Harry Styles crowned artist of the year on Saturday night in London

Harry Styles, 29, winner of the Grammy Award for best sung pop album on February 5, was named artist of the year on Saturday night in London at the Brit Awards, the UK’s music wins. “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 House, as well as Song of the Year, with As It Wasfour trophies in total.

A flagship, gender-neutral category, without any female finalist

Although gender-neutral since 2022, in an effort to reward candidates “only for their work and their music”the artist of the year category saw only men compete this time, after Adèle’s victory in the last edition. “I am very aware of my privilege here tonight,” explained Harry Styles, who dedicated this award to his sisters who were considered in the final list but who were not ultimately nominated for the ceremony’s flagship award.

Brit Awards chairman Damian Christian said earlier this month that he was “disappointing to observe this lack of female representation”, while justifying it with a lack of major musical releases from leading female artists. 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 deplored on Twitter Tim Burgess, singer of the Charlatans.

Two trophies for Beyoncé

On the other hand, it is a woman who won the prizes for international artist and best song of the year: the American superstar 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. Beyoncé and Harry Styles were the two favorites in terms of nominations.

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 “I f*** the Tories”, which received applause from the audience but was “beeped” on TV. The program was also broadcast by the ITV channel.