After a record-breaking BRITs result for Raye last year, Charli XCX almost repeated the result with a massive haul of trophies.
The Atlantic-signed artist was the most nominated of 2025 at the BRITS and she came out on top with five wins. Surprisingly, they were her first ever BRITs wins and she noted her “outsider” status in the industry when collecting the final award of the night for Album Of The Year. Brat is now on 2.2 billion global streams.
The ceremony, which took place once again at The O2, was in its Saturday night slot on ITV1 and ITVX (and YouTube outside the UK) for the third year running.
In his final year as showrunner, Atlantic MD and president of promotions Damian Christian told Music Week ahead of the ceremony: “People might want to move it back for whatever reason, and if they do, good luck to them. But I think moving to a Saturday night made it feel like a really big occasion.” It remains to be seen what happens in 2026.
Following a challenging year in some ways for UK talent, the BRITs did its best to accentuate the positive, including a crop of first-time winners – Charli XCX making a global impact on album No.6, Island Records’ The Last Dinner Party following their BRITs Rising Star win with Best New Artist, as well as a big win for Ezra Collective as Group Of The Year and recognition for RCA breakthrough star Myles Smith (BRITs Rising Star) and the label’s solo campaign for Little Mix’s Jade (Pop Act). Following her record result in 2024, Raye returned to win the R&B Act category.
Speaking of returns, a bowtie-wearing Jack Whitehall was brought back to host the ceremony with his usual withering put-downs, for example describing 32 times nominees Coldplay as “public school Nickelback” and going particularly hard on KSI (who manfully took it in his stride).
Whitehall did salute the surprising decision by Charli XCX not to perform at the ceremony where she was about to clean up, noting her reason – “so she could get drunk” – as “the most British thing I have heard – legend”.
“I think in years gone by, record labels would be forcing people to do things but it's just not like that anymore,” Christian told Music Week ahead of the ceremony. “If people get pushed into doing something, it doesn't feel right.”
Even without a big performance, which seemed an omission, Charli XCX should see a BRITs Brat boost for the album, which is on 341,661 sales to date (Official Charts Company). Her management team are nominated at the Music Week Awards in May.
The Brat takeover of the ceremony helped Warner Music label Atlantic finish on top with five BRIT Awards.
Ed Howard, co-president of Atlantic Records UK, said: “I’m absolutely delighted for Charli. Coming off the back of such a stellar year – one where she flew the flag for British music globally – it feels right that she has been recognised so fully by the BRITs. She’s an inspiration and a pioneer, with Brat she turned her music into a movement, and she’s far from done. Congratulations to Charli and her team.”
Tony Harlow, CEO of Warner Music UK, said: “I want to wish a massive congratulations to Charli and the Atlantic team for these fantastic wins. Charli is a real one-of-a-kind and has always done things on her own terms. Her international success over the last 18 months has shown that British artists can still resonate with a worldwide audience. I’m so happy she is getting the recognition she deserves."
Atlantic was followed by three wins for Universal Music’s Island EMI (The Last Dinner Party and two international awards for first-time winner Chappell Roan), three for fellow Universal company Polydor Label Group (Sam Fender, 0207 Def Jam’s Stormzy and Sabrina Carpenter), and two for Sony Music’s RCA (Jade and Myles Smith). Sony was also represented by R&B winner Raye (The Orchard/Human Re Sources). Independent label winners included XL Recordings and Partisan.
Here, Music Week selects seven of the key moments including Charli XCX cleaning up at the BRITs…
SABRINA CARPENTER OPENS THE SHOW
The domination of the UK singles chart by US talent in the past year was underlined by the opening performance by Sabrina Carpenter – securing the biggest global pop breakthrough of the year as a performer was undoubtedly a coup for the BRITs. Carpenter’s rendition of Espresso and Bed Chem was accompanied by marching beefeaters in bearskins and Union Flags, as well as an interpolation of Rule Britannia just to make it clear she was singing these global hits at an arena in London.
Although she lost out on the international categories to Chappell Roan, Carpenter was honoured with the special BRITS Global Success Award – the first time it's gone to a non-UK artist. Collecting the award, she described it as “such an insane honour, in a primarily tea drinking country you streamed the shit out of Espresso".
CHARLI XCX’S BRAT BRITS
The lack of a performance was undoubtedly a disappointment, but Charli XCX made her mark as she collected five awards – Mastercard Album Of The Year for Brat, Artist Of The Year, Song Of The Year for Guess (feat. Billie Eilish), Dance Act and the pre-announced Songwriter Of The Year.
“I’m really happy that a song about underwear now has a BRIT Award,” said Charli XCX, who thanked remix collaborator Billie Eilish. For the Dance Act award, she was joined by collaborators Finn Keane, AG Cook (Producer Of The Year winner) and George Daniel and acknowledged the impact of dance music: "I feel like dance music, electronic music, gets a really bad rep because everyone is like it's not that deep, is it? And I kind of feel it is. This genre of music for me is euphoric - it allows me to escape and feel on such a deep level.” She also acknowledged pioneers including Justice, Daft punk, Robyn, MIA, Autechre, Aphex Twin and Sophie.
“I feel like I've always been an artist but it really takes a whole team,” she said upon collecting the Artist Of The Year trophy, going on to thank her management and Atlantic co-president Ed Howard (“You signed me when I was singing on bar stools in raves”) among others.
UK JAZZ IN THE SPOTLIGHT
It’s fair to say that Ezra Collective were a surprise winner of the BRIT for British Group (besting chart-topping acts Bring Me The Horizon, Coldplay, The Cure and The Last Dinner Party). But it was a deserving victory and a first BRIT for UK jazz, which came in the wake of a Mercury Prize victory and a headline OVO Wembley Arena show in the autumn. The BRITs doesn’t even have a jazz category, instead squeezing the group into Alternative/Rock Act among their four nominations.
“This moment right here is because of the great youth clubs, great teachers and great schools that support young people playing music,” said Ezra Collective’s Femi Koleoso. The band even got to close the BRITs with guest vocalist Jorja Smith.
It was also a triumph for independent label Partisan, who won with Fontaines DC a couple of years ago. They will now be working to get the excellent Dance, No One’s Watching album back into the Top 10.
LIAM PAYNE TRIBUTE
The ceremony paused for an emotional tribute to One Direction singer and solo artist Liam Payne, who died aged 31 in October. As well as a video reflecting his achievements in music, the official BRITs programme included the following tribute: “While Liam Payne's time in One Direction brought him global fame, it was his undeniable talent, dedication and charisma that made him an icon in the world of music. His contributions helped define the sound of a generation, with songs that remain as timeless as the bond he shared with his bandmates… Liam's talent endures through the countless lives he touched. He was not just a singer, he was a beacon of light for those who grew up with his work. May his music continue to live on in our hearts.”
BRITISH BREAKTHROUGHS
Despite the lack of No.1s for UK artists in 2024 (just Charli XCX and Stormzy with new songs), there were grounds for optimism with this BRITs line-up of winners and performers. BRITS Rising Star winner Myles Smith, who has already made a global impact, was a standout performer and gave a speech with the right combination of humble and heartfelt – urging support for grassroots venues and music education. Jade’s emergence as a solo star was cemented with a powerful performance of Angel Of My Dreams. Lola Young, who had a nomination for Pop Act, arrived on the BRITs stage as a global breakthrough star and gave an assured performance of her No.1 Messy.
GUITAR MUSIC ON SATURDAY NIGHT TV
Indie/alternative rock doesn’t get much of a look in at the BRITs usually but there were a couple of big moments for guitar music at the ceremony. The Last Dinner Party performed their hit Nothing Matters and won for Best New Artist. Underlining their origins, Georgia Davis called for more support for grassroots venues: “They are the lifeblood of the music industry and they are dying.”
Meanwhile, Fontaines DC won the International Group category for the second time, accepting on video and praising fellow indie nominees Amyl & The Sniffers as “one of the most inspiring bands in the world at the moment”.
Perhaps the biggest moment for guitar music came with Sam Fender’s performance of People Watching (even Jack Whitehall seemed genuinely excited) just as his third album has hit No.1 with more than 100,000 sales. He won one of the two awards for which he was nominated (Alternative/Rock) – expect him to be back for more next year.
STORMZY GOES FOURTH
There’s been some talk that UK rap has not been the force it once was on the UK chart in recent times. But whatever the stats say, there have been major moments including Stormzy’s Backbone collaboration with Chase & Status and, in 2025, the debut album from Central Cee. While rap was not a winner among the main categories, Stormzy brought star power to the ceremony when he won in the Hip-Hop/Grime/Rap Act category, one of the publicly voted genre categories. It’s his fourth BRITs win to date.
“Backbone is definitely the only reason I am here,” he told the audience, adding that he didn’t think that any of the awards should be fan voted, and praising Central Cee as “the rap artist of the year”.
Ahead of the ceremony, Universal Music UK hosted a pre-BRITs showcase for industry leaders and international executives. Sam Fender, Lola Young, Olivia Dean and The Last Dinner Party performed at the major’s first such event, which was staged at Riverside Studios, London.
Dickon Stainer, chairman and CEO of Universal Music UK, said: “Nothing is more important to us than shining a light on new British talent. We believe this weekend’s special events will act as a catalyst for a new era of success for UK artists on the global stage.”
PHOTO: John Marshall/JM Enternational
BRITS 2025 winners
AWARD - BRITs PRODUCER OF THE YEAR
Winner - A. G. Cook
AWARD - SONG OF THE YEAR WITH MASTERCARD
Winner - Charli XCX Ft Billie Eilish – Guess featuring Billie Eilish
AWARD - POP ACT
Winner - JADE
AWARD - ALTERNATIVE / ROCK ACT
Winner - Sam Fender
AWARD - BRITS RISING STAR
Winner - Myles Smith
AWARD - DANCE ACT
Winner: Charli XCX
AWARD - GROUP OF THE YEAR
Winner - Ezra Collective
AWARD - BRITs GLOBAL SUCCESS
Winner - Sabrina Carpenter
AWARD - INTERNATIONAL SONG OF THE YEAR
Winner: Chappell Roan – Good Luck, Babe!
AWARD - HIP HOP/GRIME/RAP ACT
Winner: Stormzy
AWARD - R&B ACT
Winner: RAYE
AWARD - INTERNATIONAL GROUP OF THE YEAR
Winner: Fontaines D.C.
AWARD - BEST NEW ARTIST
Winner: The Last Dinner Party
AWARD - INTERNATIONAL ARTIST OF THE YEAR
WINNER: Chappell Roan
AWARD - ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Winner: Charli XCX
AWARD - SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR
Winner: Charli XCX
AWARD - MASTERCARD ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Winner: Charli XCX – Brat
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