Brit Awards 2026

The Brit Awards 2026 will be the 46th edition of the Brit Awards ceremony presented by British Phonographic Industry to recognize the best in British and international music in 2025. It will be held on Saturday 28 February 2026 at the Co-op Live arena in Manchester, the first time in the ceremony's history that it will be held outside London. Jack Whitehall will host the ceremony for the sixth time.
For this year's ceremony, Olivia Dean and Lola Young lead the nominations, with five each, both being nominated for British Artist of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Pop Act. Sam Fender followed them, with four nominations.

Background

First staged in 1977, the Brit Awards is an annual event recognising the best in British and International music, which has been held at venues in London since its launch, with The O2 Arena playing host to the ceremony since 2011. On 9 June, the BPI announced a two-year deal to hold the Brit Awards at Manchester's Co-op Live arena, meaning the 2026 and 2027 ceremonies will be held outside London, the first time in the Brit Awards history that this will be the case. On the same day, a three-year sponsorship deal was announced with Sony Music UK. Andy Burnham, the Mayor of Greater Manchester, welcomed the move, describing it as a "massive coup for Greater Manchester".
The news followed an announcement in May that the 2025 Mercury Prize would be held in Newcastle instead of London.
In October, as part of first details for the 2026 ceremony, the Rising Star award was reverted back to its original name, the Critics’ Choice Award, “in acknowledgement of the importance of ‘critical acclaim’ to artists at this early and crucial stage of their career”. The award for Best New Artist was also reverted to British Breakthrough Act for the first time since 2019, “celebrating the transformative point for British artists as they cut through to a wider audience and in support of the long-term development of artists and their progression”.

Trophy

The designer for this year's trophy was fashion stylist Matthew Williamson. The sculpture was inspired by Williamson’s upbringing in Manchester, and was made using amber-toned resin - made to resemble the golden honey of a worker bee, the city’s mascot.

Brits Week 2026

In order to promote the awards ceremony and support the charity War Child, the BPI is hosting a number of gigs as part of Brits Week. Artists performing as part of Brits Week include:

Fatboy Slim at Boiler Shop, Newcastle upon Tyne
Lambrini Gang at The Garage, London
Myles Smith at Rescue Rooms, Nottingham
Jack Savoretti and Katherine Jenkins at Emerald Theatre, London
kwn at Patterns, Brighton
Josh Baker at Yes, Manchester
Rossi. at Yes, Manchester
Jacob Alon at Music Room at Assembly Rooms, Edinburgh
Performances

On 21 January 2026, on the Bring on The BRITs with Mastercard: The 2026 Nominations Show live on Instagram, the first performer was announced as Olivia Dean. On 28 January, it was announced that former One Direction member Harry Styles was the second performer to be confirmed to be performing on the main show. Wolf Alice were added to the lineup on the next day.

Artist	Song
Olivia Dean
Harry Styles
Wolf Alice

Winners and nominees

The Critics’ Choice shortlist was revealed on 3 December 2025. The complete list of nominees was announced on 21 January 2026. Winners appear first and are highlighted in bold.

Multiple nominations and awards

Nominations	Artist
5	Olivia Dean
5	Lola Young
4	Sam Fender
3	Lily Allen
3	Wolf Alice
3	Dave
3	Fred Again
3	Jim Legxacy
2	JADE
2	Calvin Harris & Clementine Douglas
2	PinkPantheress
2	Sabrina Carpenter
2	Chappell Roan
2	Little Simz
2	Raye
2	Skepta
2	PlaqueBoyMax
2	Wet Leg
2	Skye Newman
2	Bruno Mars
2	HUNTR/X
2	Sombr
2	Lady Gaga
2	Taylor Swift
2	-