Finally, the biggest night in British music is back! Although the ceremony was postponed from February 2021, we can breathe a sigh of relief as the BRIT Awards returned. The event provided attendees with a sense of normality, as the awards show was one of the UK government’s first live indoor pilot events.
Following 14 months of live music lockdown, organisers were delighted to announce that the BRIT Awards 2021 would be taking place for its 41st annual event. As usual, the BRITs were hosted at the O2 Arena in London, hosted by 4th-year-presenter Jack Whitehall. Only this time, the venue held a limited live audience of 4,000 guests, as opposed to its 20,000 capacity. The BRITs are part of the UK government’s events research programme which is trialling live crowds without social distancing or face masks. Audience members could only attend if they tested negative for COVID-19 before the show, and were required to take another test after the event. Geoff Taylor, Chief Executive of BPI & BRIT Awards Ltd, said “We want to make sure that the BRITs delivers the outstanding production levels, superstar performances and live excitement that make it the biggest night in music”. He added, “[The] event will remind us how important music has been in getting us all through these difficult times”.
The BRITs certainly didn’t disappoint us this year, being one of the key events to kickstart the return of live music. Coldplay opened the event — performing on the River Thames, Dua Lipa blessed us with a medley of her greatest hits and we got to see a surprise performance from Elton John and Years & Years. Other live performances from this year’s hottest acts included AJ Tracey, Headie One, The Weeknd, Olivia Rodrigo, Rag ‘n’ Bone Man, P!nk, Arlo Parks and this year’s BRITs Rising Star Award winner Griff.
As the winners started to be announced, we saw Arlo Parks win her first-ever BRIT Award for Breakthrough Artist, followed by Little Mix making history as the first all-girl group to win a BRITs Best British Group Award. Jade Thirlwall reminded us of female solidarity in the group’s acceptance speech by honouring all of the girl bands that rose before them: “So this award isn’t just for us, it’s for the Spice Girls, Sugababes, All Saints, Girls Aloud, all of the incredible female bands, this one’s for you”. Girls Aloud’s Nicola Roberts later tweeted her support for the girl group, congratulating them on their incredible milestone:
After Dua Lipa’s jaw-dropping performance, she took to the stage to accept her first award of the night, winning the Female Solo Artist Award. Later, she also took home Mastercard’s Album of the Year Award, the only artist this year to take home two honours. Dua Lipa dedicated her BRIT win to Dame Elizabeth Anionwu, a frontline NHS nurse, and called for a pay rise for NHS staff. She insisted “[It’s all] very good to clap for them, but we need to pay them“. Lipa also reminisced of the last time she attended the BRITs in 2018, and how there were only a small number of female winners. She later stated that she was “so proud” of the strong female representation on this year’s lineup: “I’m so proud three years later to be a part of this wave of women in music“.
The star of the night has to be Taylor Swift for accepting the most honourable award: the Global Icon Award. In the event’s history, the award has only been presented three times: to Elton John, David Bowie and Robbie Williams, making Taylor Swift the first female artist, the youngest, and the first non-Brit to receive this prize – once again making history. Before finishing her speech, Swift took time to highlight the importance of the NHS and address the “Incredible new artists” in the room. “When you put your whole heart and soul into something and it’s met with cynicism or scepticism. You can’t let that crush you. You have to let that fuel you”.
The rip-roaring ceremony illustrated just how much we have missed live music. Many of this year’s award winners were female artists, a sign of hope for gender equality in the music industry. Here’s to next year’s BRIT Awards and to plenty more live events in 2021!
All BRIT Award winners 2021:
Male Solo Artist: J Hus
Female Solo Artist: Dua Lipa
British Group: Little Mix
British Single: ‘Watermelon Sugar’ – Harry Styles
Breakthrough Artist: Arlo Parks
International Female Solo Artist: Billie Eilish
International Male Solo Artist: The Weeknd
International Group: Haim
Global Icon: Taylor Swift
Mastercard Album: ‘Future Nostalgia’ – Dua Lipa
Rising Star: Griff (Announced in March 2021)
You can rewatch the performances on YouTube, and follow @BRITs across socials for all of the highlights!
