Brit Awards 2021
| Brit Awards 2021 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Date | 11 May 2021 |
| Venue | The O2 |
| Hosted by | Jack Whitehall |
| Most awards | Dua Lipa (2) |
| Most nominations | |
| Television/radio coverage | |
| Network | ITV ITV2 (Red Carpet) YouTube |
| Runtime | 108 minutes |
| Viewership | 2.9 million[1] |
Brit Awards 2021, the 41st edition of the annual Brit Awards, was the UK's first major indoor live music event in more than a year.[2] It was held on 11 May 2021 and celebrated the best in British and international music. Usually held in February, the ceremony was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[3] The ceremony was hosted by comedian Jack Whitehall for the fourth year in a row.[4]
It was held at The O2 in Greenwich, Greater London for the 11th successive year.[5][6]
Performers
Pre-show
| Performer(s) | Song | UK Singles Chart reaction (week ending 20 May 2021) |
UK Albums Chart reaction (week ending 20 May 2021) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jessie Ware | "Remember Where You Are" | N/A | N/A |
| Kurupt FM Craig David |
"Summertime" | N/A | N/A |
Main show
| Performer(s) | Song(s) | UK Singles Chart reaction (week ending 20 May 2021)[8] |
UK Albums Chart reaction (week ending 20 May 2021)[9] |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coldplay[a] | "Higher Power" | 12 (debut) | N/A |
| Dua Lipa | Medley: "Love Again" "Physical" "Pretty Please" "Hallucinate" "Don't Start Now" "Future Nostalgia" |
N/A N/A N/A N/A 96 (re) N/A |
Future Nostalgia – 6 (+3) Dua Lipa – 29 (+4) |
| Olivia Rodrigo | "Drivers License" | 40 (+3) | N/A |
| Arlo Parks | "Hope" | N/A | Collapsed in Sunbeams – 62 (re) |
| Elton John Years & Years |
"It's a Sin" | 57 (debut) | Diamonds – 8 (+4)
N/A |
| The Weeknd[b] |
"Save Your Tears" | 5 (+4) | The Highlights – 9 (+9) After Hours – 41 (+29) |
| Griff | " Black Hole "
|
35 (+12) | N/A |
| Headie One AJ Tracey Young T & Bugsey |
"Ain't It Different" "Princess Cuts" |
N/A N/A |
N/A
Flu Game – 17 (+2) N/A |
| Rag'n'Bone Man Pink[c] Lewisham & Greenwich NHS Choir |
"Anywhere Away from Here" | 9 (+22) | Life by Misadventure – 1 (debut) Human – 35 (+46)
|
- ^ Performed live from the River Thames near Greenwich Peninsula on a pontoon.[10]
Background
Following the
On 22 April 2021, it was announced that the ceremony would have a live audience of 4,000
Winners and nominees
Nominees for the Rising Star Award were announced on 11 March 2021[13] and the winner was announced on 19 March 2021.[14] The nominees for the other categories were announced on 31 March 2021 by BBC Radio 1's DJ Nick Grimshaw and 2021 Rising Star Award winner Griff.[15]
On 9 May 2021, it was announced that
| British Album of the Year (presented by Lewis Capaldi) |
British Single )
(presented by Boy George |
|---|---|
| |
Kurupt FM )
|
British Female Solo Artist (presented by Mabel and MNEK) |
| British Group (presented by Adam Lambert and Olly Murs) |
Breakthrough Artist )
(presented by Clara Amfo and Maya Jama |
| International Male Solo Artist (presented by Michelle Obama) |
International Female Solo Artist (presented by Annie Mac) |
|
|
Billy Porter )
|
Rising Star Award (presented by Celeste) |
| Global Icon Award (presented by Maisie Williams) | |
Controversies
For the 2021 ceremony, the British Phonographic Industry amended the rules regarding eligible of artists for the BRIT Awards, as well as the Mercury Prize which the BPI also run. The updated rules state that an artist and their music are eligible for nominations if they were born in the UK, are a UK passport holder (including individuals who hold more than one passport) or have lived in the UK for more than five years. The change was brought about by singer-songwriter Rina Sawayama who, despite living in the UK for twenty-six years was informed that she could not be nominated for either the Brits or the Mercury Prize because she was not a British citizen. Sawayama currently holds a Japanese passport in order to maintain ties with her family who still live there and, as per Japan's rules, is not allowed to hold dual-citizenship, leading fans to post "#SawayamaIsBritish" in protest. Sawayama met with representatives at the BPI to discuss the eligibility criteria and convinced them to expand it so that she and other artists like her could be nominated for the awards.[18]
On 12 March 2021, three-time Brit Award-winning artist
References
- ^ "Overnight Ratings: Tuesday 11 May 2021". 12 May 2021.
- ^ "Brit Awards 2021: Dua Lipa and Little Mix the big winners as Taylor Swift makes surprise appearance". Sky News. Retrieved 12 May 2021.
- ^ "2021 Date Change". BRIT Awards. Retrieved 21 January 2021.
- ^ Reilly, Nick (24 March 2021). "Jack Whitehall to host BRIT Awards for fourth year in a row". NME. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
- ^ The O2. "The BRIT Awards 2021 with Mastercard | The O2". TheO2. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ "Brit awards 2021: the ceremony as it happened, with Dua Lipa, Taylor Swift and more". Guardian. 11 May 2021. Retrieved 12 May 2021.
- ^ The BRIT Awards: Red Carpet - The BRIT Awards 2021: Backstage, archived from the original on 12 May 2021, retrieved 12 May 2021
- ^ UK Singles Chart 20 May 2021
- ^ UK Albums Chart 20 May 2021
- ^ a b c "Brit Awards 2021: Eight things to look out for as show returns as one of UK's first mass live music events". Sky News. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
- ^ "UK planning a dozen test events for crowds with no social distancing". NME. 16 March 2021.
- ^ "Brit Awards to have live audience as part of Covid event trials". BBC News. 22 April 2021. Retrieved 24 April 2021.
- ^ "Brit Awards: Griff, Pa Salieu and Rina Sawayama nominated for rising star prize". BBC News. 11 March 2021.
- ^ Nick Reilly (19 January 2021). "Griff wins the BRITS Rising Star Award for 2021". NME. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
- ^ "Nominations Revealed 31st March!". BRIT Awards. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
- ^ "Taylor Swift Set to Receive Global Icon Award at 2021 Brit Awards". Billboard. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
- ^ Aubrey, Elizabeth (11 May 2021). "Little Mix make history winning Best British Group at the BRITs". NME. Retrieved 4 August 2022.
- ^ "Brit Awards change rules thanks to pop star Rina Sawayama". BBC News. 24 February 2021.
- ^ "Sam Smith excluded from gendered categories at 2021 Brit awards". The Guardian. 12 March 2021.
- ^ Savage, Mark (22 November 2021). "Brit Awards scrap male and female categories". BBC News. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
- ^ Ravindran, Manori (18 December 2021). "Brit Awards: Adele, Ed Sheeran, Dave and Little Simz Lead 2022 Nominations". Variety. Retrieved 24 January 2022.