Liam Gallagher praised for poignant tribute to Manchester attack victims

Ariana Grande was forced to pull out of her scheduled performance on her doctor's advice

When Ariana Grande was forced to miss out on her performance at the Brits, which was set to pay tribute to the victims of the Manchester attack at her concert last year, there was really only one other person who could step in.

Liam Gallagher was praised for his poignant rendition of "Live Forever", in memory of the 22 people killed and hundreds more injured when a suicide bomber detonated a device in the the foyer of the Manchester Arena.

Gallagher was introduced by Take That star Gary Barlow, who said the One Love Manchester concert "epitomised the human spirit" and that "hate will never win, and fear will never divide us".

"Live Forever" was also the song Gallagher performed with Coldplay's Chris Martin at Grande's One Love Manchester concert, which raised millions towards those affected by the attack.

Grande herself appeared to show approval for Gallagher's performance, sharing a clip on her Instagram with a heart and bee emoji. The worker bee, a symbol of Manchester, was frequently shared as a symbol of solidarity in the wake of the attack.

Dua Lipa and Stormzy were the big winners at this year's ceremony: Dua Lipa took home the prizes for British Female Solo Artist and British Breakthrough, while Stormzy won British Male Solo Artist and Mastercard Album of the Year.

Other performances on the night included a beautiful duet of "Skin" with Rag'N'Bone Man and Jorja Smith; Kendrick Lamar rapped on top of a glass cage while Rich the Kid smashed up a Lamborghini; Rita Ora and Liam Payne performing their Fifty Shades Freed track "For You", while the performance of the night had to be Stormzy, who called out Theresa May over her inaction on Grenfell in a blistering freestyle.

See the Brits winners in full here and read what we made of the ceremony here.

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