Harry Styles was the big winner at the 2023 BRIT Awards ceremony, walking away with all of the prizes that he had been nominated for at the gathering of some of the biggest names from the world of music.

The annual British popular music awards, held at London’s O2 Arena, saw the former One Direction star scoop four trophies including Best Album and Best Artist. He was the first act to win four BRIT’s in one year since Adele did so in 2016, after the release of her huge hit album 25.

Beyonce won two awards just a week after her record breaking success at the Grammy’s. She sent a video thanking her fans and stating: “The renaissance begins.”

There was some controversy at the event, hosted for the second year in a row by comedian Mo Gilligan, with no women amongst the nominations for Best Artist. Last year for the first time, organisers took the bold decision to scrap their best male and best female awards in favour of gender-neutral prizes, so the fact that no female was up for the award was met with much criticism.

Success in strong company

The BRIT Awards were first held in 1977 and are regarded as highest profile music awards in the UK, so to win four at one event naturally left Harry Styles delighted. He was the successful nominee in the categories of: Artist of the Year, Album of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Pop / R&B act.

The 29-year-old beat Stormzy, George Ezra, Fred Again and Central Cee to clinch the top honour as best artist, and saw off the likes of: Sam Smith, Ed Sheeran, Elton John, and Lewis Capaldi in winning his other awards.

Tribute to females ignored in acceptance speech

In his usual humble manner, the talented singer said he was aware of how privileged he was to receive his Best Artist award, before he paid tribute to female stars including Charli XCX, Mabel, Rina Sawayama, Becky Hill, and Florence & The Machine, who were among those eligible for the gong, but failed to make the nomination list.

He drew laughter from the audience when thanking his mum “for signing me up for The X Factor without telling me, so I literally would not be here without you.” And not forgetting his former bandmates he gave a mention to Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson, Liam Payne and Zayn Malik, highlighting that “I would not be here without you either.”

Authentic and super-talented

Shania Twain, with who he performed on stage last year, gave him his Brit for “song of the year”. She said that she believes his popularity stems from his authenticity, which she said people can relate to, coupled with the fact that he is super talented. “He is nice, he is likeable, he is kind, and he is a gentleman,” she said.

He had actually opened proceedings for the evening with a performance of the track that won him Song of the Year, his huge hit As it Was, with further live performances from Lizzo, Cat Burns, Stormzy, Sam Smith, Ella Henderson and Becky Hill contributing to a fabulous nights entertainment.

The full list of winners were as follows:

Album of the Year: Harry Styles – Harry’s House; Artist of the Year: Harry Styles; Best Group: Wet Leg; Song of the Year: Harry Styles – As It Was; Best International Artist: Beyoncé; Best International Group: Fontaines DC; International Song of the Year: Beyoncé – Break My Soul; Best New Artist: Wet Leg; Rising Star: Flo; Best Alternative / Rock: The 1975; Best Dance: Becky Hill; Best Hip-Hop / Rap / Grime act: Aitch; Best Pop / R&B act: Harry Styles; Producer of the Year: David Guetta; Songwriter of the Year: Kid Harpoon.