Adele, Ed Sheeran, Little Simz and Dave lead the nominations for the 2022 Brit Awards.
Next year’s set of nominations includes the biggest number of women or female-fronted acts in over a decade, suggesting that the recent scrapping of gender-based awards categories has not negatively impacted representation.
Among the female and female-fronted acts nominated this year are groups Little Mix, Wolf Alice and London Grammar, rappers Little Simz and Doja Cat, and singers Adele, Dua Lipa, Joy Crookes, Griff and Self Esteem.
Grime, rap and hip-hop artists have also fared well in this year’s set of nominations, with nods for Little Simz, Ghetts, AJ Tracey, Dave and newcomer Central Cee.
Adele, Sheeran, Little Simz and Dave all have four nods apiece, while singer-songwriter Sam Fender, Central Cee and producer David Guetta are up for three awards each.
See the nominations in full below:
Artist of the Year
Adele
Dave
Little Simz
Ed Sheeran
Sam Fender
Album of the Year
30 – Adele
We’re All Alone In This Together – Dave
Sometimes I Might Be Introvert – Little Simz
= (Equals) – Ed Sheeran
Seventeen Going Under – Sam Fender
Best Group
Little Mix
Coldplay
D-Block Europe
Wolf Alice
London Grammar
Song of the Year
“Latest Trends” – A1 and J1
“Easy on Me” – Adele
“Don’t Play” – Annie-Marie, KSI, Digital Farm Animals
“Remember” – Becky Hill with David Guetta
“Obsessed With You” – Central Cee
“Clash” – Dave ft Stormzy
“Bad Habits” – Ed Sheeran
“Cold Heart” (PNAU Remix) – Elton John, Dua Lipa
“Heat Waves” – Glass Animals
“Bed” – Joel Corry, Raye, David Guetta
“Holiday” – KSI
“Wellerman” (220 Kid and Billen Ted Remix) – Nathan Evans
“Friday (Dopamine Re-edit)” – Riton x Nightcrawlers ft Mufasa and Hypeman
“Body” – Tion Wayne and Russ Millions
“Little Bit of Love” – Tom Grennan
Best New Artist
Central Cee
Griff
Joy Crookes
Little Simz
Self Esteem
Rock/Alternative
Coldplay
Glass Animals
Sam Fender
Tom Grennan
Wolf Alice
Hip hop/grime/rap
Dave
Little Simz
AJ Tracey
Central Cee
Ghetts
Dance
Becky Hill
Calvin Harris
Fred Again
Joel Corry
Raye
Pop/R&B
Adele
Dua Lipa
Ed Sheeran
Griff
Joy Crooks
International Artist
Billie Eilish
Doja Cat
Lil Nas X
Olivia Rodrigo
Taylor Swift
International Group
Abba
BTS
Maneskin
Silk Sonic/ Bruno Mars/ Anderson. Paak
The War on Drugs
International Song of the Year
“Your Love (9pm)” – ATB x Topic x A7S
“Happier Than Ever” - Billie Eilish
“Love Nwantiti (ah ah ah)” – Ckay
“Kiss Me More” – Doja Cat ft Sza
“Girls Want Girl” – Drake ft Lil Baby
“Heartbreak Anthem” – Galantis, David Guetta, Little Mix
“Black Magic” – Jonasu
“Stay” – Justin Bieber, Kid Laroi
“Montero (Call Me by Your Name)” – Lil Nas X
“Calling My Phone” – Lil Tjay ft 6lack
“Wanna Be Your Slave” – Maneskin
“Good 4 U” – Olivia Rodrigo
“Rap Star” – Polo G
“The Business” – Tiesto
“Save Your Tears” – The Weeknd
The Brit Awards removed male and female categories to make the annual ceremony as “inclusive and relevant as possible”.
In a statement announcing the change, the Brits said the move came as they wanted to celebrate “artists solely for their music and work, rather than how they choose to identify or as others may see them”.
Musicians such as Sam Smith and Will Young had previously called for the change, saying gender categories resulted in the exclusion of non-binary musicians.
Next year’s ceremony will also see the reintroduction of genre-based prizes for the first time since 2006. Prizes for best alternative/rock, pop/R&B, dance and hip-hop/rap/grime will be voted for by fans, rather than music industry insiders as per tradition.
Singer-songwriter Holly Humberstone was announced as the recipient of the 2022 Rising Star Award earlier this month, beating competition from fellow shortlisted artists Bree Runway and Lola Young.
The Brit Awards take place at the O2 Arena in London on 8 February 2022. Find out who’s performing live at the ceremony here. Everything else you need to know can be found here.
