British singer, Harry Styles, has won the Best Pop/R&B Act at the 2023 BRIT Awards
Brit Awards 2023, the 43rd edition of the ceremony, presented by the British Phonographic Industry, was held on 11 February 2023 to recognise the best in British and international music. The ceremony was held at the O2 Arena in London on Saturday.
In his thank you speech, Styles said, “I want to thank my mum for signing me up to X Factor, so I literally wouldn’t be here without you.”
ANN had reported that Styles was a favourite to win top prizes this year including the British album of the year, for “Harry’s House” after earlier this month winning the coveted Grammy for album of the year.
Pop/R&B Act, Song of the Year, Artist of the Year and Mastercard Album of the Year, all for his Grammy-winning “Harry’s House” album, brought him back to the stage for speeches laced with rather more gratitude than attitude, although he did at least address the big pre-show controversy over the all-male shortlist for Artist of the Year, after gendered categories were scrapped last year (not to mention his baffling, much-criticized comment when accepting the Grammy for album of the year just six days ago, “This doesn’t happen to people like me very often”).
“I’m very aware of my privilege up here tonight,” he said, referencing just some of the female artists overlooked by Academy voters to warm applause. “So this is for Rina [Sawayama], Charli [XCX], Florence [+ the Machine], Mabel and Becky [Hill].”
🖤@Harry_Styles reflecting on his 4 BRIT Award wins is everything #BRITs pic.twitter.com/QaUPmcWv1v
— BRIT Awards (@BRITs) February 12, 2023
In 2022, the Brits merged separate male and female categories into new awards for “best artist” and “best international artist”. But there was a backlash when women were excluded from this year’s best artist shortlist, with high-profile acts like Charli XCX and Florence + The Machine failing to secure a nomination
The award for this year was designed by Nigerian-born London-based artist, Olaolu Slawn.
