Raye wins Brit Awards and sets record

British singer Raye lived up to her role as favorite at this year’s Brit Awards, setting a record with prizes in a total of six categories.

At the awards ceremony on Saturday evening in London, she received the trophies for Best Album (“My 21st Century Blues”), Best Song (“Escapism.”), Best Female Artist, Best New Artist and Best R’n’ B Artist. presented. “You have no idea what this means to me,” Raye said in her fifth acceptance speech of the evening, after she shed tears of joy and brought her proud grandmother on stage with her. In the run-up to the 44th awards ceremony, she had already been named songwriter of the year – the first woman in the history of the awards.

Raye entered the race with seven nominations – more than any other solo artist before her. With a total of six awards, she broke the record for the most British awards won in an awards year, leaving previous record holders Blur, Harry Styles and Adele, who had won four awards in one year.

The Brit Award for Best International Band went to the American indie band Boygenius, consisting of singer-songwriters Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacus. Unable to accept her award for Best International Artist in person, SZA thanked her via a video message, as did Miley Cyrus, who was thrilled to receive her award for Best International Song.

Casisdead (hip-hop/grime/rap), Calvin Harris (dance), Dua Lipa (pop) and Bring Me The Horizon (alternative/rock) won in the genre categories. There was no prize for the only German nominee: DJ Robin Schulz was nominated for Best International Song together with Oliver Tree with “Miss You”.

The producers of the year were drum’n’bass experts Chase & Status, known for their collaborations with Rihanna and Rita Ora, among others. Immediately after their ceremony, the two sang their joint hit ‘Disconnect’ together with Becky Hill.

Dua Lipa opened the awards ceremony at London’s Millennium Dome with her hit song “Training Season,” including impressive New Circus-style acrobatics and risky stunts. Calvin Harris and Ellie Goulding performed their hit “Miracle” together for the first time at the British. Raye, Jungle, Rema and Tate McRae also performed at the awards ceremony. Australian pop queen Kylie Minogue was honored as a ‘global icon’ and performed a medley of her biggest hits at the end of the evening.

Rachel Jones was responsible for the design of this year’s prize statue – the look was ‘colourful and chaotic’, according to the British painter. Since 2011, the trophy has been designed by renowned artists, architects and designers, including Vivienne Westwood, Damien Hirst and Es Devlin. The show was moderated by Clara Amfo, Maya Jama and Roman Kemp. (sda/dpa)