Kylie Minogue is set to receive the global icon prize at this year’s Brit Awards, organisers have revealed.
The multimillion-selling star, who had viral success with Padam Padam after reinventing herself once again in 2023, is being recognised as a “pop phenomenon” and “one of the world’s most successful and iconic music stars”, thanks to a career spanning five decades.
Minogue, whois also nominated for international artist of the year, will perform at the ceremony next month, joining the previously announced Dua Lipa and Raye.
Image: Raye has a record seven nominations. Pic: Callum Walker Hutchinson/Brit Awards
She follows stars including Sir Elton John, David Bowie and Taylor Swift, who have all been named icons at the Brit Awards in recent years.
“I am beyond thrilled to be honoured with the global icon award and to be joining a roll call of such incredible artists,” Minogue said in a statement. “The UK has always been a home from home so the Brits have a very special place in my heart.”
The star, who is a three-time Brits winner, said she had “amazing memories from the awards over the years” and “can’t wait to be back on the Brits stage”.
Kylie’s history at the Brits
Image: Padam Padam: We hear it and we know – Kylie Minogue is a Brits icon. Pic: Erik Melvin/Brit Awards
Minogue has been involved in some of the Brits’ most memorable performances over the years, including her Blue Monday mash-up of Can’t Get You Out Of My Head in 2002 and her duet with Justin Timberlake the following year.
She also performed her hit Wow in 2008.
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The star returned to the charts last year with the hit single Padam Padam and clinched her ninth UK number one album with Tension.
Earlier this month, she picked up her second Grammy, for best pop recording, for Padam Padam.
Listing the star’s achievements, Brits organisers said: “Kylie’s glittering 30-plus year career has seen her amass sales of over 80m records worldwide, 5bn streams and 9 UK number one albums. Her multiple awards include three Brit awards, 18 ARIA Awards, two MTV Awards and two Grammy Awards.
“Kylie is the only female artist to score a number one album in five consecutive decades in the UK… in the UK alone, Kylie has achieved seven UK number one singles, and nine UK number one albums.”
This year’s Brits shortlist is led by Raye, who has a record seven nominations including best new artist, artist of the year, album of the year for her debut record, My 21st Century Blues, and two entries in the song of the year category.
Central Cee and J Hus follow with four nominations each, while Blur, Calvin Harris, Dave, Little Simz, Olivia Dean, Young Fathers and four-time winner Dua Lipa are all up for three awards.
The winners of the genre awards for pop, dance, alternative/ rock, R&B, and hip-hop/ grime/ rap, will be determined by a public vote, which closes on Thursday.
This year’s ceremony takes place at the O2 Arena in London on Saturday 2 March, hosted by Clara Amfo, Maya Jama and Roman Kemp.
A woman who saw a man falling from an upper tier at Wembley Stadium says a similar incident at an Oasis concert over the weekend in which a fan died makes her wonder whether lessons have been learned.
Stephanie Good, 39, said a man fell during a Euro 2020 match between England and Croatia at Wembley in June 2021.
He landed “right next to where we were” on the “stairwell between rows of seats”, she said.
Named as Jon, he reportedly survived but suffered two broken ankles, a fractured femur and fractured pelvis just before kick-off.
Ms Good said she tried to give feedback but was unable to and felt the “emergency response was really lacking”.
The man reportedly fell from the stadium’s upper tier.
In his 40s, he was found with “injuries consistent with a fall” and pronounced dead at the scene, the Met Police said.
Ms Good, an NHS manager from east London, said what happened at the Oasis gig was “so similar” to what she witnessed that it made her wonder “were lessons learned”?
Image: Liam and Noel Gallagher on stage for the first Wembley night of the Oasis reunion tour. Pic: Lewis Evans
During that incident, among stadium staff “nobody seemed to know what to do”, she told the Press Association.
She thinks the man may have been trying to attach a flag to the front of a stand and “somehow managed to fall straight over”.
She said: “They (staff) didn’t seem well-trained in terms of how to respond to a really big emergency.
“Their stewards were kind of paralysed a little bit by fear, or they just weren’t well trained and didn’t know how to call for paramedics.
“It was us who were sort of shouting at them that they needed to get some paramedics.
“The first person on the scene wasn’t a stadium paramedic or St John Ambulance. It was an off-duty firefighter who had seen the guy fall and ran down to just try and offer some help.”
Regarding the follow-up, Ms Good said staff moved spectators to other seats but did not ask for witness statements.
She added: “They didn’t seek any input from people who’d seen the incident or the aftermath of it. They didn’t seem interested in speaking to anybody about it.
“I was a bit concerned, because I felt that the emergency response was really lacking.”
She then tried to get in touch to give feedback, but was unable to do so and did not receive a response to a message on social media, she said.
A Wembley spokesperson said: “Wembley Stadium operates to a very high health and safety standard, fully meeting legal requirements for the safety of spectators and staff, and is certified to and compliant with the ISO 45001 standard.
“We work very closely and collaboratively with all relevant event delivery stakeholders – including event owners, local authorities, the Sports Grounds Safety Authority and the police – to deliver events to high standards of safety, security and service for everyone attending or working in the venue.”
Sean “Diddy” Combs has been denied bail ahead of his sentencing on prostitution-related charges.
Judge Arun Subramanian said the hip-hop mogul had failed to show sufficient evidence he is not a flight risk and also cited admissions of previous violence made during his trial.
Combs, 55, has been in prison since his arrest in September last year.
During a two-month trial, jurors heard allegations that he had coerced former girlfriends, including singer and model Cassie Ventura, into having drug-fuelled sex marathons with male sex workers, while he watched and filmed them.
Image: Diddy fell to his knees after the verdict was delivered last month. Pic: Reuters/ Jane Rosenberg
The rapper’s legal team hailed this a “victory” and immediately applied for bail ahead of sentencing, citing his acquittal on the top charges.
After this was denied, they submitted another application last week. Judge Subramanian has now rejected the request again.
In denying the motion for bail, the judge found Combs had failed to show sufficient evidence to counter arguments he is a flight risk, writing in a court filing: “Increasing the amount of the bond or devising additional conditions doesn’t change the calculus given the circumstances and heavy burden of proof that Combs bears.”
Image: Judge Arun Subramanian heard Diddy’s trial and will also sentence the rapper
He also found that an argument by the music star’s legal team that the squalor and danger of the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC), where he is being held, did not warrant release.
“The public outcry concerning these conditions has come from all corners,” the judge wrote. “But as Combs acknowledges, MDC staff has been able to keep him safe and attend to his needs, even during an incident of threatened violence from an inmate.”
The judge has not yet responded to this application.
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How the Diddy trial unfolded
How long could Diddy be jailed for?
Combs is due to be sentenced on 3 October and could be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison.
Discussions on sentencing guidelines which followed the jury’s verdict suggest it is unlikely he will be jailed for this long, with an estimate of around two to five years, taking into account time already served.
However, it is ultimately up to Judge Arun Subramanian to decide the rapper’s punishment.
On Friday, Donald Trump was asked during an interview about a potential pardon for Combs following speculation about the issue.
The president said it was unlikely, adding that the rapper was “very hostile” during his presidential campaign.
Combs, who co-founded Bad Boy Records and launched the career of the late Notorious BIG, was for decades a huge figure in pop culture – a Grammy-winning hip-hop artist and business entrepreneur, who presided over an empire ranging from fashion to reality TV.
As well as the criminal conviction, he is also facing several civil lawsuits.