Charli XCX was the stand-out star at the Brit Awards on Saturday, taking home five awards including album of the year for her sixth studio album, Brat.
Her culture-shaping sixth studio album was nominated for the Mercury Prize last year, and won Grammys for best dance/electronic album and best recording package in February.
She also picked up best dance pop recording for her single Von Dutch.
The term Brat became widely used after the release of her album on June 7, and was named the Collins Word of the Year 2024.
It also inspired the “Brat summer” trend, which came to encompass an aesthetic as well as a lifestyle craze.
In October, the singer followed her hit album with Brat And It’s Completely Different But Also Still Brat, featuring artists including Bon Iver, The 1975, and Ariana Grande.
Born Charlotte Emma Aitchison in 1992 in Cambridge, the singer was the only child of a mother of Indian descent and a Scottish father.
She began posting her songs on Myspace as a teenager before performing at raves and later being signed.
In 2013 she released her major-label debut album True Romance, after several singles which did not chart.
She broke through into the mainstream after featuring on Icona Pop’s 2012 hit I Love It, which went to number one in the UK.
She gained further attention after her 2014 collaboration with Australian singer Iggy Azalea on Fancy, which was nominated for two Grammy awards – record of the year and best pop duo/group performance.
Her second album, 2014’s Sucker, featured the top 10 hit Boom Clap and reached number 15 in the UK album charts.
In 2019 she starred in the documentary I’m With The Band: Nasty Cherry, in which she put together a girl band that included model Gabriella Bechtel, known professionally as Gabbriette, who is the partner of The 1975 frontman Matty Healy.
That same year she released her album Charli and followed it up with 2020’s Mercury Prize-nominated How I’m Feeling Now, which landed at 33 in the UK albums chart.
In 2021 she expressed her grief at the death of her friend and long-time collaborator Sophie.
She later released a song called So I, featured on Brat, featuring lyrics that appear to make reference to Sophie’s 2017 track It’s Okay To Cry.
BIG congratulations to @charli_xcx for winning Mastercard Album of the Year🏆🎉@BRITs #BRITs #priceless pic.twitter.com/ud5U53519H
— MastercardUK (@MastercardUK) March 1, 2025
Her first number one in the albums chart came with her fifth album Crash, released in 2022 and featuring collaborations with the likes of Rina Sawayama and Caroline Polachek.
The artist, known for her championing of experimental hyperpop, was also among the artists to feature on the Barbie movie soundtrack, and her song Speed Drive reached number nine in the charts.
However, the latest addition to her catalogue propelled the singer to stratospheric heights.
People across the world embraced the “brat summer” cultural movement, which promoted self-love, positive body image and sultry style choices – including a lot of neon green in honour of the album’s cover.
During an appearance on Saturday Night Live (SNL), she defined the meaning of Brat and said: “So many people have asked me, what is brat, and honestly, it’s just like an attitude, it’s a vibe.”
Brat’s popularity also saw the Biden-Harris US presidential campaign account change its banner on X to say “Kamala HQ”, using the same font and neon green background as the Brat album cover.
It came after Charli XCX posted “Kamala IS brat” to the platform, after the announcement that the vice president would make a bid for the White House.
Billie Eilish was among the artists featured on her follow-up album and the women soared to number one with their collaboration, Guess, which was named the winner of the song of the year category at this year’s Brit Awards.
The music video for the song featured thousands of items of underwear which were donated to the organisation I Support The Girls, which helps women experiencing homelessness, poverty and domestic violence.
The women were also seen singing along to the track at Charli XCX’s 32nd birthday party, and other videos showed the singer dancing with Lorde to their version of Girl, So Confusing.
The singer has been touring the album across the world over the last few months and will return to the UK in the summer to play a string of shows in cities across the country, including a headline slot at London’s Lido Festival.
