Adele, Ed Sheeran, Little Simz and Dave lead the nominations for the 2022 Brit Awards, it has been announced.
Next year’s set of nominations includes the biggest number of women or female-fronted acts in over a decade, suggesting that the recent scrapping of gender-based awards categories has not negatively impacted representation.
Among the female and female-fronted acts nominated this year are groups Little Mix, Wolf Alice and London Grammar, rappers Little Simz and Doja Cat, and singers Adele, Dua Lipa, Joy Crookes, Griff and Self Esteem.
Grime, rap and hip-hop artists have also fared well in this year’s set of nominations, with nods for Little Simz, Ghetts, AJ Tracey, Dave and newcomer Central Cee.
Adele, Sheeran, Little Simz and Dave all have four nods apiece, while singer-songwriter Sam Fender, Central Cee and producer David Guetta are up for three awards each.
See the nominations in full below:
Artist of the Year
Little Simz is one of the musicians up for Artist of the Year at the 2022 Brit Awards
(Press image)
Adele
Dave
Little Simz
Ed Sheeran
Sam Fender
Album of the Year
Sam Fender is nominated for his second album, ‘Seventeen Going Under’
(Charlotte Patmore)
30 – Adele
We’re All Alone In This Together – Dave
Sometimes I Might Be Introvert – Little Simz
= (Equals) – Ed Sheeran
Seventeen Going Under – Sam Fender
Best Group
Little Mix made history at the 2021 Brit Awards when they became the first female act to win Best Group
(BBC iPlayer)
Little Mix
Coldplay
D-Block Europe
Wolf Alice
London Grammar
Song of the Year
Glass Animals broke a US chart record with their sleeper hit single, ‘Heat Waves’
(Neil Krug/DawBell)
“Latest Trends” – A1 and J1
“Easy on Me” – Adele
“Don’t Play” – Annie-Marie, KSI, Digital Farm Animals
“Remember” – Becky Hill with David Guetta
“Obsessed With You” – Central Cee
“Clash” – Dave ft Stormzy
“Bad Habits” – Ed Sheeran
“Cold Heart” (PNAU Remix) – Elton John, Dua Lipa
“Heat Waves” – Glass Animals
“Bed” – Joel Corry, Raye, David Guetta
“Holiday” – KSI
“Wellerman” (220 Kid and Billen Ted Remix) – Nathan Evans
“Friday (Dopamine Re-edit)” – Riton x Nightcrawlers ft Mufasa and Hypeman
“Body” – Tion Wayne and Russ Millions
“Little Bit of Love” – Tom Grennan
Best New Artist
Self Esteem (artist Rebecca Taylor)
(Olivia Richardson)
Central Cee
Griff
Joy Crookes
Little Simz
Self Esteem
Rock/Alternative
Brit Award 2022 nominees Wolf Alice
(Jordan Hemingway)
Coldplay
Glass Animals
Sam Fender
Tom Grennan
Wolf Alice
Hip hop/grime/rap
Dave received unanimous praise for his 2021 album, ‘We’re All Alone in This Together’
(Press image)
Dave
Little Simz
AJ Tracey
Central Cee
Ghetts
Dance
Singer Raye is up for Best Dance act
(Getty Images)
Becky Hill
Calvin Harris
Fred Again
Joel Corry
Raye
Pop/R&B
Dua Lipa is up for Best Pop/R&B act
(Getty Images for dcp)
Adele
Dua Lipa
Ed Sheeran
Griff
Joy Crooks
International Artist
Lil Nas X is one of the nominees for Best International Artist
(Press image)
Billie Eilish
Doja Cat
Lil Nas X
Olivia Rodrigo
Taylor Swift
International Group
Silk Sonic: Anderson .Paak and Bruno Mars
(Josh Esparza)
Abba
BTS
Maneskin
Silk Sonic/ Bruno Mars/ Anderson. Paak
The War on Drugs
International Song of the Year
Maneskin performing at the American Music Awards 2021
(Getty Images for MRC)
“Your Love (9pm)” – ATB x Topic x A7S
“Happier Than Ever” – Billie Eilish
“Love Nwantiti (ah ah ah)” – Ckay
“Kiss Me More” – Doja Cat ft Sza
“Girls Want Girl” – Drake ft Lil Baby
“Heartbreak Anthem” – Galantis, David Guetta, Little Mix
“Black Magic” – Jonasu
“Stay” – Justin Bieber, Kid Laroi
“Montero (Call Me by Your Name)” – Lil Nas X
“Calling My Phone” – Lil Tjay ft 6lack
“Wanna Be Your Slave” – Maneskin
“Good 4 U” – Olivia Rodrigo
“Rap Star” – Polo G
“The Business” – Tiesto
“Save Your Tears” – The Weeknd
The Brit Awards removed male and female categories to make the annual ceremony as “inclusive and relevant as possible”.
In a statement announcing the change, the Brits said the move came as they wanted to celebrate “artists solely for their music and work, rather than how they choose to identify or as others may see them”.
Musicians such as Sam Smith and Will Young had previously called for the change, saying gender categories resulted in the exclusion of non-binary musicians.
Next year’s ceremony will also see the reintroduction of genre-based prizes for the first time since 2006. Prizes for best alternative/rock, pop/R&B, dance and hip-hop/rap/grime will be voted for by fans, rather than music industry insiders as per tradition.
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Singer-songwriter Holly Humberstone was announced as the recipient of the 2022 Rising Star Award earlier this month, beating competition from fellow shortlisted artists Bree Runway and Lola Young.
The Brit Awards take place at the O2 Arena in London on 8 February 2022.
