Solo artist RAYE has broken the record for most nominated British woman in history after being nominated for seven BRIT Awards this year, the highest number ever for a female artist at the event.
Any remaining excitement over last year's male-dominated ceremony was brushed aside on Wednesday when nominations for this year's event were announced in London.
The controversial decision to replace the “men” and “women” categories with a gender-neutral “Artist of the Year” award sparked outrage in 2023 that no woman or non-binary person was included in the five nominations.
But a lot can happen in a year, and the subsequent tweaking of the category – which has doubled in size – has resulted in a balanced mix, with six of the ten nominees being established artists – including British star RAYE.
The London-born singer broke records with seven nominations on Wednesday following the release of her long-awaited debut album, “My 21st Century Blues,” the most ever for a female artist.
Solo artist RAYE has broken the record as the most nominated British woman in history after being nominated for seven BRIT Awards this year
NOMINATIONS FOR THE BRIT AWARD AT A GLANCE
ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Arlo Parks
Central Cee
Dave
Dua Lipa
Fred again…
J Hus
Jessie Ware
Little Simz
Olivia Dean
RAYE
GROUP OF THE YEAR
Blur
Tracking and status
Headie One and K Trap
jungle
Young fathers
SONG OF THE YEAR
Calvin Harris – Miracle
Ray-Prada
Central Cee – Letting go
Dave – sprinter
Dua Lipa – Dance the night away
Ed Sheeran – eyes closed
J Hus – Who told you?
Kenya Grace – Strangers
Lewis Capaldi – I wish you all the best
Pink Panthers – Boy is a liar
RAYE – Escapism
Rudimental – Dancing is healing
Stormzy – Firebae
Change disco – react
Venebee – Messy in Heaven
The London-born singer broke records with seven nominations on Wednesday following the release of her long-awaited debut album, the most ever for a female artist
The LP is also nominated for Album of the Year, while its third single, Escapism, is listed as a potential Song of the Year.
RAYE is also included in the five-strong Best New Artist category and will also be a nominee in the R&B Act and Pop Act categories.
Elsewhere, she features in a seventh song for Song of the Year, having co-written BRIT-nominated Prada with Casso and D Block Europe.
When the nominations were announced on Wednesday, the singer admitted she was honored to receive the award after years of struggling to make it in the music industry.
“It’s a miracle, it’s deep,” she said. “A year and a half ago I was at rock bottom as far as the industry was concerned and never in my wildest dreams would I have wanted to try again and that would have resulted in seven BRIT nominations.”
“I'm a British boy, I went to BRIT school and that was the goal.” The ultimate goal was to somehow find my way to the BRIT Awards. That's a completely different matter. It's a joke. I thank you from the bottom of my heart.'
The British phonograph industry, which organizes the annual event, admits there has been a rebalancing of the gender balance following last year's controversial decision to exclude female and non-binary artists from the Artist of the Year category.
When the awards became gender-neutral for the first time in 2022, a total of 18 artists or all-female groups were nominated – the most in a decade – and that number increased to 20 in 2023.
Women now feature in more than half (55%) of this year's nominations – either as solo artists or as part of female groups – and this rises to 57% when women are included in mixed-gender groups.
On Wednesday, BPI events director Maggie Crowe said, “We shared our frustration that there were no women or R&B artists represented last year.”
Dua Lipa's limited production over the past 12 months hasn't stopped her from performing in three categories at the upcoming event
Additionally, the singer, whose third album is expected to be released later this year, will perform live at the O2 Arena event on March 2nd
American superstar Taylor Swift receives a nomination in the Best International Artist category.
Little Simz is represented in three categories at this year's event: Artist of the Year, Hip Hop/Grime and Album of the Year
“We consulted with our advisory group and thought long and hard about how we should proceed.”
Arlo Parks, Jessie Ware, Little Simz, Olivia Sims and Dua Lipa make up the female nominees for the Artist of the Year category, while the male nominations go to Central Cee, Dave, J Hus and Fred Again…
Dua Lipa's limited production over the past 12 months hasn't stopped her from performing in two additional categories at the upcoming event.
The singer's Barbie soundtrack Dance The Night – one of only two original tracks the artist has released since 2020's Future Nostalgia – is among the nominees for Song of the Year.
Lipa's global appeal has also helped her find a place in the pop act category, despite spending much of the past 12 months touring the world.
Additionally, the singer, whose third album is expected to be released later this year, will perform live at the O2 Arena event on March 2nd.
There were a total of 98 nominees for this year's BRIT Awards, more than ever before.
Calvin Harris (pictured with Dua Lipa at the 2019 BRIT Awards) is nominated for Song of the Year and Best Dance Act
The Scottish DJ and producer still commands a huge following and his popularity is reflected in this year's nominations
Ceremony organizers came under fire in 2023 after female musicians were excluded from the Female Artist of the Year award, which Harry Styles (pictured) later won
BRIT AWARDS 2023: THE WINNERS
Mastercard Album of the Year
The year 1975 – Being funny in a foreign language
Wet leg – Wet leg
Harry Styles – Harry’s House – WINNER
Stormzy – that’s what I mean
Fred Again – Actual Life 3 (January 1 – September 9, 2022)
Artist of the Year
Central Cee
Fred again
George Ezra
Harry Styles – WINNER
Stormzy
Group of the Year
The 1975
Arctic monkeys
Bad Boy Chiller Crew
Nova twins
Wet Leg – WINNER
Best New Artist
Kojey Radical
Mimi Webb
Rina Sawayama
Sam Ryder
Wet Leg – WINNER
Song of the Year with Mastercard
Aitch – Baby Ft Ashanti
Cat burns – go
Dave – Starlight
Ed Sheeran and Elton John – Merry Christmas
Eliza Rose and Interplanetary Criminal – the worst of them all
George Ezra – Green green grass
Harry Styles – As It Was – WINNER
Lewis Capaldi – Forget me
Lf system – fear of feelings
Sam Smith and Kim Petras – Unholy
Best alt rock
The 1975 WINNER
Arctic monkeys
Nova twins
Tom Grennan
Wet leg
Rising star
Flo
Producer of the Year
David Guetta
songwriter of the year
Kid Harpoon – co-writer and co-producer of Harry's House
Hip hop/grime/rap
Aitch – WINNER
Central Cee
Dave
Loyle Carner
Stormzy
dance act
Becky Hill – WINNER
Bonobo
Calvin Harris
Eliza Rose
Fred again
Pop/R'n'B
Cat burns
Charli Xcx
Dua Lipa
Harry Styles – WINNER
Sam Smith
International Artist of the Year
Beyoncé – WINNER
Burna Boy
Kendrick Lamar
Lizzo
Taylor Swift
International Group of the Year
black pink
Drake and 21 Savage
First aid kit
Fontaines DC – WINNER
Gabriel's
International Song of the Year
Beyonce – Break My Soul – WINNER
David Guetta and Bebe Rexa – I'm Good (Blue)
Fireboy Dml & Ed Sheeran – Peru
Mauro Castillo, Stephanie Beatriz, Carolina Gaitán, Rhenzy Feliz, Encanto – Cast, Adassa, Diane Guerrero – We Dont Talk About Bruno
Gayle – Abcdefu
Jack Harlow – First Class
Lizzo – About the damn time
Calum Scott and Lost Frequencies – Where Are You?
A republic – I'm not worried
Taylor Swift – anti-hero
Calvin Harris is nominated for Song of the Year and Dance Act, while indie band Blur is nominated for Group of the Year and Alternative Rock Group.
Kylie Minogue, Taylor Swift and Miley Cyrus were also nominated for international artist of the year.
And Billie Eilish, Doja Cat and Olivia Rodrigo are nominated for international song of the year.
However, Harry Styles was not nominated for any category this year after his highly successful Artist of the Year award at the 2023 BRIT Awards.
Last year, Styles and the band Wet Leg were the most nominated artists, with four nominations each.
Styles emerged as a big winner, winning all four categories in which he was nominated.
The first gender-neutral award was given to Adele in 2022, but in her acceptance speech she clearly told the audience: “I love being a woman.”
Sam Smith led calls to scrap gender categories at the awards
RAYE beat reigning champions Craig David, Robbie Williams and the Gorillaz, who have all been nominated for six awards in recent years.
Williams holds the record for winning the most BRIT Awards, 17 as a solo artist and part of Take That.
Adele follows closely behind with 12, followed by Coldplay with nine.
In another twist, the public will have the opportunity to vote for five categories instead of four compared to previous years.
“This year we feel like we have a really good story to tell and that British talent is better represented. We are making good progress.”
This year's award was designed by British artist Rachel Jones and is inspired by “colors, patterns and textures.”
Damon Albarn and Blue were nominated twice following the surprise release of 2023 album The Ballad Of Darren
Olivia Dean was honored in the Best New Artist and Pop Act categories
Rapper Central Cee has secured four nominations this year, including for the major awards of Artist of the Year and Song of the Year.
Blur has three nominations this year for Album of the Year, Alternative Rock,
This year, ceremony organizers came under scrutiny after female musicians – including Charli XCX and Florence And The Machine – were excluded from the Female Artist of the Year award, which Harry Styles ultimately won.
Following the uproar, an extensive review took place and the category was expanded from five to ten nominations. This also applies to the International Artist Of The Year.
Other changes for the awards show, scheduled to take place on Saturday, March 2, include a new standalone category for R&B. It used to be pop/R&B.
A source told The Sun: “The BRITs' decision to create genderless categories was huge and they have now tweaked them again to try and make them more inclusive.”
“The move to genderlessness should be progressive and with this change they hope it reflects that.”
Music industry bosses faced a backlash when they dismantled the two categories in a bid to be inclusive and relevant after non-binary musicians, including Sam Smith, who does not identify as a man or a woman, said they felt excluded.
The first gender-neutral award was given to Adele in 2022, but in her acceptance speech she clearly told the audience: “I love being a woman.”
It is understood she also expressed her dismay after it was revealed this year's shortlist only included men.
When former One Direction star Harry, 29, accepted the Female Artist of the Year award, he dedicated it to several artists who were not nominated.
He said: “I am aware of my privilege up here tonight, so this award goes to Reyna, Florence.” [Welch]Mabel and Becky [Hill].'
The changes came after singer Sam Smith – who identifies as non-binary – pressured organizers to remove male and female categories earlier this year.
This year's BRIT Awards will be broadcast live on ITV on March 2nd at 8pm.
BRIT AWARDS 2024 – FULL NOMINATIONS
SONG OF THE YEAR
Calvin Harris – Miracle
Casso x RAYE – Prada
Central Cee – Letting go
Dave – sprinter
Dua Lipa – Dance the night away
Ed Sheeran – eyes closed
J Hus – Who told you?
Kenya Grace – Strangers
Lewis Capaldi – I wish you all the best
Pink Pantheress – Boy is a liar
RAYE – Escapism
Rudimental – Dancing is healing
Stormzy – Firebae
Change disco – react
Venebee – Messy in Heaven
BEST NEW ARTIST
Mahalia
Olivia Dean
Pink pantheress
RAYE
Yuseff Dayes
ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Arlo Parks
Central Cee
Dave
Dua Lipa
Fred again…
J Hus
Jessie Ware
Little Simz
Olivia Dean
RAYE
GROUP OF THE YEAR
Blur
Tracking and status
Headie One and K-Trap
jungle
Young fathers
INTERNATIONAL GROUP OF THE YEAR
Blink 182
Boygenius
Foo fighters
Gabriel's
Paramore
DANCE ACT
Barry can't swim
Becky Hill
Calvin Harris
Fred again…
Romy
R&B ACT
Cleo Sol
Jorja Smith
Mahalia
RAYE
Sault
ALTERNATIVE ROCK
Blur
bring me The Horizon
The Rolling Stones
Young fathers
Yusseff Dayes
HIP HOP/GRIME/RAP ACT
CASSIEDEAD
Central Cee
Dave
J Hus
Little Simz
POP ACT
Calvin Harris
Charli XCX
Dua Lipa
Olivia Dean
RAYE
INTERNATIONAL ARTIST
Asake
Burna Boy
Caroline Polachek
CMAT
Kylie Minogue
Lana del Rey
Miley Cyrus
Olivia Rodrigo
SZA
Taylor Swift
INTERNATIONAL SONG OF THE YEAR
Billie Eilish – What I was made for
David Kushner – Daylight
Doja Cat – Paint the City Red
Jazzy – Giving Me
Libianca – people
Meghan trainer – made you look
Miley Cyrus – Flowers
Noah Kahan – Embroidery Season
Oliver Tree – I miss you
Olivia Rodrigo – Vampire
Peggy Gou – It goes like this
Rema – Calm down
SZA – Kill Bill
Tate McRae – Greedy –
Tyla – Water
ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Blur – the ballad by Darren
J Hus – Beautiful
Little Simz – No thanks
RAYE – My Blues of the 21st Century
Young Fathers – Hard Hard
BRITISH RISER
Caity Baser
Sekou Island
The Last Dinner Party (Winner)