Stormzy announced as latest Brit Awards 2023 performer – joining Harry Styles, Lizzo and more
Stormzy has been added to the line-up for this year’s Brit Awards, organisers have announced.
The British grime star, who is up for three gongs at the ceremony, joins previously announced stars including Harry Styles, Lizzo, Sam Smith and Kim Petras, and Wet Leg.
Following his three previous Brits wins, Stormzy is this year up for artist of the year, best album, and best hip-hop/grime/rap act.
Stormzy’s performance on stage at the awards in 2020. Pic: Joel C Ryan/Invision/AP
One of the biggest British stars of recent years, all of his three albums have all been chart-toppers, and in 2019 he became the first black British solo artist to headline Glastonbury.
The announcement of Stormzy’s performance this year follows controversy around the nominations, with an all-male best artist of the year list leading to questions being raised about the newly introduced gender-neutral categories.
Stormzy is up for the award alongside Styles, George Ezra, Central Cee and Fred Again.
Defending the nomination choices, the awards said that while the lack of female nominees was “disappointing”, it was down to 2022 seeing “fewer high-profile women artists in cycle with major releases” than in 2021.
Why were the male and female artist categories scrapped?
Adele was named artist of the year in 2022, the first year of the new award
Organisers reportedly plan to evaluate their decision to adopt gender-neutral prizes as part of their annual review after the upcoming ceremony, which takes place on a Saturday for the first time this year, on 11 February.
The Brits announced that male and female award categories would be scrapped ahead of the 2022 ceremony, going gender-neutral in an attempt to make the awards more inclusive.
Adele won the inaugural best artist prize and cleaned up with three awards.
Picking up the best artist award, the star told the crowd that while she understood why the gendered prizes had been dropped, she loved being a female artist and wanted to celebrate women. “I am really proud of us,” she said.
Stormzy last performed at the Brits in 2020, when he also picked up the award for best male artist, before the categories were changed.
Lizzo, pictured at the Brits in 2020, is also among the performers and nominees this year. Pic: Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP
With only four nominations out of a possible 25 in mixed categories going to women that year, he paid tribute to the women in his team as he collected his award.
“To be the best male, I have got the most incredible females in my team,” he said. “You lot are the greatest, the best male is nothing without the best females. I love you guys.”
Read more:
Everything you need to know about the 2023 Brit Awards
Brits 2023: The full list of nominations
Styles and Isle of Wight indie rock duo Wet Leg lead this year’s Brit Awards race, with four nods each – coming after both were nominated for the 2022 Mercury Prize.
Cat Burns, Fred Again and The 1975, along with Stormzy, are all in the running for three awards, while Central Cee, George Ezra, Arctic Monkeys, Nova Twins, Aitch, Dave, Eliza Rose, Beyonce, Lizzo, Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran and Sam Smith all have two nods each.
Burns, David Guetta, Becky Hill and Ella Henderson are also due to perform.
Music stars have hit the red carpet in Manchester for the MTV Europe Music Awards.
Taylor Swift leads the nominations this year, with singers including Sabrina Carpenter, Raye, Charli XCX, Beyonce, Coldplay and Eminem also up for prizes.
It is the first time the MTV event, which was cancelled last year amid security concerns, has taken place in the UK since 2017, when it was held in London.
Manchester is well represented, with DJ Paulette, Blossoms, and Happy Mondays stars Shaun Ryder and Bez among the guests.
Here are the pictures as they come in from the red carpet.
Bez and Shaun Ryder representing Manchester at the MTV EMAs. All pics: PA/ Reuters/AP
Host Rita Ora and her husband, filmmaker Taika Waititi
British star Raye is up for best artist and best live act
Singer Tyla is nominated for best new act, best Afrobeats, and best R’n’B
TV presenter and Love Island host Maya Jama channelled Liz Hurley’s famous Versace safety pin dress
DJ Paulette, one of the first female DJs at Manchester’s famous Hacienda nightclub
Hip-hop star Busta Rhymes is being honoured with the global icon award
Drum and bass duo Piri (left) and Tommy Villiers
Siger-songwriter Shawn Mendes
Mum and daughter Neneh Cherry (pictured) and Mabel (below) hit the red carpet together
Love Island star Molly Marsh
Radio presenter and former soap actress Gemma Atkinson
Drag queen Bimini Bon-Boulash
Rapper and singer Jordan Adetunji
Singer Xhoana X and Bush star Gavin Rossdale, who is performing and presenting an award
Singer-songwriter Teddy Swims is nominated for best new artist and best push
British hip-hop duo Krept (right) and Konan
Singer and actor Olly Alexander
Spanish footballer Leila Ouahabi
Comedian Katherine Ryan
Jungle’s Tom McFarland
TikTok star and former GoggleboxerJoe Baggs
South Korean group Le Sserafim
TV personality and former The Only Way Is Essex star Vas J Morgan
TV presenter Vick Hope
Ysabelle Salvanera, Amelia Onuorah and Maddie Haynes of Say Now
Jamie Oliver has withdrawn a children’s book he wrote from sale after criticism that it stereotyped First Nation Australians.
In his book, Billy And The Epic Escape, the TV chef tells the story of a First Nations girl living in foster care in an Indigenous community who gets abducted by the novel’s villain.
But the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Corporation (Natsiec) blasted the book for contributing to the “erasure, trivialisation, and stereotyping of First Nations peoples and experiences”.
The body’s chief executive, Sharon Davis, said the book “ignores the violent oppression of First Nations people” and that its depictions of First Nations people and cultural practices were “irresponsible and damaging, reflecting a profound lack of understanding and respect”, according to The Guardian
In a statement, Oliver, 49, said: “I am devastated to have caused offence and apologise wholeheartedly.
“It was never my intention to misinterpret this deeply painful issue. Together with my publishers we have decided to withdraw the book from sale.”
A spokesman for publisher Penguin Random House said: “It is clear that our publishing standards fell short on this occasion, and we must learn from that and take decisive action.”
Read more:
Oliver ’employs cultural appropriation experts’ on recipes
Chef and wife get £6.8m after cost of living show boost
The chef published his first children’s book, Billy And The Giant Adventure, last year and said in a social media post that he had “carefully chosen the font to make sure the text is as clear as possible” as people with dyslexia, which Oliver has, can find it hard to read.
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
He is also well-known for fronting several TV series including Jamie’s Easy Christmas (2022), Jamie Cooks The Mediterranean (2023) and Jamie: Fast And Simple, which began airing on Channel 4 last month.
At the start of his career, he was known as The Naked Chef, after his 1999 book and TV series of the same name.
Dua Lipa has been forced to cancel a tour date in Indonesia after “unforeseen safety and logistical issues” with the stage were found, organisers said.
The New Rules singer said she was “heartbroken” over not being able to perform at the Indonesia Arena in Jakarta on Saturday evening.
“I am here in your amazing country and ready to perform, but I am gutted to share that it has been determined that it is not safe for the performance to carry on due to safety issues with the staging,” she wrote on X.
“I was so looking forward to this night, and it truly pains me that we cannot perform for you all, especially after such a long time since my last performance in Jakarta.
“I love you all and truly can’t wait to be back together in the same room with you singing and dancing our hearts out as soon as possible.”
In a joint statement on Lipa’s website, organisers TEM Presents and PK Entertainment said the cancellation was “due to unforeseen safety and logistical issues”.
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
They said the team had made “diligent efforts to resolve critical production issues related to the stage structure provided by Mata Elang Productions” but it was “not safe for the performance to carry on”.
“This very difficult decision to cancel was made with the utmost care and consideration for the safety of both the audiences and artist,” it said, apologising to the fans affected.
Pic: AP
Lipa, 29, won a Brit Award for best pop act earlier this year and has achieved two number one albums with her two latest records Future Nostalgia and Radical Optimism.
There have been two notable incidents recently of artists falling through stages.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Moment Coldplay’s Chris Martin falls through stage
Last week, Coldplay lead singer Chris Martin fell into a hole in the stage while performing in Sydney, Australia.
Olivia Rodrigo also fell last month during a gig in Melbourne, but told fans at the time: “Oh my God, that was fun. I’m OK.”
-
Sports2 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports7 months agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports1 year agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Environment1 year agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Sports3 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business2 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway