Charli XCX was the unsurprising queen of this year’s Brit Awards, dominating thanks to her trend-setting 2024 album Brat.
The pioneering pop artist born Charlotte Aitchison was the most nominated star at the 2025 ceremony, held as usual at the O2 Arena in London on Saturday 2 March.
Early on in the night, she beat heavyweights including The Beatles, Coldplay and Dua Lipa to take home Song of the Year for the remix of “Guess”, her collaboration with US star Billie Eilish.
“Thank you, this is cool, I'm really happy that a song about underwear now has a Brit award, very important stuff and I'm sure that that proves something about songwriting but I'm not quite sure what,” she said.
Female artists fared well at this year’s event, with US pop queens Sabrina Carpenter and Chappell Roan – both breakout stars of 2024 – scooping the prizes for Global Success and International Artist of the Year, respectively.
The UK’s own JADE spoke of her love for her “Little Mix sisters” as she collected the Best Pop Act prize, paying tribute to her former bandmates, following a dazzling medley of her singles “Angel of My Dreams” and “IT Girl”.
Accepting her first Brit Award as a solo artist, the emotional 32-year-old said: “Firstly, I need to thank the fans because that's why I won this award.
“Thank you so much for supporting me and relentlessly forcing everyone around you to vote Jade. I love you guys so much. I'm so grateful."
She also thanked her “fabulous team” and her family and friends before praising her former bandmates.
“All my family and friends who always believed in me, thank you for making me feel like it was a realistic goal to be a pop star ever since I was a little girl,” she added.
“And finally, my Little Mix sisters. I love you so much. I wouldn't have this award without you, and you changed my life, thank you.”
During the ceremony, there were a few doses of controversy thanks to typically lively figures such as Danny Dyer, who declared prime minister Keir Starmer “t*** of the year” while being interviewed by host Jack Whitehall.
Whitehall also introduced a moving tribute segment to former One Direction singer turned solo artist Liam Payne, whose death caused shockwaves around the world after he fell from a hotel balcony in Buenos Aires, aged 31.
Yet the ceremony seemed to struggle with its attempts at relevancy, wheeling out a hodgepodge group of awards presenters – including Breana Tiesi, an American reality TV star best known for the Netflix series Selling Sunset, who co-presented Best Hip-Hop/Grime/Rap alongside radio personality Vick Hope – to lukewarm reception.
Fans on social media seemed equally perturbed at the presence of Paloma Faith, who presented Best Dance Act, and actor and Thirty Seconds to Mars frontman Jared Leto announcing Artist of the Year. They appeared in between eclectic performances from Sabrina Carpenter, Sam Fender, Myles Smith and Teddy Swims.
Rapper Stormzy acknowledged his contentious win for the aforementioned Best Hip-Hop/Grime/Rap over Central Cee, who recently released his critically acclaimed and long-awaited debut album, You Can’t Rush Greatness.
"I don't entirely think this award should be fan-voted. I don't think any of the awards should be fan-voted – not on a controversial one,” Stormzy, who noted that he was wearing sunglasses due to a recent eye injury, said.
"I don't know, sometimes I think it doesn't let people have their moments. I think Cench (Central Cee) was the rap artist of the year, but these things don't define us as much as they're amazing and we love them. I'm very grateful to the Brits, and I'm grateful to the public," he concluded.
There were some inspiring speeches. Rising Star winner Myles Smith was applauded for a rousing address that called on the industry to better support grassroots music venues, and on record labels to stick with artists beyond a handful of singles.
The singer, 26, from Luton, Bedfordshire, who already has two top-10 singles in the UK charts, said: "I was raised by a single mum on free school meals in a state school that only had instruments because of government-backed schemes.
“I grew up in a town that, according to loads of clickbait articles, is the worst town in Luton. But yet I'm somehow here, a four-time Brit nominee, a graduate from a Russell Group university.
"But tonight, whilst I have the attention of the nation and this award, which gives me kind of like this really cool speaking power, I want to ask three questions,” he said.
“My first is to the government: if British music is one of the most powerful cultural exports we have, why have you treated it like an afterthought for so many years? How many more venues need to close? How many more music programmes need to be cut before we realise that we can't just celebrate success, you have to protect the foundations that make it?
“My second is to the biggest venues in the country and around the world: If artists selling out your arenas and your stadiums started in grassroots venues, what are you doing to keep them alive?
“And my third, to the industry, to the execs in the room, and to the people behind the scenes: Are we building careers or are we just chasing moments?”
Smith told his audience that “moments fade and careers take time”, urging record labels to stick with artists “past their first viral hit”.
Mercury Prize-winning jazz act Ezra Collective, who took the award for Best Group, echoed this sentiment and further championed the youth spaces that helped them on their own path.
Both acts were nominated for Best New Artist, which went to former Rising Star winners The Last Dinner Party, who also used their platform to speak about the importance of independent music venues.
Ultimately, though, the Brits couldn’t resist going Brat, with Charli XCX taking home four out of five of the awards she was nominated for, including top prizes Artist and Album of the Year.
Accepting the Artist of the Year award, she said she has "always been an artist but it really takes a whole team", as she thanked those who have worked with her and supported her project.
She added: "Thank you to all the artists out there who feel like they don't fit in, that are brave enough to try and be rejected a million times, I share this with you.”
