Last night, we attended The Brit Awards 2018 to cheer on what seemed to be a FAULT Magazine reunion with so many of our previously featured artists up for awards. Little Mix, Dua Lipa, Paloma Faith, Alicia Keys and Liam Gallagher were all nominated this year alongside FAULT favourites Loyle Carner, Rag ‘N’ Bone Man, Ed Sheeran and many more. We’ve said it many times, but 2017 was indeed the year of the British breakthrough acts, in 2016 not many newcomers could achieve 100k sales but won’t you just look at what can happen when studios invest in young talent…!

Loyle Carner, Stormzy, Sampha, Dua Lipa, J Hus, all unknowns two years ago but fast forward to today and all can carry their headline tours and are billed as headliners at numerous festivals this year…And of course, made the nominee list at this year’s Brit Awards.

Justin Timberlake was the opening act inviting Chris Stapleton on stage for a heart-wrenching performance of their hit “Say Something”. Other highlight performances of the night included Sam Smith’s emotional rendition of ‘Too Good At Goodbyes’, Dua Lipa’s ‘New Rules”, Kendrick’s car smashing ‘“FEEL.,” “HUMBLE.” and “New Freezer” and Rag’n’Bone Man and Jorja Smith performing ‘Skin’.

Issue 27 cover star Liam Gallagher gave a touching tribute to the victims of the Manchester Arena bombing which shook the music world back in May of 2017. Performing Oasis’ ‘Live Forever’, it was hard not to get emotional. While Liam might have missed out on picking up the award for British male solo artist, his performance will live on as a talking point whenever people refer to Brit’s 2018 for many years to come.

Moments after collecting his award for British male solo artist of the year, Stormzy took to the stage to show just why he was deserving of such a prestigious award. We’ve reported on Stormzy’s performances at ‘The Mobos’, ‘The Mercury Awards’ and Reading Festival and while all were great, nothing solidified him as an artist of the people as much as this one. Opening to a familiar “Gang Signs and Prayers’ backdrop, his performance began with a never before heard verse aimed directly at Theresa May and her poor handling of the Grenfell Tower fire which affected so many. His words “What you thought we forgot about Grenfell” still echo in our ears, and we only wish he could have sworn on national television to fully commit to the “Tell the Dailymail they can suck my…” for full impact. Stormzy transitioned into an emotional as always rendition of “Blinded by your grace” before ending the show with an energetic and crowd-pleasing ‘Big for your boots.”

Our primary takeaway emotion from this year’s Brit Awards is a strong feeling of pride. Looking down the list of nominees, it’s great to see just such a diverse range of talents. This isn’t just pandering or tokenism either, as Gorillaz mentioned in their winner’s speech “we are a small island” but look at just how far and wide the voices of British talent has travelled this year. In short, another great year for British music, British artists and The Brit Awards.

 

Find the full list of winners below!

 

British Female Solo Artist – Dua Lipa (presented by Millie Bobbie Brown and Kylie)

British Male Solo Artist – Stormzy (presented by Little Mix)

International Group – Foo Fighters (presented by Anna Friel and Damian Lewis)

British Single – Rag‘n’Bone Man ‘Human’ (presented by Dermot O’Leary and Emma Willis)

International Male Solo Artist – Kendrick Lamar (presented by Camila Cabello and Harry Kane)

British Breakthrough Act (Top 5 selected by Voting Academy. Winner identified by public vote promoted by brits.co.uk and BBC Radio 1) –  Dua Lipa (presented by Clara Amfo and Alice Levine)

International Female Solo Artist – Lorde (on tape) (presented by Ellie Goulding and Adowa Aboah)

British Group – Gorillaz (presented by Hailey Baldwin and Luke Evans)

BRITs Global Success Award – Ed Sheeran (presented by Ronnie Wood, with a VT from Sir Elton John)

British Artist Video Award (Live Vote by Twitter) – Harry Styles – Sign of the Times (presented by Sir Tom Jones, Jennifer Hudson, Olly Murs)

Mastercard British Album of The Year – Stormzy – Gang Signs & Prayer (presented by Nile Rodgers)