Brit Awards 2026: Olivia Dean the real winner amid highs and shocks
olivia dean dominated the Brit Awards 2026, winning every category in which she was nominated and making multiple trips to the podium. The ceremony was a night of out-of-control wardrobes, odd behaviour and dazzling performances — and also featured fake stage invaders, a censored Peter Mandelson joke and vocal alarm among artists about the rise of Reform UK.
Olivia Dean's big night
Pop star Olivia Dean won every category she was nominated in: artist of the year, song of the year, best pop artist and best album for the future classic The Art Of Loving. The night belonged to Olivia Dean as a deserved four-time winner; she seemed overwhelmed as she made her third trip of the night to the podium. On stage she told the crowd: "It takes a lot of good people to make a good artist... I don't know what else to say. Thank you, bye!" She also said of her winning album that it "is just about love, and loving each other in a world that feels loveless right now. "
Performance highlights and shocks
Dean brought that spirit into a live performance of Man I Need, leaning into the song's syncopation and filling the set with visible joy and expressive movements. Elsewhere on the bill, Rosalía delivered one of the audacious moments of the night with a dramatic rendition of her recent single Berghain. Full of thunderous strings and Wagnerian vocals, the number starts off as an opera song, changes tempo three times, introduces a guest verse from Björk and ends with an almighty club breakdown. The performance, complete with Björk dressed in the entrails of a blue alien, left the room spellbound.
Harry Styles opens in Chanel
Harry Styles opened the show playing Aperture while wearing what was described as a school uniform — in reality a Chanel pin-striped suit. Aperture, his return single, was a UK No 1 in release week which is fairly swiftly dropping down the charts. Styles recreated the video's fluid, technically challenging choreography on stage, jiving with a considerable band and backing singers and twitching in time with dancers in snail T-shirts and sunglasses. Observers noted vocal lines reminiscent of Erlend Oye of Kings of Convenience and Whitest Boy Alive and even a touch of David Bowie. His waistband was said to be high enough to crush his lungs. Host Jack Whitehall called the performance "The musical equivalent of sitting on the washing machine. " The show featured a moment described as "descending from a ceiling on a disco ball", and one commentator suggested everyone should do it at least once in their life.
Ronson, Raye and surprise guests
Ronson received the outstanding contribution to music award. His accompanying performance included him happily scratching vinyl as Ghostface Killah gave an avuncular roll through Ooh Wee, before the set moved into Amy Winehouse material such as Valerie and other slow symphonic or big-band moments. Raye performed Nightingale Lane, a song about the London street where she watched her first love walk away from their relationship, climaxing in a stunningly sung, wordless expulsion of pain. Observers noted that Raye is now playing that orchestral-pop sound in arenas. A surprise guest appearance came from Dua Lipa, who added A-list stardust with performances of Dance the Night and Electricity. It was noted as a disappointment that Bruno Mars did not make the effort to perform Uptown Funk at the ceremony.
Odd moments and political unease
The ceremony was protest-filled and relatively edgy, with broadcast censors said to have had their work cut out. There were fake stage invaders and a censored Peter Mandelson joke among the night's talking points. Several artists used the stage to voice alarm over the rise of Reform UK, with one line summing up the mood: "We're going into a dark place. " Country-pop singer CMAT, who had been up for the same international prize as Rosalía, took her loss in stride and collapsed in mock tears for the cameras.
The Brit Awards 2026 proved as much a spectacle of personalities and statements as a roll call of trophies: Olivia Dean and Lola Young accepted their awards, established stars opened in show-stopping fashion, veterans were honoured and surprise appearances and confrontations kept the night unpredictable.
