Olivia Dean and Lola Young lead the nominations for the 2026 BRIT Awards with five nods each.
Both artists achieved a global impact in the past year as well as chart-topping UK campaigns. Capitol-signed Dean has returned to No.1 in the albums chart in 2026 with The Art Of Loving and reached a new peak of No.3 in the US.
Olivia Dean is also the first performer confirmed for the ceremony – and the UK star is part of the line-up of artist performances at the Grammys, where she is up for Best New Artist.
Dean’s collaborator Sam Fender has secured four nominations at this year’s BRITs. It follows a year in which he secured the biggest UK album release of 2025 with People Watching (narrowly ahead of Dean).
Lola Young, Olivia Dean and Sam Fender are all in the running for Artist Of The Year, along with Dave, Fred Again.., Jade, Lily Allen, Little Simz, PinkPantheress and Self Esteem.
Meanwhile, the Mastercard Album Of The Year is a contest between Dave (The Boy Who Played The Harp), Lily Allen (West End Girl), Olivia Dean (The Art Of Loving), Sam Fender (People Watching) and Wolf Alice (The Clearing).
The BRIT Awards takes place at its new home Co-op Live in Manchester on Saturday, February 28, 2026. Sony Music UK will steer this year’s edition with RCA co-president Stacey Tang as showrunner.
The ceremony will again be aired live on ITV, STV, ITVX and STV Player. Jack Whitehall returns to host for the sixth time.
The nominees were unveiled on the BRITs’ Instagram and Facebook channels with the Bring On The BRITs with Mastercard: The 2026 Nominations livestream.
The nominations livestream continues the partnership between the BRITs and Meta, which launched last year with the BRITs WhatsApp channel. The public will be invited to vote for the winners of Song Of The Year and International Song Of The Year, exclusively on WhatsApp. Voting opens on January 30 and closes on February 13.
The breadth of artists nominated reflects a thriving year in music and reaffirms that British artists continue to capture imaginations across the globe
Stacey Tang
Amid a resurgence of UK talent on the British and international charts, there were plenty of contenders for this year’s awards across 16 categories. It now remains to be seen if one artist can clean up – like Charli XCX in 2025 and Raye in 2024 – or whether this year is a more open contest.
“Five BRIT nominations, how is this even possible?” said Lola Young. “I’ve had this dream a thousand times, so I'm slightly convinced that my alarm clock is about to wake me up. Seriously, this means so much to me, I am so grateful for this moment and to be nominated alongside the incredible other nominees.”
On her nominations, Olivia Dean said: “It feels crazy to have five BRIT Award nominations, it’s very surreal and I’m still processing it. I remember watching the BRITs on TV when I was younger, and having gone to BRIT School and now having this full circle moment 10 years later, attending the awards is going to feel very emotional.”
The BRITs revealed that 69.2% of nominations feature women or non-binary artists as solo acts or mixed-gender groups – the highest proportion ever.
As well as various first-time nominees (includiing Bad Bunny, Doechii, Geese, Turnstile and Rosalía), Pulp return with their first nod at the ceremony in 30 years (Group Of The Year) following the chart-topping success of the More album.
There were three nominations apiece for Lily Allen, Wolf Alice, Dave, Fred Again.. and Jim Legxacy.
Lily Allen staged one of the comebacks of the year with her West End Girl album via BMG, which is on 91,487 units to date (Official Charts Company) ahead of its physical release later this month.
Former Music Week cover stars Wolf Alice scored a second No.1 album with The Clearing (Columbia) and their first Top 75 single with Bloom Baby Bloom.
Meanwhile, Dave broke rap records with The Boy Who Played The Harp – including a Top 75 chart collaboration with fellow nominee Jim Legxacy – and is pushing for the UK No.1 single this week with Tems collaboration Raindance (Neighbourhood).
Fred Again.. is nominated following chart success in collaboration with Skepta and PlaqueBoyMax on Victory Lap (Atlantic/Big Smoke/Epic).
There are also multiple nominations for Jade, who scored the biggest opening for a debut album (via RCA), Little Simz, PinkPantheress, Raye, Calvin Harris and Wet Leg.
Masked Scouse rapper EsDeeKid – currently enjoying UK and US chart success – is up for Breakthrough Artist, along with Barry Can’t Swim, Jim Legxacy, Lola Young and Skye Newman. Interestingly, that category skews towards independent artists (EsDeeKid, Barry Can’t Swim, Jim Legxacy), although there may soon be movement on that front.
The categories reflect the soundtrack success of Wicked (Cynthia Erivo up for Song Of The Year with Defying Gravity via Island) and, of course, K-Pop Demon Hunters with Huntr/x up for International Song Of The Year (Golden via Island) and International Group.
Taylor Swift has a pair of international nominations, including The Fate Of Ophelia (EMI) for Song Of The Year, which is up against huge hits from Alex Warren, Chappell Roan, Gracie Abrams, Rosé & Bruno Mars, Sabrina Carpenter, Sombr and more.
The International Artist category includes Swift, Roan, Gaga, Carpenter and Sombr, along with nods for Bad Bunny, CMAT, Doechii, Rosalía and Tyler, The Creator
The International Group category sees breakthrough band Geese (signed to Partisan) earn a place alongside Haim, Huntr/x, Tame Impala and Turnstile.
British rock band Sleep Token were unlucky to come away with just one nomination – for Group Of The Year – following the global success of the Even In Arcadia album (RCA). Reflecting the success of multiple UK artists in the past year, globally impactful acts including Central Cee, Ed Sheeran and Lewis Capaldi all had to make do with one nomination this time.
Myles Smith, one of the biggest global exports of the past few years, is nominated for Song Of The Year category with Nice To Meet You (RCA). He won the Rising Star award last year.
It’s fantastic to see British talent doing so well across the board, especially a next generation of brilliant artists who have broken through with such impact on the global stage
Dr Jo Twist
Stacey Tang, chair of the 2026 BRIT Awards Committee and co-president of RCA Records at Sony Music UK, said: “The breadth of artists nominated reflects a thriving year in music and reaffirms that British artists continue to capture imaginations across the globe. I think this list is a powerful demonstration of how vibrant and varied music is right now, with artists across different genres and generations reflecting music that is both commercially successful and has lasting cultural impact. At its core, the BRIT Awards exists to celebrate creativity, and these nominations set the stage for an exciting and memorable night.”
BPI chief executive Dr Jo Twist OBE said: “It’s fantastic to see British talent doing so well across the board, especially a next generation of brilliant artists who have broken through with such impact on the global stage in the past 12 months led by Olivia Dean, Lola Young, Sam Fender, PinkPantheress, Skye Newman, among others – our congratulations to all The BRITs nominees and their labels. The BRIT Awards with Mastercard in Manchester will provide a compelling moment for them all to shine brightly and to spotlight the diverse breadth of talent drawn across the UK and internationally.”
Chart-topping artists who missed out on nominations include Florence + The Machine, Tom Grennan, Mumford & Sons and Yungblud, who hit No.1 twice on the albums chart in 2025.
BRIT AWARDS NOMINATIONS 2026
ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Dave
Fred Again..
Jade
Lily Allen
Little Simz
Lola Young
Olivia Dean
PinkPantheress
Sam Fender
Self Esteem
INTERNATIONAL ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Bad Bunny
Chappell Roan
CMAT
Doechii
Lady Gaga
Rosalia
Sabrina Carpenter
Sombr
Taylor Swift
Tyler, The Creator
GROUP OF THE YEAR
The Last Dinner Party
Pulp
Sleep Token
Wet Leg
Wolf Alice
INTERNATIONAL GROUP OF THE YEAR
Geese
Haim
Huntr/x
Tame Impala
Turnstile
MASTERCARD ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Dave – The Boy Who Played The Harp
Lily Allen – West End Girl
Olivia Dean – The Art Of Loving
Sam Fender – People Watching
Wolf Alice – The Clearing
BREAKTHROUGH ARTIST
Barry Can’t Swim
EsDeeKid
Jim Legxacy
Lola Young
Skye Newman
SONG OF THE YEAR WITH MASTERCARD
Blessings – Calvin Harris & Clementine Douglas
The Days (Notion Remix) – Chrystal
Defying Gravity – Cynthia Erivo
Azizam – Ed Sheeran
Victory Lap – Fred Again, Skepta, PlaqueBoyMax
Survive – Lewis Capaldi
Messy – Lola Young
Nice To Meet You – Myles Smith
Man I Need – Olivia Dean
Where’s My Husband! – Raye
Rein Me In – Sam Fender & Olivia Dean
Family Matters – Skye Newman
INTERNATIONAL SONG OF THE YEAR
Ordinary – Alex Warren
Pink Pony Club – Chappell Roan
No Broke Boys – Disco Lines & Tinashe
Sailor Song – Gigi Perez
That’s So True – Gracie Abrams
Golden – Huntr/x
Die With A Smile – Lady Gaga & Bruno Mars
Love Me Not – Ravyn Lenae
Apt – Rosé & Bruno Mars
Manchild – Sabrina Carpenter
Undressed – Sombr
The Fate Of Ophelia – Taylor Swift
ALTERNATIVE/ROCK ACT
Blood Orange
Lola Young
Sam Fender
Wet Leg
Wolf Alice
HIP-HOP/GRIME/RAP ACT
Central Cee
Dave
Jim Legxacy
Little Simz
Loyle Carner
DANCE ACT
Calvin Harris & Clementine Douglas
FKA Twigs
Fred Again.., Skepta & PlaqueBoyMax
PinkPantheress
Sammy Virji
POP ACT
Jade
Lily Allen
Lola Young
Olivia Dean
Raye
R&B ACT
Jim Legxacy
Kwn
Mabel
Sasha Keable
Sault
BRITS CRITICS' CHOICE
Jacob Alon: Winner
Rose Gray
Sienna Spiro
Producer Of The Year – to be announced
Songwriter Of The Year – to be announced
FOLLOW 
