Girl power was the order of the day at the 44th Brit Awards, with women emerging triumphant across the musical genres.
Leading the pack at the starstudded ceremony was singersongwriter Raye, who within an hour had scooped six of the seven awards for which she was nominated, including Artist of the Year and Songwriter of the Year.
And when the R’n’B singer’s Album of the Year award was announced, the A-list audience at London’s O2 arena gave her a standing ovation.
GRANDMOTHERLY LOVE
Shaking her head in disbelief, a visibly emotional Raye, who released her album My 21st Century Blues independently in 2023 after parting ways with her record label, brought her beloved grandmother Agatha Dawson-Amoah on stage.
With tears streaming down her face, the Escapism hitmaker said: “You don’t understand what this means to me. Is this happening right now? I’m so sorry… I’m uglycrying on national television. I’m so proud of this album.
All I wanted was to be an artist and now I’m an artist with an Album of the Year.”
Paying tribute to Agatha, in whose honour Raye was given her middle name, she continued: “My grandma is awake until 3am praying for me and my beautiful sisters. I love you so much.”
Raye only lost out in the Pop Act category, won by Dua Lipa. The Houdini singer was also nominated for Artist of the Year and received a nod for Song of the Year for her disco-influenced track Dance the Night, which featured in last year’s hit film Barbie.
Wearing black leather, Dua was on hand to kick off the ceremony with a performance of her new single, Training Season.
Amping up the soul was a crystal-clad Raye, who gave renditions of Ice Cream Man,
Prada and Escapism. There were also performances from DJ Calvin Harris with singer Ellie Goulding, Nigerian rapper and singer Rema, Jungle, Tate McRae and Chase & Status with Becky Hill.
It was a night to remember for Kylie Minogue, who received the Global Icon award in recognition of an almost 40-year
