The Brits 2023 as it happened: Harry Styles wins coveted Album of the Year
Mo Gilligan hosted the awards ceremony for a second time at the O2 Arena in London
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The biggest night in British music came to a rather predictable end, as Harry Styles won every category he was nominated in.
The “As It Was” singer took home the prizes for Artist of the Year, Album of the Year, Song of the Year, and Pop/R&B, as the 2023 Brit Awards were transformed into “Harry’s House”.
Wet Leg were the other big winners of the night, as the “Chaise Longue” hitmakers were awarded Best British Group and Best New Artist on Saturday (11 February). They lost out, however, to The 1975 in the Alt/Rock category (which is decided by fans) and to Styles in the Album of the Year category.
Read: Biggest talking points from the 2023 Brits
Hosted by Mo Gilligan, the show had a number of standout moments including Sam Smith and Kim Petras’s “Unholy” performance and Styles thanking his former One Direction bandmates during his Artist of the Year acceptance speech.
Elsewhere, Cat Burns performed a stunning rendition of of her 2020 TikTok hit “Go”, and Wet Leg bassist Ellis Durand had some strong words for the Tory party, which ITV rushed to bleep out.
Lizzo’s glittery, show-stopping performance earned praise on Twitter, and David Guetta’s finale act with Becky Hill and Sam Ryder was a surprise triumph.
In the run-up to the ceremony, there was considerable backlash to the all-male contender list for this year’s gender-neutral Artist of the Year prize.
Catch up on everything that happened below...
Wet Leg chat with Clara Amfo
The Isle of Wight duo shot to fame with their 2022 song “Chaise Longue”... now after a hugely successful Grammys, they’re hoping to clean up at tonight’s Brits. The pair are up for awards in four categories:
Group of the Year
Best New Artist
Best Alternative Rock
Album of the Year
Are you sitting comfortably?
Hello! I hope you’ve been enjoying our Brits coverage so far, stay tuned as the show is about to kick off and we’ll be bringing you all the latest goss, winners and news from the live ceremony. Let’s go! Keep up with the winners here:
The full list of winners at the 2023 Brit Awards
This is the first time the Brits are being held on a Saturday (11 February)
By the way, if you were just watching the red carpet you need to switch on over to ITV1 where Mo Gilligan is getting the party started. He’s got a chopper and everything.
Album of the Year contender Harry Styles launches the 2023 Brit Awards with ‘As It Was'
Here he is, one of the most controversial Grammy-winners in recent years. Harry Styles is up for Album of the Year at the Brits too, along with Song of the Year and a couple more. Brit School attendees are going wild for his rendition of single “As It Was”, complete with a sequinned matador-style jacket. Hey, at least we’re not about to witness another revolving stage disaster.
The first award of the night goes to...
Cracking on with the first award of the night, for Hip-Hop/Grime/Rap, which goes to...
Aitch! Possibly a contentious one, given he was up against heavyweights including Stormzy and Dave.
Aitch speech has echoes of Harry Styles
Did Aitch watch Harry’s speech at the Grammys? Big echoes of “not many people like me...”
Can’t see the woods for the trees
They appear to be buildng a forest onstage for whoever’s performing next - that’s a lot of foliage.
International Artist of the Year goes to... Beyonce!
Beating fellow heavyweights including Taylor Swift, Kendrick Lamar and Lizzo is Beyonce, who obviously isn’t here but she made a video message! And she’s looking forward to seeing us all on her mega world tour.
Dance act goes to Becky Hill!
Wow, this is Becky Hill’s second prize in the category and she looks suitably emotional, getting a little wave of support from the lovely Sam Ryder on her way up to the stage.
Was that a subtle dig at Raye?
Becky Hill just did a big shout out to her record label, Polydor, which isn’t unusual in itself, but she specifically thanked them for supporting her new music. You might remember Raye’s own fallout with Polydor over her frustration at their apparent unwillingness to let her put out an album. She just scored a No 2 with her debut album... as an independent artist!
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