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Sony Music triumphs with its most successful BRIT Awards ever
Sony Music UK is celebrating the most successful BRIT Awards in the company’s history.
In a truly historic and unprecedented evening, Sony Music dominated the Awards securing seven of the 11 awards announced during the ceremony, which is the most prestigious night in the UK music industry calendar. In total, Sony Music secured nine awards – including the previously revealed Critics’ Choice and Icon awards – at the 37th BRIT Awards.
The coveted MasterCard British Album of the Year was given to the late David Bowie for his critically lauded and commercially successful No.1 studio album ★. Bowie’s son, film director Duncan Jones, accepted the award on his late father’s behalf. Bowie also claimed a second win with the British Male Solo Artist award. That award was collected by actor Michael C Hall, the star of Bowie’s stage show Lazarus.
Rag’n’Bone Man – fresh from securing the fastest-selling male debut album of the decade with his No.1 Human – had already been announced as the Critics’ Choice winner in December. Rag’n’Bone Man, aka Rory Graham, then added a second BRIT last night by being named the British Breakthrough Act. As a result, he became the first artist to ever win Critics’ Choice and British Breakthrough in the same year.
There was a first BRIT Award for Little Mix. The band had opened the show with a phenomenal performance – before taking the British Single honour for their No.1 Shout Out to My Ex. It is the culmination of the quartet’s most successful year to date, in which they performed to more than 300,000 fans on a sell-out UK arena tour before their latest Platinum-selling album Glory Days spent five weeks at No.1, the longest run for a girl group at the top of the charts since the Spice Girls.
One Direction also received their seventh BRIT Award, taking the accolade for British Artist Video of the Year for History. The band’s Liam Payne collected the award, appropriately, from Simon Cowell.
There was also success for Sony Music international artists. Beyoncé received the award for International Female Solo Artist for her groundbreaking and acclaimed No.1 album Lemonade. It came little more than a week after she collected her 21st and 22nd Grammy Awards. Hip-hop pioneers A Tribe Called Quest – who formed in 1985 – were named International Group, following the release of their album We got it from Here… Thank You 4 Your Service. It is their first BRIT Award.
Robbie Williams – the BRIT Awards record holder – was announced as this year’s Icon recipient in October, giving him an astonishing 18th BRIT. He celebrated by closing the show with an effervescent and sparkling set.
Jason Iley, Chairman and CEO, Sony Music UK and Ireland, said, “this is a truly momentous and historic night for Sony Music’s artists – and is just reward for so many people’s dedication and hard work. I would like to congratulate and pay tribute to all of our artists from around the world. Everyone at Sony Music is proud and humbled every day to work alongside people with such exceptional creativity, drive and musicianship. I would also like to thank all the brilliant people at Sony Music, whose passion and determination has helped deliver the artists’ vision.”
The 37th BRIT Awards was held at London’s O2 Arena – and featured phenomenal performances from Sony Music artists Little Mix, Robbie Williams, The Chainsmokers – with a worldwide exclusive performance of their new collaboration single with Coldplay – and Red Essential distributed, Skepta.
The event was also a particularly poignant occasion – with tributes to a number of legendary Sony Music artists who passed away in 2016, including David Bowie, Leonard Cohen and George Michael.
Michael passed away on Christmas Day aged just 53. In a simple but startlingly beautiful tribute, Coldplay’s Chris Martin delivered a moving performance of Michael’s 1986 No.1 A Different Corner. The song was introduced by the artist’s former colleagues in Wham!, Andrew Ridgeley, Helen ‘Pepsi’ DeMacque-Crockett and Shirlie Kemp.
Watch the BRIT Awards in full here.
