First of all, the night made history as an audience of 4,000 were seen at the Brits. The award ceremony was a trial run for the post-pandemic era as not a single mask was in sight!
The Brits 2020 made the headlines for all the wrong reasons, as pop singer Mabel was the only British female nominated across 25 mixed gender categories. This year, women dominated the award ceremony. Taylor Swift took home the Global Icon award, Dua Lipa won Best Solo Artist and Album, and Little Mix made history taking home Best Group.
LA trio Haim won International Group, the first all-female group to do this since Destiny Child’s win in 2002. Billie Eilish also won International Female.
The NHS also was a major focus of the night, with Lupa dedicating her award to nurse and healthcare pioneer Dame Elizabeth Anionwu, saying, “It’s very good to clap for [frontline NHS staff], but we need to pay them”.
Winning for the boys, J Hus won Male Solo Artist and Harry Styles won Best Single for “Watermelon Sugar”. Headie One also addressed healthcare workers, saying “Thank you for everything you did for this country”. In his and AJ Tracey’s song “Ain’t It Different”, the duo changed the lyrics to rap “Team work keeps the dream working, it’s only right we show love to the key workers” and “saying eat out to help out but won’t help out [Marcus] Rashford when he’s feeding the youths”. The Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust Choir joined Rag’n’Bone Man and Pink as they closed the show.
[Image Source: brits.co.uk]