This year’s Brit Awards nominations have landed and – unlike last year’s fiasco, when due to the new genderless awards categories, no female artists were nominated for artist of the year, which went to Harry Styles – there is a veritable army of representation of brilliant women in the running.
The Brits have clearly learned from last year’s debacle, which caused a major backlash, and at this week’s nominations launch at the Hilton Park Lane in London, the chair of the Brits, Damian Christian said: “Last year we listened to your views and expanded the artist of the year category”, adding, “It’s important that we listen, consult and learn.” This was echoed by the new female CEO of the British Phonographic Industry which runs the Awards ceremony, Dr Jo Twist, who highlighted how women enjoyed a record year in 2023, with women artists spending the most time at the top of the charts since the charts began in 1952! As such, out of the new 10 – as opposed to last year’s five – nominations for artist of the year 2024, six on the list were women.
So here, as we look forward to the biggest night in British music, we give you a roundup of some of the brilliant female artists to watch out for on Saturday 2nd March. While there are plenty of the usual suspects in the running – aka the global superstars that are: Miley Cyrus, Taylor Swift, Kylie Minogue, Lana Del Rey, Olivia Rodrigo and Dua Lipa (who will also be performing live at the O2), here’s a selection of our lesser known favourites – some of whom you may not have even heard of yet.
Raye
Dave Benett
Okay, we’re pretty sure you’ll have heard of Raye – but this lady from South London has broken all Brits records this year, racking up an amazing 7 Brit nominations including artist of the year, best album, best new artist, best pop act and two in the best song category – Escapism, featuring US rapper 070 Shake, and Prada, a collaboration with Casso and D-Block Europe. This is the most nominations for one artist in one year and she beats Craig David and Robbie Williams who previously held the record at six nominations each.
Raye’s success is even more impactful as in 2021, after complaining that her major label was refusing to release her debut album, she decided to put it out independently instead. “As far as the industry was concerned, I was down and out,” Raye said yesterday. “Never in my wildest dreams would I think that trying again would mean seven Brit nominations!”
Kenya Grace
Jason Koerner