Brit Award for British Artist of the Year

British music award

Brit Award for British Artist of the Year

2025 winner: Charli XCX

Awarded for| British Artist of the Year
Country| United Kingdom (UK)
Presented by| British Phonographic Industry (BPI)
First award| 2022
Currently held by| Charli XCX (2025)
Most awards| None
Website| www.brits.co.uk

The Brit Award for British Artist of the Year is an award given by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), an organisation which represents record companies and artists in the United Kingdom.[1] The accolade is presented at the Brit Awards, an annual celebration of British and international music.[2] The winners and nominees are determined by the Brit Awards voting academy with over one thousand members, which comprise record labels, publishers, managers, agents, media, and previous winners and nominees.[3]

The current holder of the award is Charli XCX, who won in 2025.

## History

[edit]

The category was introduced in 2022 and combined the previous categories for British Female Solo Artist and British Male Solo Artist. The restructuring of these categories was a result of the Academy's wish to eliminate the distinctions between male and female artists and replace it with new gender-neutral category.[4] This category is intended to honour solo artists, as groups are still nominated in the British Group category.

Following an all-male shortlist in 2023, the list of nominees was expanded from five to ten beginning with the 2024 Brit Awards in an effort to increase diversity.[5]

## Eligibility

[edit]

In order to be eligible for the Artist of the Year award, "an artist must have achieved at least one top 40 album or two top 20 singles" during the Brits eligibility period, which generally runs from early December of one year to a similar date of the following year (e.g. the eligibility period for the 2023 Brit awards was 10 December 2021 to 9 December 2022). To determine the nominees for the category, record labels are invited to submit their eligible artists for consideration for the members of the BPI to vote on. Each of the approximately 1,200 members chooses their personal top five in order of preference and the votes are counted to produce the shortlist of five nominees.[6]

## Winners and nominees

[edit]

Year  | Recipient  | Nominee

|
|

2022
(42nd) | Adele |

* Dave
* Sam Fender
* Little Simz
* Ed Sheeran

2023
(43rd) | Harry Styles |

* Central Cee
* Fred Again
* George Ezra
* Stormzy

2024
(44th) | Raye |

* Arlo Parks
* Central Cee
* Dave
* Dua Lipa
* Fred Again
* J Hus
* Jessie Ware
* Little Simz
* Olivia Dean

2025
(45th) | Charli XCX |

* Beabadoobee
* Central Cee
* Dua Lipa
* Fred Again
* Jamie xx
* Michael Kiwanuka
* Nia Archives
* Rachel Chinouriri
* Sam Fender

## Artists with multiple nominations

[edit]

3 nominations

* Central Cee
* Fred Again

2 nominations

* Dave
* Dua Lipa
* Little Simz
* Sam Fender

## Controversy

[edit]

In 2023, the awards attracted controversy due to all five nominees for the solo award being male.[7][8]

## See also

[edit]

* Brit Award for International Solo Artist

## Notes

[edit]

* Adele (2008) also won the Brit Award for Rising Star
* Adele (2012, 2016) also won the Brit Award for British Female Solo Artist

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "About the BPI". British Phonographic Industry (BPI). Archived from the original on 6 December 2015. Retrieved 22 February 2014.
2. ^ "BRIT Awards". British Phonographic Industry (BPI). Archived from the original on 6 September 2018. Retrieved 22 February 2014.
3. ^ "And the nominees are..." Brits.co.uk. British Phonographic Industry (BPI). Retrieved 22 February 2014.
4. ^ "Brit Awards Announce New Gender-Neutral Categories". Rolling Stone. 22 November 2021.
5. ^ "Brit awards extend best artist shortlist to 10 after 2023's all-male lineup". The Guardian. 24 November 2023. Retrieved 2 December 2023.
6. ^ "Brit Awards 2023: Why are no women nominated for best artist?". BBC News. 14 January 2023.
7. ^ Aubrey, Elizabeth (13 January 2023). "BRIT Awards face backlash for all male Artist Of The Year nominations". NME. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
8. ^ "Brit Awards 2023: Why are no women nominated for best artist?". BBC News. 14 January 2023. Retrieved 16 January 2023.

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Brit Awards

Ceremonies|

* 1977
* 1982
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Current awards|

* Brit Billion Award
* British Album of the Year
* British Artist of the Year
* British Producer of the Year
* British Rock/Alternative Act
* British Dance Act
* British Hip Hop/Grime/Rap Act
* British R&B Act
* British Pop Act
* British Group
* Best New Artist
* Outstanding Contribution to Music
* Rising Star
* Brit Award for Song of the Year
* International Artist
* International Group
* International Song
* Songwriter of the Year
* Global Success Award

Defunct awards|

* British Male Solo Artist
* British Female Solo Artist
* British Video of the Year
* International Album
* International Breakthrough Act
* International Male Solo Artist
* International Female Solo Artist
* Classical Recording
* Soundtrack/Cast Recording

Albums|

* Brit Awards 2014
* Brit Awards 2015
* Brit Awards 2016
* Brit Awards 2017
* Brit Awards 2018

Related|

* British Phonographic Industry
* Classic Brit Awards

* v
* t
* e

Brit Award for British Artist of the Year

2022–present|

* Adele (2022)
* Harry Styles (2023)
* Raye (2024)
* Charli XCX (2025)

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