(London) Already crowned with a Grammy last week, British star Harry Styles was named artist of the year on Saturday in London at the Brit Awards, the UK music gala.
“That night was really, really special for me and I will never forget it,” savored the singer, who also won album of the year and best pop album awards for Harry’s Houseas well as Song of the Year, with As It Was.
Although gender-neutral since 2022, in order to reward candidates “only for their work and their music”, the artist of the year category this time saw only men compete, after Adèle’s victory at the the latest edition.
“I’m very aware of my privilege here tonight,” said Harry Styles, who dedicated the award to her sisters who made the final list but were ultimately not nominated for the ceremony’s top award.
Brit Awards chairman Damian Christian said earlier this month that it was “disappointing to see this lack of female representation”, while justifying it with a lack of major musical releases from top female artists. plan.
On social networks, the announcement of a selection of five male candidates had caused an uproar. “One step forward, three steps back”, had for example lamented on Twitter Tim Burgess, singer of the Charlatans.
On the other hand, it is a woman who won the prizes for international artist and best song of the year: Beyoncé, however absent from the evening.
A week ago in Los Angeles, she became the most crowned artist of all time at the Grammy Awards, notably ahead of Taylor Swift and Kendrick Lamar in the first of the two categories.
The ceremony also allowed young talents to take the spotlight, such as the indie rock formation Wet Leg, crowned group of the year and in the category of best emerging artist.
One of its members launched a “Fuck the conservatives”, which received applause from the public, but was “beeped” on television. The program was also broadcast by the ITV channel.