Barefoot Raye fights back tears at the BRITS after record-breaking 7 nominations

Raye won the first BRIT Award on Saturday night during a star-studded ceremony at London’s O2 arena.

The singer/songwriter scooped the Song of the year award for her hit Escapism ft 070 Shake, shortly before also taking home the R&B Act gong and Best New Artist.

‘I’m shaking. i don’t really know what to say right now, but… thank you. I’ve always dreamed of saying that,’ she said as the reached the podium to accept her first award of the night.

Accepting Best New Artist just minutes afterwards, the emotional star told the crowd: ‘What is actually happening right now ‘cause I just don’t understand!’

Raye’s recent success comes after she parted ways with her former label, Polydor, and released her critically acclaimed debut My 21st Century Blues as an independent artist. She referenced her new beginning in her Best New Artist Speech. 

The singer/songwriter scooped the Song of the year award for her hit Escapism ft 070 Shake, shortly before also taking home the R&B Act gong and Best New Artist

‘I have to thank my mum and my dad who are also part of my team, and my grandma. Yes grandma! I, in ways, do feel like a new artist. I released my first song when I was 15, my first mixtape when I was 16, don’t go and listen to it because it’s not that good any more.’

‘But I do feel like a new artist, I got to start again. The artist I was three years ago would not believe what she’s seeing today. I’m my own boss now, I’m in control. Thank you!’

She also scooped the first ever BRIT Award for R&B act, which is voted for by the public via Instagram and is a new standalone genre category after musicians and fans complained about R&B being conjoined with the pop  last year.

Raye acknowledged the the uproar in her speech, telling the crowd: ‘Look I just wanna say, when I was about 16, 15 years old, I wanted to be an R&B artist, that’s what I would say.

‘And I was told, I think, a lie that R&B doesn’t sell in the UK so I needed to learn how to make different kinds of music.’

‘I know that’s a bit shady but I need to say R&B is so important and there are so many R&B artists in the UK eating it up. I wanna shout out to Mahalia, who campaigned for this award, Cleo Sol, who’s immaculate, Sault. This really is a lot – thank you.’

Raye also won Songwriter of the Year, which was announced ahead of the live ceremony, with host Clara Amfo handing her the gong in a surprise moment after her Best New Artist win. 

Radio 1 DJ Clara told the crowd how she gave Raye her first radio play back when she was a teenager. ‘Brit awards coming like buses, you wait for one and three come along!’ she gushed of her friend as a speechless Raye clutched her gongs.

Her success comes after she parted ways with her former label, Polydor, and released her critically acclaimed debut My 21st Century Blues as an independent artist

The star went barefoot, kicking off her red carpet heels, for her many trips to the podium

She also scooped the first ever BRIT Award for R&B act, which is voted for by the public via Instagram and is a new standalone genre category

The artist then gave an impassioned plea to the music industry, taking the mic to declare: ‘Whilst I’m here, British record music industry please, I just wanna have a brief conversation about normalising giving songwriters master royalty points.

‘It can be net costs, it doesn’t have to be at your expense, but it means if songs win big the writers win big too. Please allow that to happen.’

The 26-year-old has been shortlisted in seven categories – the most by any artist in one year- including two separate nods in the Song of the Year category for ‘Prada’ and ‘Escapism’.

The ‘Worth It’ hitmaker is also up for RnB Act, Best New Artist, Hip Hop/Grime/Rap Act, Artist of the Year and Album of the Year for her acclaimed record ‘My 21st Century Blues’.

Speaking on the red carpet before the ceremony at London’s O2 on Saturday, Raye admitted she was struggling to take it all in.

She told red carpet hosts Layton Williams and DJ Harriet Rose: ‘It’s a joke. I was trying and hustling for years. It’s too much. My main thing tonight is that I have to enjoy it. Otherwise what is the point.

‘It’s really hard to process things in real time.’

Stranger Things star Joe Keery preseneds Raye with the award for Best New Artist 

Raye also won Songwriter of the Year, which was announced ahead of the live ceremony, with host Clara Amfo handing her the gong in a surprise moment after her Best New Artist win

A record 98 artists are up for the new 2024 BRIT award, which has been designed by British visual artist and painter Rachel Jones.

The non-gendered Artist Of The Year Award sparked outrage last year, after it replaced individual Male and Female categories, but then failed to include any female or non-binary artists among its five nominations.

This year however, thanks in part to the category being doubled in size, there are six female nominees out of the 10, including Raye.

Arlo Parks, Jessie Ware, Lil Simz, Olivia Sims and Dua Lipa make up the female nominees, while Central Cee, Dave, J. Hus and Fred Again… are also nominated.

The second gong of the night went to Jungle for Group of the Year.  

Meanwhile Bring Me The Horizon got another early win for  for Alternative/Rock Act while Sza won International Artist of the Year.

The 26-year-old has been shortlisted in seven categories – the most by any artist in one year- including two separate nods in the Song of the Year category for ‘Prada’ and ‘Escapism’

It is the first BRIT for Bring Me The Horizon, who were left shocked by the win. 

Oli Sykes told the crowd: ‘I don’t know what to say ‘cause we didn’t think we’d be winning this at all. Cheers to the Brits for making the voting system so complicated only our fans could be arsed.’

Hip Hop/Grime/Rap Act went to Casisdead and Calvin Harris picked up the Best Dance Act gong, which follows the success of his hit collaboration with Ellie Goulding, Miracle spending eight weeks at number one last year.

Calvin shouted out Ellie in his soeech, telling her: ‘I wouldn’t be on this stage this year if it wasn’t for you. What you brought to Miracle was unbelievable, I couldn’t have done this with anybody else.’

Dua Lipa picked up the fan-voted Pop Act gong, gushing to her fans: ‘I guess for more reasons than one my fans are the reasons why I’m standing here today, so I wanna say a massive thank you to each and every single one of you who have voted for me.’

‘This means so much, I’m so, so happy to be here. You guys give me this radical sense of confidence that I can do anything, I can try and experiment … and all the love and optimism and support is what inspires me, so thank you so much. Beyond that, it takes a village, so I want to thank my dad-ager.’

The second gong of the night went to Jungle for Group of the Year

Meanwhile Bring Me The Horizon got another early win for for Alternative/Rock Act

Maya Jama, Roman Kemp and Clara Amfo were the hosts of the night 

Dua Lipa and Ellie Goulding pulled out all the stops as they led the performances for the 2024 BRIT Awards at the 02 Arena on Saturday night. 

Double nominee Dua, 28, opened the ceremony with her new song Training Season from her upcoming her third studio album. 

The songstress looked incredible in an all leather look while Ellie, 37, stormed the stage just a week after announcing the end of her marriage. 

Dua flashed her abs in a black bra which she teamed with hotpants, a biker jacket and heeled boots. 

Flanked by a group of backing dancers, Dua appeared in her element as she worked the crowd for hosts Maya Jama, Roman Kemp and Clara Amfo.  

Dua Lipa (left) and Ellie Goulding(right) pulled out all the stops as they led the performances for the 2024 BRIT Awards at the 02 Arena on Saturday night

Double nominee Dua, 28, opened the ceremony with her new song Training Season from her upcoming her third studio album

Dua captivated the audience with the ceremony’s opening number

At one point she was lifted off her feet as her clan of dancers worked the floor below her.  

And it was a poignant moment for Ellie as she also hit the stage after a turbulent few weeks. 

The singer announced last week her four-year marriage to Caspar Jopling, 31, had ended after she was pictured cosying up to hunky surf instructor Arrmando Perez. 

But music was solely the focus for Ellie on Saturday night as she took to the stage with Calvin Harris to perform Miracle which won Best Song Of The Year. 

The songstress stunned in a white ruffled bodysuit and thigh-high leggings which showed off her gym-honed physique.  

The pair previously collaborated on the dance-pop anthems ‘I Need Your Love’ in 2012 and ‘Outside’ in 2014. 

It was a poignant moment for Ellie Goulding as she also hit the stage after a turbulent few weeks. 

The singer announced last week her four-year marriage to Caspar Jopling, 31, had ended after she was pictured cosying up to hunky surf instructor Arrmando Perez 

Tate McRae also hit the stage during the BRIT Awards ceremony 

The singer, 20, put on a busty display in a glittery bra which she teamed with blue trousers and trainers 

        BRIT AWARDS 2024 – THE                          NOMINATIONS IN FULL  

SONG OF THE YEAR 

Calvin Harris – Miracle

Casso x RAYE – Prada

Central Cee – Let Go

Dave – Sprinter

Dua Lipa – Dance the Night

Ed Sheeran – Eyes Closed

J Hus – Who Told You

Kenya Grace – Strangers

Lewis Capaldi – Wish You The Best

Pink Pantheress – Boy’s a Liar

RAYE – Escapism

Rudimental – Dancing is Healing

Stormzy – Firebae

Switch Disco – React

Venebee – Messy in Heaven

BEST NEW ARTIST 

Mahalia

Olivia Dean

Pinkpantheress

RAYE

Yuseff Dayes

ARTIST OF THE YEAR  

Arlo Parks

Central Cee

Dave

Dua Lipa

Fred Again… 

J Hus

Jessie Ware

Little Simz

Olivia Dean

RAYE  

GROUP OF THE YEAR  

Blur

Chase & Status

Headie One and K-Trap

Jungle

Young Fathers

INTERNATIONAL GROUP OF THE YEAR  

Blink 182

Boygenius

Foo fighters

Gabriels

Paramore

DANCE ACT  

Barry Can’t Swim

Becky Hill

Calvin Harris

Fred Again… 

Romy
 R&B ACT 

Cleo Sol

Jorja smith

Mahalia

RAYE

Sault

ALTERNATIVE ROCK  

Blur

Bring Me The Horizon

The Rolling Stones

Young Fathers

Yusseff Dayes

HIP HOP/GRIME/RAP ACT

CASSIEDEAD 

Central Cee

Dave

J Hus

Little Simz

POP ACT  

Calvin Harris 

Charli XCX

Dua Lipa

Olivia Dean

RAYE

INTERNATIONAL ARTIST  

Asake

Burna Boy

Caroline Polachek

CMAT

Kylie Minogue

Lana del Rey

Miley Cyrus

Olivia Rodrigo

SZA

Taylor Swift

INTERNATIONAL SONG OF THE YEAR  

Billie Eilish – What Was I Made For

David Kushner – Daylight

Doja Cat – Paint The Town Red

Jazzy – Giving Me

Libianca – People 

Meghan Trainer – Made You Look

Miley Cyrus – Flowers  

Noah Kahan – Stick Season

Oliver Tree – Miss you

Olivia Rodrigo – Vampire

Peggy Gou – It Goes Like

Rema – Calm Down 

SZA – Kill Bill

Tate McRae – Greedy –

Tyla – Water

ALBUM OF THE YEAR  

Blur – the Ballad of Darren

J Hus – Beautiful

Little Simz – No Thank You

RAYE – My 21st Century Blues

Young Fathers – Heavy Heavy

BRIT RISING STAR  

Caity Baser 

Sekou Island 

The Last Dinner Party (Winner)