Brit Awards 2024
Raye, Raye and Raye...and Kylie Minogue
The Brit Awards were held on 2 Mar at The O2 Arena, London for songs, acts or albums in the UK charts last year
The Brit Awards are run by the British Phonographic Industry, they started in 1977, and they’re mostly determined by a voting academy of UK music industry professionals, with some categories voted for by the public. They’re more or less the equivalent of the Grammy Awards in the US, except there are far less categories—16 compared to 94 for the Grammys this year—and the majority of awards are restricted to British nationals (those either born in the UK, holding a British passport or having been resident in the UK for 5 years).
The event was shown live on ITV, hosted by Clara Amfo, Maya Jama and Roman Kemp. I only recognise one of those, and that might be because I’ve mixed up Roman Kemp with Ronan Keating, but I’m sure they’re excellent.
The big winner of the night was Raye, a twenty-six-year-old London-born pop and R&B singer and songwriter (real name, Rachel Keen). She was nominated for seven awards and won six, which are both records for the Brit Awards. Before her breakthrough, she produced and wrote songs for other acts including Beyonce and Rihanna. No one else won more than one award. As a blast from the past, Blur were nominated for three awards, although not winning any.
Selected Results (see Brit Awards link above for all results)
Song of the Year: Escapism by Raye, featuring 070 Shake, a female American rapper and singer. The song made number one in the UK in January 2023.
British Album of the Year: My 21st Century Blues by Raye
British Artist of the Year: Raye
British Group: Jungle, a band founded in 2013 by London-based friends, Josh Lloyd-Watson and Tom McFarland, with a rolling cast of members such that they’re sometimes described as a collective. Their genres are described as neo-soul, funk, nu-disco and dance on Wikipedia, they’re known for their dance videos, and two of their most watched videos on YouTube are Back on 74 and Busy Earnin’. I like them!
Best International Song: Flowers by Miley Cyrus, also the Grammy winner for Record of the Year and the bestselling single of 2023 both globally and in the UK
Global Icon Award: Kylie Minogue, proving that all is right with the world
Wikipedia – 2024 Brit Awards has a succinct summary, and you can stroll through previous winners and nominees of the Song of the Year at Wikipedia – Brit Song of the Year. There’s some excellent stuff there, starting with the only joint winners in 1977, Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody and Procol Harum’s A Whiter Shade of Pale.
Next up are the Oscars on 10 Mar in Hollywood. I’m still waiting for my press accreditation.
I purchased Raye’s album last year, glad everyone else has finally caught up with her talent.