At the awards ceremony on Saturday evening in London, she received the trophies for Best Album (“My 21st Century Blues”), Best Song (“Escapism.”), Best Female Artist, Best New Artist and Best R’n’ B artist presented.
“You have no idea what this means to me,” Raye said in her fifth acceptance speech of the night, following letting her tears of happiness flow and bringing her proud grandmother to the stage with her. In the run-up to the 44th awards ceremony, she had already been named songwriter of the year – the first woman in the history of the awards.
Raye entered the race with seven nominations – more than any other solo artist before her. With a total of six awards, she broke the record for most Brits won in an awards year, leaving behind previous record holders Blur, Harry Styles and Adele, who had won four awards in one year.
The Brit Award for Best International Band went to the US indie band Boygenius, consisting of singer-songwriters Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacus. SZA was unable to accept her award for Best International Artist in person and thanked her via video message, as did Miley Cyrus, who was delighted to receive her award for Best International Song.
Casisdead (hip hop/grime/rap), Calvin Harris (dance), Dua Lipa (pop) and Bring Me The Horizon (alternative/rock) won in the genre categories. There was no prize for the only German nominee: Together with Oliver Tree, DJ Robin Schulz was nominated for Best International Song with “Miss You”.
The producers of the year were the drum”n”bass experts Chase & Status, known for their collaborations with Rihanna and Rita Ora, among others. The two performed their joint hit “Disconnect” together with Becky Hill immediately following their award.
Dua Lipa opened the awards ceremony at the Millennium Dome in London with her hit “Training Season” including impressive New Circus-style acrobatics and risky stunts. Calvin Harris and Ellie Goulding performed their hit “Miracle” together for the first time at the Brits. Raye, Jungle, Rema and Tate McRae also performed during the awards show. Australian pop queen Kylie Minogue was honored as a “Global Icon” and played a medley of her greatest hits at the end of the evening.
Rachel Jones was responsible for the design of the prize statuette this year – the look was “colorful and chaotic,” according to the British painter. Since 2011, the trophy has been designed by well-known artists, architects and designers, including Vivienne Westwood, Damien Hirst and Es Devlin. The show was moderated by Clara Amfo, Maya Jama and Roman Kemp.
