Manchester Hosts Brit Awards as RAYE Eyes Her Eighth and Ninth Trophies
The brit awards have arrived in Manchester for the 46th edition, the ceremony’s first outing outside London since its 1977 inception, bringing high-profile performances, a crowded shortlist and visible local fanfare. The move, and the scale of the nominations list, matter because organisers are explicitly framing this as a test of geographic reach for the industry and a deliberate effort to uplift talent beyond the capital.
Brit Awards move to Co-op Live arena
The ceremony is staged at the Co-op Live arena as part of a week of events across the city. Temporary signage such as an "Olivia Deansgate" station has drawn visitors posing for selfies, a small public indicator of how Manchester has embraced the arrival. Fringe programming includes grassroots workshops and intimate shows, and a benefit performance by Robbie Williams in aid of War Child.
Harry Styles to perform Aperture and appear with Jack Whitehall
Harry Styles will give the first live performance of music from his fourth album, appearing on the night with the single "Aperture" from Kiss All The Time, Disco Occasionally. It is three years since he last played at the Brits, when he performed "As It Was, " sprinting around the O2 Arena in a spangly red suit jacket and leaving with four trophies including album of the year. Rehearsals for this year’s set have been held behind closed doors at Manchester's Co-Op Arena with only essential staff admitted. Styles is also slated to appear in a sketch with host Jack Whitehall; Whitehall has said he had to send over a couple of ideas because some first attempts were not appropriate and described one sketch involving trekking for days to find the musician living in a hut that looked like Hagrid and shaving him.
Olivia Dean and Lola Young lead nominations with five apiece
Two Londoners, Olivia Dean and Lola Young, top the nominations with five apiece. Both artists are credited with some of 2025’s best-selling singles — Dean with "Man I Need" and Young with "Messy" — each singled out as likely contenders for awards. The shortlist also recognises Lily Allen’s break-up album West End Girl, songs from the movie musicals Wicked and KPop Demon Hunters, and a best group nomination for the resurgent Britpop band Pulp. The best British artist category is particularly congested, with Olivia Dean, Lola Young, Lily Allen, Dave, Sam Fender and PinkPantheress all identified as worthy candidates.
Stacey Tang highlights Manchester’s "kinetic energy" and local support
Stacey Tang, chair of the Brit awards and co-president of RCA Records, said the relocation to the Co-op Live arena is intended to recognise the geographic diversity of UK creativity, arguing that "creativity doesn’t happen in one postcode" and that keeping the biggest night in music permanently in London was out of step. Tang praised the approach from the local authority and Andy Burnham, mayor of Greater Manchester, as markedly different from the city’s experience in London, saying local officials had "opened up the city. " She described Manchester’s investment and creative positivity as "palpable. "
Industry figures point to a northward shift and long-term artist development
Jo Twist, chief executive of the BPI, said the organisation’s research shows Manchester has consistently been the UK’s top location for producing chart-toppers, and that the industry has begun to recognise a need to find talent locally and support the ecosystem. Twist cited the BPI’s decision to move the Mercury Prize to Newcastle last year after Leeds band English Teacher broke a decade-long streak of London winners in 2024, and noted that the 2025 Mercury Prize went to Sam Fender, who celebrated in his home city in North Shields.
Scott Lewis, label manager at EMI North in Leeds, spent the week leading workshops for up-and-coming artists, advising them on demos and approaches to labels. His role at EMI North was established in 2023 as the first major label office outside London, a practical change intended to help northern musicians get more visibility. Lewis said it was important for large music events to be held in the north and summed up the ambition with the phrase "if you can see it, you can be it. " The provided context on one of Lewis’s remarks cuts off mid-sentence and is unclear in the provided context.
What makes this notable is the conjunction of concentrated nominations, high-profile performances and an explicit industry push to decentralise opportunity. RAYE returns to the BRITs and could add to her haul — she is in position to pick up what would be her eighth and ninth Brit Awards — a reminder that recent years have seen single artists dominate the podium: Harry Styles in 2023, Raye in 2024 and Charli XCX in 2025. That pattern is now meeting an expanded, geographically spread shortlist and a host city that has staged other major live music events, including the MTV European music awards at Co-op Live in 2024 and the launch of the Northern music awards the same year.
The ceremony’s relocation, the closed-door preparations at Manchester's Co-Op Arena, and the mix of nominations from mainstream pop to film musicals together map a moment in which the brit awards are explicitly testing whether the industry’s biggest night can reflect music-making beyond London’s borders.
