Charli XCX Paces Male-Dominated Brit Awards Nominations, Including Historic Beatles Recognition

Charli Xcx Leads Male-Dominated Brit Awards Nominations – With First Beatles Nod Since 1977

Charli Xcx is leading the pack with five nominations for her record Brat, which was The Guardian’s album of last year. She is nominated for album, artist, and song of the year – the latter for the remix of Guess featuring Billie Eilish – as well as in the dance and pop genre categories.

Despite Xcx painting the British music industry’s annual party a vibrant shade of lime green, women remain underrepresented in this year’s nominations. They account for 34.7% of the 98 slots, while male acts make up more than half at 53%. Mixed-gender acts and collaborations comprise the remaining 12.3%.

The Beatles are back in the spotlight with their AI-abetted song Now and Then, which is up for best song – a first nomination since the very first Brit awards in 1977. The Cure also scores three nominations for their album Songs of a Lost World, marking their first Brit nods in over 30 years.

Stargazing singer Myles Smith is this year’s Rising Star winner and is also nominated for new artist, song, and pop act. Ezra Collective, a London jazz act, may be set for a breakthrough year after releasing their third album Dance, No One’s Watching in September.

The genre categories are assembled by the Brits voting academy and then voted for by members of the public via WhatsApp. Predictably, the category for hip-hop/grime/rap act features just one woman, Little Simz, alongside Central Cee, Dave, Ghetts, and Stormzy.

Some nascent comebacks also feature in this year’s nominations. Sam Fender is up for artist of the year and alt/rock act, despite only having released two singles from his forthcoming third album People Watching, due in February. Jade, of the on-hiatus band Little Mix, is up for song of the year (for Angel of My Dreams) and pop act.

International acts also make a strong showing, with Taylor Swift, Chappell Roan, Sabrina Carpenter, and Billie Eilish each scoring two nods. The awards for producer and songwriter of the year will be announced prior to the ceremony, which takes place on 1 March at the O2 Arena in London.

Nominations Breakdown

• Album of the Year:

  • Charli Xcx – Brat

  • The Cure – Songs of a Lost World

  • Dua Lipa – Radical Optimism

  • Ezra Collective – Dance, No One’s Watching

  • The Last Dinner Party – Prelude to Ecstasy

• Artist of the Year:

  • Beabadoobee

  • Central Cee

  • Charli Xcx

  • Dua Lipa

  • Fred Again

  • Jamie xx

  • Michael Kiwanuka

  • Nia Archives

  • Rachel Chinouriri

  • Sam Fender

• Group of the Year:

+ Bring Me the Horizon

+ Coldplay

+ The Cure

+ Ezra Collective

+ The Last Dinner Party

• Best New Artist:

  • English Teacher

  • Ezra Collective

  • The Last Dinner Party

  • Myles Smith

  • Rachel Chinouriri

Song of the Year Nominations

• Artemas – I Like the Way You Kiss Me

• The Beatles – Now and Then

• Bl3ss – X Camrin Watsin (ft Bbyclose)

• Central Cee – Band4Band (ft Lil Baby)

• Charli Xcx – Guess (ft Billie Eilish)

• Chase and Status/Stormzy – Backbone

• Coldplay – Feels Like I’m Falling in Love

• Dua Lipa – Training Season

• Ella Henderson – Alibi (ft Rudimental)

• Jade – Angel of My Dreams

• Jordan Adetunji – Kehlani

• KSI – Thick of It (ft Trippie Redd)

• Myles Smith – Stargazing

• Sam Ryder – You’re Christmas to Me

• Sonny Fodera/Jazzy/DOD – Somedays