Song of the Year nominees Tate McRae, who performed her song ‘greedy’, and Nigerian afrowave act Rema with a colourful performance of ‘Calm Down’.
The BRITs Red Carpet was the place to be to capture all the excitement and anticipation ahead of the main event, with the official Red Carpet Live stream on BRITs’ Instagram and Facebook hosted by Layton Williams and Harriet Rose - who also caught up with winners backstage during the show.
Presenters on the night included: Charli XCX, Green Day, Jaime Winstone, Ben Kingsley-Adir, Marisa Abela, Jess Glynne, Aitch, Ashley Walters and Joe Keery.
The BRITs 2024 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. This year’s BRIT award was designed by British visual artist and painter Rachel Jones.
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 1300 people drawn from across the music industry including artists, managers, producers, publishers, retailers and media. The winners of the five genre awards - Alternative/Rock Act, Hip Hop/Grime/Rap Act, Dance Act, Pop Act and R&B Act were decided by public vote via Instagram. 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.
Mastercard returned as headline partner of The BRIT Awards for the 26th year, bringing cardholders closer to their passion for music through a range of BRITs experiences. Mastercard continues to partner with the BRIT School to support and celebrate the next generation of creative talent.
And The Winners Are…. (in order presented on the night)
AWARD - BRITs RISING STAR (presented on The BRITs’ Red Carpet show on ITV2)
Winner - The Last Dinner Party
Presenter: St Vincent
AWARD - SONG OF THE YEAR WITH MASTERCARD
Winner: RAYE ft 0207 SHAKE - ‘Escapism’
Presenters: Jo Hamilton and Monica Dolan
AWARD - GROUP OF THE YEAR
Winner - Jungle
Presenters: Green Day
AWARD - R&B ACT
Winner - RAYE
Presenters: Aitch and Jess Glynne
AWARD - ALTERNATIVE/ROCK ACT
Winner: Bring Me The Horizon
Presenter: Luke Evans and Marisa Abela
AWARD - INTERNATIONAL ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Winner: SZA
Presenter: Joanne Froggatt
AWARD - BEST NEW ARTIST
Winner - RAYE
Presenter: Joe Keery
AWARD - SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR
Winner - RAYE
Presenter: Clara Amfo
AWARD - DANCE ACT
Winner: Calvin Harris
Presenters: Charli XCX and Alison Oliver
AWARD - HIP HOP/GRIME/RAP ACT
Winner: CASISDEAD
Presenters: Ashley Walters and Kingsley Ben-Adir
AWARD - POP ACT
Winner: Dua Lipa
Presenter: Peter Crouch and Abbey Clancey
AWARD - INTERNATIONAL GROUP OF THE YEAR
Winner: boygenius
Presenters: Jack Saunders and Yinka Bokinni
AWARD - PRODUCER OF THE YEAR
Winner: Chase & Status
Presenter: Ivan Toney and Vick Hope
AWARD - ARTIST OF THE YEAR
WINNER: RAYE
Presenter: Jonathan Bailey
AWARD - INTERNATIONAL SONG OF THE YEAR
Winner: Miley Cyrus
Presenter: Bimini and Rob Beckett
AWARD - MASTERCARD ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Winner: RAYE
Presenters: Jaime Winstone and BRIT School Principal Stuart Worden
AWARD - BRITs GLOBAL ICON
Winner: Kylie Minogue
Presenter: Dua Lipa
