The Brit Awards, which annually reward the artisans of music in Great Britain, announced on Monday the end of gender categories.
At the next ceremony which will take place on February 8, 2022, the prestigious Artist of the Year and International Artist of the Year categories will no longer be separated between ” male ” and ” female “. All artists, whatever genre they identify with, will thus find themselves under the umbrella of a single inclusive category.
This decision is a response to the criticisms that had been leveled at the Brit Awards in 2020 by the non-binary singer Sam Smith, who said he did not identify with the separation of categories between man and woman. “I look forward to the day when the ceremonies will represent the society in which we live,” he said.
“It’s important that the Brits continue to evolve and strive for as much inclusion as possible,” said the Guardian Polydor Records co-chair Tom March, who is also president of the Brit Awards this year, to explain the decision.
Always in a desire to be more representative, the Brit Awards announced the creation of four new categories in specific musical styles: alternative / rock, hip-hop / grime / rap, dance and pop / R’n’B. The winners will be determined by public vote.