Raye leads the shortlists for this year’s Brit Awards with a record seven nominations – after leaving her label and taking a gamble as an independent artist.
The singer-songwriter is up for prizes including best new artist, artist of the year, and album of the year for her debut record, My 21st Century Blues, and also has two entries in the song of the year category.
Image: Dua Lipa, who is up for three awards, will perform once again at the ceremony. Pic: Brit Awards
Rayedescribed it as a “miracle” after it was announced she has broken the Brit Awards record for the most nominations received by a single artist in any one year. The record was previously six and was jointly held by Robbie Williams (1999), Craig David (2001) and Gorillaz (2002).
“A year-and-a-half ago as far as the industry was concerned, I was down and out,” she said. “The ultimate goal was to find my way somehow to the Brit Awards.”
In a message to her fans, she added: “Thank you from the bottom of my heart.”
Image: Central Cee has four nominations. Pic: Brit Awards
Image: J Hus is also nominated for four Brit Awards in 2024. Pic: Brit Awards
Central Cee and J Hus follow Raye with four nominations each, while Blur, Calvin Harris, Dave, Little Simz, Olivia Dean, Young Fathers and four-time winner Dua Lipa – the first star to be revealed as one of the performers on the night this year – are all up for three awards.
Blur’s The Ballad Of Darren, J Hus’s Beautiful And Brutal Yard, Little Simz’s No Thank You and Young Fathers’ Heavy Heavy compete with Raye for the album of the year award, while Little Simz and J Hus also join her on the shortlist for artist of the year.
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What is the gender balance this year?
Image: Olivia Dean is up for three awards, including artist of the year. Pic: Brit Awards
More than half (55%) of this year’s nominations feature women – either as a solo artist or as part of female groups – rising to 57% when women in mixed-gender groups are included.
Dua Lipa also makes the shortlist for best artist, along with Central Cee, Dave, Fred Again.., Arlo Parks, Jessie Ware and Olivia Dean – and in the best group category, Blur and Chase & Status are up against Headie One & K-Trap, Jungle and Young Fathers.
Image: Young Fathers are in the running for three prizes, including group of the year. Pic: Brit Awards
Image: Blur are also nominated for three gongs. Pic: Reuben Bastienne-Lewis/Brit Awards
Many of these names appear again on the song of the year shortlist of 15 tracks – with Central Cee, like Raye, also making the list twice, and Lewis Capaldi‘s Wish You The Best, Ed Sheeran‘s Eyes Closed, and Calvin Harris and Ellie Goulding’s Miracle among the hits recognised.
Up against Raye for best new artist are Mahalia, Olivia Dean, PinkPantheress and Yussef Dayes.
International stars up for awards
Image: Billie Eilish’s What Was I Made For?, from the Barbie soundtrack, is up for international song of the year. Pic: Reuters/Mike Blake
In the international categories, Burna Boy, Kylie Minogue, Miley Cyrus and Taylor Swift are among the solo stars in the running, while Foo Fighters, Paramore and Gabriel are included in the bands shortlisted for international group of the year.
Billie Eilish‘s What Was I Made For?, Tyla’s Water, Cyrus’s Flowers, Noah Kahan’s Stick Season and SZA’s Kill Bill are among the tracks up for international song of the year.
The number of genre categories – which are voted for by the public – has been expanded this year, with fans now able to choose their favourite alternative/rock act, pop act, RnB act, dance act, and hip-hop/grime/rap act.
Becky Hill, Charli XCX, Romy, Barry Can’t Swim, Casisdead, Mahalia, Jorja Smith and Cleo Sol are among the additional artists up for awards in these categories.
This year also sees the first Brit nomination for The Rolling Stonesin more than a decade – for best alternative/rock act, thanks to their chart-topping comeback in October – with the band having been nominated four times previously in 1977, 1995, 1996 and 2013.
Indie-rock group The Last Dinner Party – Abigail Morris, Lizzie Mayland, Emily Roberts, Georgia Davies and Aurora Nishevci – have already been revealed as the winners of the rising star award, which recognises up-and-coming talent.
They follow in the footsteps of the likes of Adele, Florence & The Machine, Sam Smith, Sam Fender, Celeste and last year’s winners FLO, who all picked up the prize as they were getting started in their careers.
Meanwhile, the winners of the songwriter of the year and producer of the year awards will be revealed over the coming weeks, along with other show announcements, ahead of the ceremony at the O2 Arena in London on Saturday 2 March.
US rapper Lil Nas X has been arrested and taken to hospital after being found walking in his underwear on a Los Angeles street and allegedly charging at officers and punching one.
Police said in a statement that officers responded shortly before 6am on Thursday (2pm UK time) following reports of a naked man, according to Sky’s US partner NBC News.
The LA force said that as officers went to the 11000 block of Ventura Boulevard in Studio City, the man rushed towards them.
“He was transported to a local hospital for a possible overdose and placed under arrest for battery on a police officer,” police said.
A law enforcement source confirmed to NBC News that the suspect was Montero Lamar Hill, also known as Lil Nas X.
The Old Town Road rapper punched an officer twice in the face during the encounter, according to the NBC source.
Officers were unsure whether he was on any substances or in mental distress, the source said.
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A representative for Hill did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
NBC News cited TMZ footage where Hill was seen walking down the middle of Ventura Boulevard at 4am on Thursday in a pair of white briefs and cowboy boots.
Actor Noel Clarke has lost his High Court libel case against the publisher of The Guardian, over a series of news articles which featured claims from a number of women.
The first article, published in April 2021, said some 20 women who knew Clarkein a professional capacity had come forward with allegations of sexual misconduct.
The 49-year-old actor, writer and director, best known for his 2006 film Kidulthood and starring in Doctor Who, sued the publisher and vehemently denied “any sexual misconduct or wrongdoing” – but the court has found Guardian News and Media (GNM) successfully defended the legal action on the grounds of truth and public interest.
Image: Noel Clarke outside court during the trial in April. Pic: PA
The meanings of all eight of the newspaper’s publications were found to be “substantially true”, the judge, Mrs Justice Steyn, said in a summary of the findings.
“I have accepted some of Mr Clarke’s evidence… but overall I find that he was not a credible or reliable witness,” she said.
In her ruling, the judge also said suggestions that more than 20 witnesses, “none of whom are parties or have a stake in this case, as [Clarke] does” had come to court to lie was “inherently implausible”.
From the evidence heard, it was “clear that women have been speaking about their experiences of working with Mr Clarke for many years”, she said.
‘A deserved victory for women who suffered’
Lucy Osborne and Sirin Kale, the journalists who carried out the investigation, told Sky News they had always been confident in everything published.
“I think that this is not a problem that’s going to go away,” said Osborne. “This kind of behaviour very much still happens in the TV and film industry and other industries. So I do hope this judgment gives other women the confidence to speak out about what they’ve experienced.”
Image: Clarke rose to fame with his 2006 film Kidulthood. Pic: PA
Guardian editor-in-chief Katharine Viner described the ruling as “a deserved victory for those women who suffered because of the behaviour of Noel Clarke”.
She continued: “Going to court is difficult and stressful, yet more than 20 women agreed to testify in the High Court, refusing to be bullied or intimidated.
“This is also a landmark judgment for Guardian journalism, and for investigative journalism in Britain… The judgment is clear that our investigation was thorough and fair, a template for public interest journalism.”
Clarke’s response
Clarke described the result as disappointing and maintained he believes the newspaper’s reporting was “inaccurate and damaging”.
“I have never claimed to be perfect,” he said. “But I am not the person described in these articles. Overnight I lost everything.”
He said he wanted to thank witnesses who supported his case, as well as his family, “who never stopped believing there was something worth fighting for”.
What happened during the trial?
The trial took place from early March to early April 2025, hearing evidence from multiple witnesses who made accusations against Clarke, including that he had allegedly shared nude photographs of them without their consent, groped them, and asked them to look at him when he was exposed.
Clarke also gave evidence over several days. At one stage, the actor appeared visibly emotional as he claimed the publisher had “smashed my life” with its investigation.
His lawyer told the court he had been made a “scapegoat” and was an “easy target”, as a star at the height of his success when the media industry “zealously sought to correct itself” following the #MeToo movement.
The actor had been handed the outstanding British contribution to cinema award at the BAFTAs just a few weeks before the report was published. Following the article, BAFTA announced it had suspended his membership.
But lawyers for The Guardian told how newspaper’s investigation was “careful and thorough”, saying it had been carried out “conscientiously” by the journalists involved.
In March 2022, police said the actor would not face a criminal investigation over the allegations.
The growing popularity and reach of the Premier League globally is leaving rival European football competitions struggling to compete.
Not only to find an audience, but to find outlets to even show the matches.
So German football had to think differently – going to where Gen Z is engaging with football through content creators.
And that’s why tonight, Harry Kane’s Bayern Munich will begin their defence of the Bundesliga title live to 1.4 million subscribers on the That’s Football channel on YouTube.
Image: Harry Kane in Bundesliga action last season. Pic: Reuters
It’s run by Mark Goldbridge, known for passionate but often provocative, punchy commentary about players on streams going viral.
His brand was built by being filmed reacting to watching Manchester United matches.
“People need to appreciate that we have a certain content style, and that’s very, very popular,” Goldbridge told Sky News.
“That is an area that needs to be catered [to] and that’s why, without the rights, we’ve had such big, big audiences.”
Goldbridge revealed he isn’t paying to show his 20 Friday night matches this season – reinforcing how the Bundesliga struggled to find a buyer in Britain.
Sky Sports previously had a four-year rights deal to exclusively show those German matches here, but will now only show the prestige Saturday evening slot live.
Image: Bundesliga teams Eintracht Frankfurt and RB Leipzig during their match in April. Pic: Reuters
European leagues are finding it increasingly difficult in this market to sell their rights because domestic football is so dominant and appealing.
The focus of football budgets is on domestic games for Sky as well as Discovery-owned TNT Sports, which also focuses its European football coverage on men’s continental competitions, including the Champions League.
More Premier League matches will be shown live than ever before – with at least 215 on Sky, the parent company of Sky News, and others on TNT.
Sky Sports also has live men’s rights to the English Football League and Scottish matches, as well as sharing the Women’s Super League with the BBC.
The Bundesliga is also making the games broadcast by Goldbridge’s channel available to the BBC to stream online. They will further be on The Overlap, a YouTube channel part-owned by Gary Neville.
Image: Behind the scenes of covering a Premier League game
‘A progressive step’
Bundesliga International CEO Peer Naubert said: “Our approach is as diverse as our supporters: by combining established broadcasters with digital platforms and content creators, we are taking a progressive step in how top-level football can be experienced.
“This multi-layered strategy allows us to connect with more audiences across the UK and Ireland, giving every supporter the chance to engage … in the way that suits them best.”
While the former England and Manchester United player is a star pundit on Sky, he could also be seen as a rival to the Comcast-owned broadcaster by attracting fans to newer outlets of his channel.
Goldbridge doesn’t see himself as a rival yet to long-established broadcasters.
“We’re not looking to replace what you can find on Sky or the BBC or anything like that,” he said. “This is a community that will be live with us, watching the Bundesliga, learning about it.
“And if I get a pronunciation wrong, or I don’t know about a player, then I’ve got my community there to back me up. I don’t profess to know everything.”
Image: Kane celebrates the Bundesliga title with his Bayern Munich teammates. Pic: Reuters
‘This is the future’
But he can be relatable to audiences, with more than two million subscribing to his The United Stand channel, earning him millions of pounds over the last decade.
“We’ve been there growing in the background and I think certain media outlets have ignored that, maybe hoping it would go away,” he said.
“I certainly think synergy and collaboration need to happen more because there are things in the mainstream that I don’t like and there will be people out there that really don’t like the way we watch football, but a lot of people do.
“And it’s about offering that choice to people and there are different ways people listen to football on the radio, people watch it with a commentator, some people turn the audio off completely, some people watch things like this (watch-a-long).
“And I think that is the future, to offer more choice.”