The Beatles, Charli XCX and a Christmas song by Eurovision star Sam Ryder are among the eclectic nominees at this year’s Brit Awards.
The nominations were announced on Thursday (23 January) ahead of the annual ceremony in March at the O2 Arena in London. This year’s event will once again be hosted by comedian Jack Whitehall.
Pioneering pop artist Charli XCX dominates with five nods, including for Artist of the Year and Album of the Year for her critically lauded, trend-setting record Brat.
Following with four nods apiece are acts including pop singer Dua Lipa, baroque pop band The Last Dinner Party, and Mercury Prize-winning jazz group Ezra Collective.
The Song of the Year category was arguably the most diverse – at least in terms of genre – set of nominations in recent memory, with TikTok-friendly stars like Artemas and KSI muscling up against The Beatles and Coldplay.
Perhaps the biggest surprise was the inclusion of Eurovision 2022 runner-up Ryder’s song, “You’re Christmas to Me”, marking just the fourth time in Brits’ history that a festive song has received a nomination.
Previous nominees have included two Band Aid tracks, the 1990 version and the 2004 edition, and Ed Sheeran’s 2022 collaboration with Elton John, “Merry Christmas”.
There’s fierce competition in the International Artist of the Year category, thanks to high-profile years for pop stars Sabrina Carpenter, Chappell Roan, Billie Eilish, Beyoncé and Taylor Swift, as well as rappers Kendrick Lamar and Tyler, the Creator.
Elsewhere, The Cure received their first nominations in over three decades (for Alternative Rock and Best Group) thanks to the release of their long-awaited 14th album, Songs of a Lost World. The last time they won Best Group was in 1991.
In terms of a comeback, though, The Beatles bested Robert Smith’s band by earning their first Brit nomination since 1977 for “Now and Then”, which was released in November 2023 with the help of AI technology that retrieved the stems from a John Lennon recording. The Fab Four won the inaugural Brit Award for Best Group back in 1977.
Former Little Mix star JADE already has three Brit Awards with the pop group, but said it was particularly significant to be nominated as a solo artist, including for her debut single “Angel of My Dreams”, which is up for Song of the Year.
“When it’s for your own music and my own personal experiences, it does hit different, it feels extra special,” the South Shields-born Jade Thirlwall said.
“When I first started this solo journey, I was writing a lot of music to exist outside of the group and figure out who I am on my own, but the minute I wrote ‘Angel of My Dreams’, that was when I knew, ‘I’ve arrived, this is my sound, this is me.’”
Pop/R&B artist RAYE received a nomination in the fan-voted R&B category, a year after sweeping the 2024 awards with a record-breaking six wins out of the seven prizes she was nominated for.
Overall, it was a solid year for representation at an awards ceremony that has faced criticism for omitting female artists in the past. Three out of five of the Album of the Year nominees are by female-fronted acts, while the Artist of the Year category is a 50/50 split.
Here are the nominations in full:
Song of the Year
“I Like the Way You Kiss Me” – Artemas
“Now and Then” – The Beatles
“Kisses” – BL3SS and CamrinWatsin
“Band4Band” – Central Cee and Lil Baby
“Guess” – Charli XCX ft Billie Eilish
“Backbone” – Chase and Status and Stormzy
“Feelslikeimfallinginlove” – Coldplay
“Training Season” – Dua Lipa
“Alibi” – Ella Henderson
“Angel of My Dreams” – JADE
“Kehlani” – Jordan Adjetuni
“Thick of It” – KSI
“Stargazing” – Myles Smiths
“You’re Christmas to Me” – Sam Ryder
“Somedays” – DOD, Jazzy, and Sonny Fodera
Best New Artist
English Teacher
Ezra Collective
The Last Dinner Party
Myles Smith
Rachel Chinouriri
Artist of the Year
Beabadoobee
Central Cee
Charli XCX
Dua Lipa
Fred Again
Jamie xx
Michael Kiwanuka
Nia Archives
Rachel Chinouriri
Sam Fender
Best Group
Bring Me the Horizon
Coldplay
The Cure
Ezra Collective
The Last Dinner Party
International Group
Amyl and the Sniffers
Confidence Man
Fontaines DC
Future and Metro Boomin
Linkin Park
Dance Act
Becky Hill
Charli XCX
Chase and Status
Fred Again
Nia Archives
Best Pop
Charli XCX
Dua Lipa
JADE
Lola Young
Myles Smith
Best Hip-Hop/Grime/Rap
Central Cee
Dave
Ghetts
Little Simz
Stormzy
Best R&B
Cleo Soul
FLO
Jorja Smith
Michael Kiwanuka
RAYE
Best Alternative Rock
Beabadoobee
The Cure
Ezra Collective
The Last Dinner Party
Sam Fender
International Artist of the Year
Adrianne Lenker
Asake
Benson Boone
Beyoncé
Billie Eilish
Chappell Roan
Kendrick Lamar
Sabrina Carpenter
Taylor Swift
Tyler, the Creator
International Song
“Beautiful Things” – Benson Boone
“Texas Hold ‘Em” – Beyoncé
“Birds of a Feather” – Billie Eilish
“Good Luck, Babe!” – Chappell Roan
“End of Beginning” - Djo
“Houdini” – Eminem
“Too Sweet” – Hozier
“Loving on Me” – Jack Harlow
“Stick Season” – Noah Kahan
“I Had Some Help” – Post Malone ft Morgan Wallen
“Espresso” – Sabrina Carpenter
“A Bar Song (Tipsy)” – Shaboozey
“Fortnight” – Taylor Swift ft Post Malone
“Lose Control” – Teddy Swims
“Million Dollar Baby” – Tommy Richman
Album of the Year
Brat – Charli XCX
Songs of a Lost World – The Cure
Radical Optimism – Dua Lipa
Dance, No One’s Watching – Ezra Collective
Prelude to Ecstasy – The Last Dinner Party
The 2025 Brit Awards take place at the O2 Arena in London on Saturday 1 March and will be broadcast by ITV1 and ITVX.
