Raye has broken BRIT Awards records with six wins at the ceremony.
The BRITs returned for its second Saturday night edition following a ratings boost last year, as well as increasing engagement with a younger audience and an expanding global reach via the YouTube livestream outside the UK.
The ceremony was once again staged at The O2 and screened live on ITV with three hosts – Clara Amfo, Maya Jama and Roman Kemp. This year also marked a shake-up of the Artist and International Artist categories, with expanded shortlists to improve representation, and the addition of an R&B category.
In our exclusive BRITs preview digital cover, awards showrunner Damian Christian (Atlantic MD and president of promotions) suggested that the show had “something for everybody”.
Performers at the ceremony included Dua Lipa, Raye, Rema, Becky Hill & Chase & Status, Calvin Harris & Ellie Goulding, Tate McRae, Jungle and Kylie Minogue.
Ahead of winning her seventh BRIT Award (for Pop Act – one of five publicly voted genre categories) in six years, Dua Lipa opened the show with current single Training Season, featuring an elaborate acrobatic display during which she was lifted off the stage by dancers suspended from the ceiling.
In a remarkable result, Raye won five of the seven awards for which she was nominated (Artist Of The Year, Mastercard Album Of The Year, Best New Artist, Song Of The Year and R&B Act), and also took home the pre-announced Songwriter Of The Year award to make it six in total.
“Thank you to my team – I’ve always dreamed of saying that,” said Raye, whose management includes family members, as she collected her first award of the night for Song Of The Year (Escapism).
“Thank you to my distribution company, who are called Human Re Sources, a small little imprint in America. No one else would take my songs but Jay [Erving], thank you for believing in this music.”
Collecting the inaugural R&B Act award, Raye said: “R&B is so important and there are so many incredible R&B artists in the UK.”
Acknowledging all the other nominees, she also pointed out that Mahalia had “campaigned for this award” [category to be introduced].
Other UK winners on the night included Jungle (Group Of The Year), Bring Me The Horizon (Alternative/Rock Act), Calvin Harris (Dance Act) and Casisdead (Hip Hop/Grime/Rap Act). SZA, Miley Cyrus and Boygenius won in the international categories.
Raye has easily beaten the previous record of four wins at a BRITs ceremony, which was achieved by Harry Styles (2023), Adele (2016) and Blur (1995). As she was nominated twice for Song Of The Year, the former BRIT School student won all the categories which she was up for with the exception of Pop Act.
Reacting to her Songwriter Of The Year BRITs win ahead of the ceremony, Raye said: “I am obsessed with the craft of writing music and have been since I was a small child. This is a big deal for me. I do see myself as a songwriter before an artist.
“I waited a long time to put an album together and I am so proud of it and everything it stands for.”
In her acceptance speech, Raye – who’s also a songwriter for other artists – called on the UK music recording industry to consider giving songwriters master royalty points.
“It can be net costs, okay?” she said. “It doesn't have to be at your expense. But it just means that if the songs win big, the writers get to win big too – please allow that to happen.”
Raye also played a medley of songs, including a standout performance of Ice Cream Man at a white piano, and she was joined by a choir and orchestra for a towering rendition of Escapism.
At a time when the UK is in need of artists who can compete in the global streaming landscape, Raye’s BRITs success (along with TikTok virality and 33 million monthly Spotify listeners) suggests she could be primed for a huge moment internationally. She plays at Coachella in the US for the first time next month.
Understandably, Raye proved popular with the 1,300-strong BRITs Voting Academy. In late 2022, the singer and songwriter from South London switched up her career to become an independent artist in partnership with Human Re Sources and The Orchard.
“This feels like the underdog story of the year for me,” BRITs showrunner Damian Christian told Music Week ahead of the ceremony.
Collecting the New Artist award, Raye said: “I released my first song when I was 15 years old… But I do feel like a new artist. I got to start again, the artist I was three years ago would not believe the scenes she’s seeing today. I'm in control. I'm my own boss now.”
As well as scoring a huge No.1 with the single Escapism (feat. 070 Shake), which ended 2023 as the third biggest single overall in the UK (1,475,484 sales to date – Official Charts Company), Raye peaked at No.2 with debut album My 21st Century Blues (73,353 sales to date). Raye returns to the O2 Arena for her first headline show at the venue on March 15, featuring the full orchestra and choir.
Raye also remembered her roots with a shout-out to her home of Croydon, her family and BRIT School principal Stuart Worden. Worden then emerged to present a tearful Raye – who was joined by her grandmother, Agatha – with her final award of the night for Mastercard Album Of The Year.
“I'm so proud of this album,” said Raye. “I'm in love with music, all I ever wanted to be was an artist. And now I’m an artist with an album of the year!”
“She is really smart, really driven, super-talented,” J Erving, Human Re Sources founder and EVP, creative development at Sony Music, told Music Week last year. “I heard a global superstar when I listened to this project.”
The over-achievement by Raye will give a boost both domestically and, potentially, globally at a time when there’s been some soul-searching about the absence of new UK superstars. A glance at the latest IFPI international album rankings for artists and Spotify Wrapped confirms that 2023 was not a great year for British talent globally.
The mood music in the media ahead of the ceremony was pretty downbeat, with a negative focus on the Group Of The Year category. But in the event, the 2024 BRITs was a prime time TV opportunity to anoint breakthrough UK talent – Raye, The Last Dinner Party (BRITs Rising Star winners), Jungle and Casisdead, plus first time international winners SZA and Boygenius. And it served to remind TV viewers about consistent British hitmakers with wins for Dua Lipa, Calvin Harris, Bring Me The Horizon and Chase & Status, along with appearances by Ellie Goulding and Becky Hill, who is gearing up for a big new album release.
The Last Dinner Party were presented with their Rising Star award live on the red carpet by St Vincent.
Jungle won Group Of The Year, a prestigious category which was missing some of the bigger names of recent ceremonies due to release cycles, along with hugely successful acts such as the Rolling Stones, Take That and D-Block Europe who had big albums last year but didn’t make the shortlist.
Nevertheless, Jungle earned their victory with an impactful campaign for fourth album Volcano, which saw them gain momentum a decade into their career. The campaign with AWAL delivered an albums chart peak (No.3), a singles chart breakthrough with Back On 74 (No.25, 193,321 sales to date) and what will be their biggest headline show to date at the O2 Arena later this year.
“I want to say thank you to the BRIT Awards for this amazing honour,” said Jungle’s Tom McFarland. “It's an absolute privilege to be standing here on this stage.”
As well as thanking long-term manager Sam Denniston and the team at Verdigris Management, McFarland acknowledged the support of AWAL and Kobalt.
“You guys give us the space to make the art that we want to make,” he said.
SZA was named International Artist Of The Year in recognition of streaming smash SOS and multiple hit singles including Kill Bill. Following her first Grammy wins, Miley Cyrus won International Song Of The Year for Flowers – the biggest-selling single of 2023 in the UK.
The huge haul of six trophies for Raye means that Sony Music dominate the 2024 BRITs with 11 out of 17 awards. The major also won for Jungle (released via a label services partnership with AWAL), Miley Cyrus, SZA, Bring Me The Horizon (all via RCA) and Calvin Harris (Columbia), whose well received performance with Ellie Goulding underlined the power of dance music in 2024.
Sony was actually unlucky not to make that 12 with Central Cee, J Hus and Little Simz, another AWAL artist, losing out to XL Recordings’ Casisdead in the publicly voted Hip-hop/Grime/Rap Act category (for which Dave was also nominated).
Universal Music UK had three wins with The Last Dinner Party (Island) for BRITs Rising Star, International Group Boygenius (Polydor) and Producer Of The Year winners Chase & Status (EMI), whose performance of Disconnect with Becky Hill was the biggest banger of the night.
“We are proud to champion new talent always,” said Will Kennard from Chase & Status as they collected the trophy. “But mostly tonight we are proud to represent drum and bass music.”
Warner Music UK had a win for Dua Lipa, who should be back at next year’s BRITs following the release of a new album in 2024. In her acceptance speech, Dua Lipa thanks her fans, as well as her father/manager Dukagjin and the team at Warner Records, including president Joe Kentish and Warner Music Recorded Music CEO Max Lousada, who were in the audience.
It’s also worth noting that Warner Chappell Music UK has a long and successful relationship with Raye.
Independent companies were represented in the awards by XL Recordings for Casisdead and BMG for Kylie Minogue, who won the Global Icon Award. The honour, which is not presented every year, was awarded to Taylor Swift in 2021.
Kylie Minogue closed the show with a medley of greatest hits, following her award presentation by Dua Lipa.
"There's a part of me that is still a 14-year-old girl in her room dreaming of making music and being in this industry,” said Minogue. “I met some of the BRIT School students before and I feel your promise, I'm so excited for you. Here I am with this [award] – anything is possible!”
The 2024 BRIT trophy was designed by British visual artist and painter Rachel Jones.
Guest presenters during the ceremony included Ashley Walters, Charli XCX, Green Day, Aitch, Jaime Winstone, Joe Keery, Jonathan Bailey, Kingsley Ben-Adir, Luke Evans and Marisa Abela.
PHOTO: John Marshall, JM Enternational
BRITS 2024 NOMINEES & WINNERS
BRITs RISING STAR – Supported by BBC Radio 1
Caity Baser
Sekou
The Last Dinner Party (winners)
MASTERCARD ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Blur – The Ballad of Darren
J Hus – Beautiful And Brutal Yard
Little Simz – No Thank You
Raye – My 21st Century Blues (winner)
Young Fathers – Heavy Heavy
ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Arlo Parks
Central Cee
Dave
Dua Lipa
Fred Again..
J Hus
Jessie Ware
Little Simz
Olivia Dean
Raye (winner)
GROUP OF THE YEAR
Blur
Chase & Status
Headie One & K-Trap
Jungle (winners)
Young Fathers
BEST NEW ARTIST (In association with TRESemme)
Mahalia
Olivia Dean
PinkPantheress
Raye (winner)
Yussef Dayes
SONG OF THE YEAR WITH MASTERCARD Promoted by Capital
Calvin Harris/Ellie Goulding – Miracle
Cassö/Raye/D-Block Europe – Prada
Central Cee – Let Go
Dave & Central Cee – Sprinter
Dua Lipa – Dance The Night (From Barbie The Album)
Ed Sheeran – Eyes Closed
J Hus Ft Drake – Who Told You
Kenya Grace – Strangers
Lewis Capaldi – Wish You The Best
PinkPantheress – Boy’s A Liar
Raye ft 070 Shake – Escapism (winner)
Rudimental/Charlotte Plank/Vibe Chemistry – Dancing Is Healing
Stormzy Ft Debbie – Firebabe
Switch Disco & Ella Henderson – React
Venbee & Goddard – Messy In Heaven
INTERNATIONAL ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Asake
Burna Boy
Caroline Polachek
CMAT
Kylie Minogue
Lana Del Rey
Miley Cyrus
Olivia Rodrigo
SZA (winner)
Taylor Swift
INTERNATIONAL GROUP OF THE YEAR
Blink-182
Boygenius (winners)
Foo Fighters
Gabriels
Paramore
INTERNATIONAL SONG OF THE YEAR
Billie Eilish – What Was I Made For
David Kushner – Daylight
Doja Cat – Paint The Town Red
Jazzy – Giving Me
Libianca – People
Meghan Trainor – Made You Look
Miley Cyrus – Flowers (winner)
Noah Kahan – Stick Season
Oliver Tree & Robin Schulz – Miss You
Olivia Rodrigo – Vampire
Peggy Gou – (It Goes Like) Nanana
Rema – Calm Down
SZA – Kill Bill
Tate McRae – Greedy
Tyla – Water
ALTERNATIVE/ROCK ACT
Blur
Bring Me The Horizon (winners)
Rolling Stones
Young Fathers
Yussef Dayes
HIP HOP/GRIME /RAP ACT – Promoted by KISS Fresh
Casisdead (winner)
Central Cee
Dave
J Hus
Little Simz
DANCE - Promoted by Capital Dance
Barry Can’t Swim
Becky Hill
Calvin Harris (winner)
Fred Again..
Romy
POP ACT - Promoted by HITS Radio
Calvin Harris
Charli XCX
Dua Lipa (winner)
Olivia Dean
Raye
R&B ACT - Promoted by Capital XTRA
Cleo Sol
Jorja Smith
Mahalia
Raye (winner)
Sault
SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR
Raye
PRODUCER OF THE YEAR
Chase & Status
BRITS GLOBAL ICON
Kylie Minogue
FOLLOW 
