The BRITs 2026 nominations are here!

Photo Credit: The BRIT Awards

The biggest night in British music is just around the corner, and for the first time in history, the BRIT Awards Ceremony will be held in Manchester at Co-Op Live. A testament to the city’s renowned musical history, the event will take place on Saturday 28th February and is set to be a night to remember. The design of this year’s trophy was unveiled in November, with Mancunian designer Matthew Williamson taking inspiration from the city’s logo of the worker bee, symbolising its role in the Industrial Revolution. The award is “cast in a chic amber toned resin”, giving it a gleam which looks like honey.

Nominations were revealed on Wednesday 21st January and it is certainly an impressive array of talent. Leading the way, we have Olivia Dean and Lola Young – who are both also up for Best New Artist at next month’s GRAMMYs – with five each, closely followed by Sam Fender with four nominations. 25-year-old Young must be experiencing a full-circle moment; just last year, she was performing her song Messy at the BRITs and now it is up for Song of the Year! She also has nominations for Artist of the Year, Breakthrough Artist, Pop Act and Alternative/Rock Act.

Dean’s The Art of Loving and Fender’s Mercury Prize-winning People Watching are both up for Album of the Year, and Dean has two shots at winning Song of the Year with Man I Need and her collaboration with Fender, Rein Me In.

Also recognised in the Album of the Year category, Wolf Alice’s fourth album The Clearing has been nominated, after the four-piece from London completed their first ever UK arena tour last year. Lily Allen has come back with a bang, as her first album in 7 years, West End Girl, has also been nominated; she is up for Artist of the Year and Pop Act too. Finally, Dave’s record-breaking The Boy Who Played The Harp finishes off the list. Upon release in October, it became the fastest-selling rap album on vinyl this century!

Elsewhere, there is a very exciting nomination for CMAT (Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson) in the International Artist of the Year category after the release of her excellent third album Euro-Country in August. She is in great company with the likes of Chappell Roan, Doechii, Lady Gaga and Taylor Swift. After his return to music with a surprise set at Glastonbury, Lewis Capaldi has taken a nomination for his song Survive. Alongside it is RAYE’s Where Is My Husband!, a brilliantly crafted earworm which shot to number 1 on the UK Singles Charts.

The first BRIT Award of 2026 has already been awarded to Dunfermline-born musician, Jacob Alon, for Critics’ Choice. Alon delivered a heartfelt performance of their song Don’t Fall Asleep on the night of the nomination announcements. Upon receiving the award, they shared “I’m really grateful for this. I’m so glad that people felt anything at all from this music that was born so far away here. This is a really cool celebration of that, and that means the world to me.”

There are, however, several notable snubs within this year’s nominations. Despite recognition in categories including Artist of the Year and Pop Act, many fans were outraged by the dismissal of JADE’s debut solo album That’s Showbiz Baby! in Album of the Year. We took to Instagram to ask who our followers believe had been snubbed, and many shared that the lack of James Marriott in the Breakthrough Artist category was disheartening.

Another surprise was that Florence + the Machine went unnoticed for their album Everybody Scream despite previously being nominated four times for Album of the Year and winning in 2010 with Lungs. Additionally, there were no nominations for Lorde, Addison Rae, Justin Bieber or Tate McRae in the International categories following hugely successful years for all of them. Finally, many expected Doncaster-born Yungblud to get a nod at this year’s BRIT Awards after topping the UK album charts twice in 2025, but alas, there were sadly no nominations for him.

These nominations are only the beginning of the buzz surrounding the BRITs, with many events in place during the build-up to the big night. BRITs Week makes a return in 2026, with the likes of Fat Boy Slim, Lambrini Girls, Myles Smith and Jacob Alon (and many more) performing across the country in support of War Child. As well as this, last week the BRITs Fringe was announced, delivered by Brighter Sound in collaboration with Manchester Music City. Opportunities including the FRINGE LAB, First Steps and Schools Collaboration are aimed to amplify the bustling grassroots scene in Manchester and offer an exciting collection of events to support and empower the next generation of musicians in the city. More information can be found here.

With the first performer announcement of Olivia Dean, Saturday 28th February is shaping up to be an extremely exciting evening at Co-op Live. Nominations for the BRIT Awards 2026 are as follows:

Artist of the Year

• Dave
• Fred again..
• JADE
• Lily Allen
• Little Simz
• Lola Young
• Olivia Dean
• PinkPantheress
• Sam Fender
• Self Esteem

Group of the Year

• The Last Dinner Party
• Pulp
• Sleep Token
• Wet Leg
• Wolf Alice

Album of the Year

• The Boy Who Played The Harp by Dave
• West End Girl by Lily Allen
• The Art of Loving by Olivia Dean
• People Watching by Sam Fender
• The Clearing by Wolf Alice

Song of the Year

• Blessings by Calvin Harris and Clementine Douglas
• The Days (Notion Remix) by Chrystal and Notion
• Defying Gravity by Cynthia Erivo (feat. Ariana Grande)
• Azizam by Ed Sheeran
• Victory Lap by Fred Again.., Skepta and PlaqueBoyMax
• Survive by Lewis Capaldi
• Messy by Lola Young
• Nice to Meet You by Myles Smith
• Man I Need by Olivia Dean
• Where Is My Husband! by RAYE
• Rein Me In by Sam Fender and Olivia Dean
• Family Matters by Skye Newman

International Artist of the Year

• Bad Bunny
• Chappell Roan
• CMAT
• Doechii
• Lady Gaga
• Rosalía
• Sabrina Carpenter
• Sombr
• Taylor Swift
• Tyler, The Creator

International Song of the Year

• Ordinary by Alex Warren
• Pink Pony Club by Chappell Roan
• No Broke Boys by Disco Lines and Tinashe
• Sailor Song by Gigi Perez
• That’s So True by Gracie Abrams
• Golden (From KPop Demon Hunters) by Huntr/x, Ejae/Audrey Nuna/Rei Ami
• Die With a Smile by Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars
• Love Me Not by Ravyn Lenae
• APT. by Rosé and Bruno Mars
• Manchild by Sabrina Carpenter
• Undressed by Sombr
• The Fate of Ophelia by Taylor Swift

International Group of the Year

• Geese
• HAIM
• Huntr/x, Ejae/Audrey Nuna/Rei Ami
• Tame Impala
• Turnstile

Breakthrough Artist

• Barry Can’t Swim
• Esdeekid
• Jim Legxacy
• Lola Young
• Skye Newman

Pop Act

• JADE
• Lily Allen
• Lola Young
• Olivia Dean
• RAYE

Alternative/Rock Act

• Blood Orange
• Lola Young
• Sam Fender
• Wet Leg
• Wolf Alice

Dance Act

• Calvin Harris and Clementine Douglas
• FKA Twigs
• Fred Again.., Skepta and PlaqueBoyMax
• PinkPantheress
• Sammy Virji

Hip Hop/Grime/Rap Act

• Central Cee
• DAVE
• Jim Legxacy
• Little Simz
• Loyle Carner

R&B Act

• Jim Legxacy
• KWN
• Mabel
• Sasha Keable
• Sault