Brit Awards 2024 - live: RAYE wins Album of the Year in triumphant night

With seven nominations, RAYE beat a record that was previously jointly held by Gorillaz, Craig David and Robbie Williams, who had each been nominated for six awards in a single year.

In a video message, RAYE alluded to the drama of the past few years as she thanked her fans for their support.

“This time a year ago, as far as the industry was concerned I was down and out,” she said, adding that it was “incredible” to be up for seven Brit Awards.

Across the board, representation from women in most categories has significantly improved. More than half of the Song of the Year and Artist of the Year nominees featured female artists, while four out of five nominees for Best New Artist were women.

The Group of the Year and International Group of the Year categories had zero female acts. However, it was a triumph for Mercury Prize 2023 nominees (and 2014 winners) Young Fathers, who received three nominations, including for Album of the Year, for their fourth record, Heavy Heavy.

There was also a showing for R&B singers after the genre was split away from its previous category, where it was joined with Pop. The five nominees are Cleo Sol, Jorja Smith, Mahalia, RAYE, and British music collective SAULT.

At a press screening to reveal the nominations, musician Yolanda Brown, the chair of the UK Record Labels Association, said the organisation was “so proud” of this year’s nominations, while remarking that further change could still be needed.

“It’s important that we listen, that we consult, and that we learn,” she said, acknowledging last year’s row over the all-male category nominations.

Calling the Brits a “work in progress”, she said she was “so pleased” to say that this year’s nominations showed the awards body was making “good strides forward”.

Pop singer RAYE has been announced as the winner of this year’s Brit Award for Songwriter of the Year.

The Tooting, London-born artist is going into this year’s ceremony with seven Brit nominations, the most received by any artist in a single year, including Best New Artist, Artist of the Year and Album of the Year. She also has two entries in the Song of the Year category.

Songwriter of the Year, which was announced ahead of the live ceremony at the O2 Arena in London, celebrates exceptional songwriting talent. RAYE was chosen as the winner by a panel of expert judges.

The Songwriter of the Year win marks the latest chapter in an extraordinary success story for RAYE, real name Rachel Keen, who parted ways with her former label Polydor in July 2021 after accusing them of refusing to let her release her own music.

Less than two years later, she returned with her critically adored debut album, My 21st Century Blues, which charted at No 2 and has produced several hit singles, including “Escapism” ft 070 Shake.

The 2024 Brit Awards are taking place at the O2 Arena in London this weekend (Saturday 2 March), where some of the biggest names in pop will be honoured for their achievements over the past year.

This year’s nominations for the annual music awards show were unveiled during a broadcast on Wednesday (24 January).

There was some tension surrounding how diverse the awards categories would be, following a row in 2023 when it emerged that both the Artist of the Year and International Artist of the Year nominees were all male – two years after the Brits introduced genderless categories.

RAYE, who split with her former label Polydor after claiming she was being blocked from releasing new music, received critical acclaim for her independently released debut, My 21st Century Blues, which hit No 2 on the UK albums chart and was later shortlisted for the Mercury Prize.

The 26-year-old was nominated for the Brit Awards for Artist of the Year, Album of the Year, Best New Artist, and both the R&B and pop categories.

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Do you think 2024 looks set to be a particularly major year for women achieving success in music? 100%! The music industry feels like it’s finally waking up and recognising women more. Uncovering so much talent that’s always been there, but now giving it the opportunity to come to the forefront. Even just in the dance world, ie drum & bass which has been such a male dominated genre for decades!! The tide is now finally turning and there’s now so many amazing female artists, producers, writers leading the charge. Plus also women’s artistry is being taken more seriously and we’re not just being seen as ‘features’ or in some cases ‘just an uncredited vocal on a dance track’. Look at Raye for example and how the world has finally woken up to her as an individual artist, incredibly talented writer, musician…outside her dance features.

Has much changed, or is it that awards ceremonies and industry bodies are starting to recognise what’s already out there? As said above, I think the industry as a whole is waking up to the insane amount of female talent that is out there but has been overlooked/overshadowed for many years. This is in turn giving younger female artists/producers/writers more women to look up to/be inspired by -as well as giving more opportunities in music to women so more of us than ever are able to cut through.

Who of the nominees at this year’s Brit Awards do you find particularly inspiring? There’s so many amazingly talented females nominated this year.. but I think personally I speak for many when I say that Raye has been particularly inspiring. I think especially from the angle in which she came up through dance features with people knowing her vocal but not necessarily her voice as an artist in her own right, releasing music that’s completely true to her. Whilst also having the courage to share and write about things she has been through in this industry- that many women can relate to, further empowering us and raising our voices!