Not everyone could go home with an iconic BRIT trophy.
Sabrina Carpenter accepts the Global Success award on stage during the Brit Awards 2025 at the O2 Arena on March 1, 2025 in London, England.
The BRITs have had a fairly chequered history when it comes to honoring British music; critics say its focus is too narrow and commercial, and that exciting, challenging talent gets crowded out. You’d be hard-pressed to make the same complaint about the 2025 ceremony, however. Saturday night’s (March 1) show accurately, fairly and thrillingly showcased a scene that feels at the top of its game.
Charli XCX toasted her Brat summer with a whopping five awards on the night, and proved how U.K. acts can cut through the din on a global scale with an original, uncompromising vision. Similarly, Jade Thirlwall of Little Mix triumphed in the pop act category with just a handful of solo songs to her name, and Sam Fender continues to make his case to be considered an all-time great in the U.K. rock scene. Jazz group Ezra Collective, meanwhile, are now a mainstream concern after years of relentless gigging and championing their genre.
It was a ceremony that, on the whole, just felt right. The performances – particularly from Thirlwall, Lola Young and Fender – showcased a vast array of personalities. Rising acts like Myles Smith and The Last Dinner Party used their platform to challenge the industry to allow acts like them time to grow and develop – a bold move considering their fresh status as major label acts. Sabrina Carpenter and Teddy Swims gave the ceremony some international glamor and intrigue.
But there are always winners and losers, such is the way of awards shows. Here’s a few snubs and surprises that Billboard U.K. saw on the night.
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Snub: Sabrina Carpenter
Sabrina opened the show in dazzling fashion with a two-song medley of “Espresso” and “Bed Chem,” flanked by dancers dressed in the traditional Kings Guard garb. She returned to the stage for a convenient honorary award (global success) but lost out to Chappell Roan in both international artist and international song categories. (The two artists split the spoils at the Grammy Awards on Feb. 2. Roan won best new artist, but Carpenter took best pop vocal album and best pop solo performance.) Given Carpenter’s chart dominance in the U.K. – Short n’ Sweet has scarcely left the top five for over six months – she was considered a favourite to come away with more.
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Surprise: Ezra Collective
Since The BRITs’ inaugural event in 1977, a jazz group like Ezra Collective would hardly have had a look-in. The genre has been carelessly snubbed in the past, but the recent boom in the London jazz scene means that critics and voters can no longer be ignorant of its leading stars. Following their Mercury Prize win in 2023, and headlining Wembley Arena in 2024, the band took down some big beasts – Coldplay and The Cure – on their way to a well-deserved victory in the best group category.
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Snub: Charli XCX
Well, kind of. Charli had a dominant night collecting five awards — album of the year, artist of the year, dance act, song of the year and songwriter of the year. The only surprise is that she didn’t do a clean sweep and pick up a sixth in the pop act category, too. As Billboard U.K. saw in the winners room, however, balancing the five trophies was enough of a workout for the Brat star.
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Surprise: JADE
That said, JADE was a well-deserved winner in the pop act race. Her debut solo single “Angel of My Dreams” is a fun fusion of high-camp and self-aware lyrics about her battles with music industry figures. She’s the first member of Little Mix to grab with a solo trophy – the group are BRITs legends – and her performance of the aforementioned song stunned the room.
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Snub: Dua Lipa
Traditionally a BRITs favourite, Dua went home empty-handed despite her four nominations. Radical Optimism hasn’t quite chimed with awards voters this year, and it follows her shut-out for Grammys nominations too. Given her dominance in recent years at the BRITs – she already has seven trophies to her name – this’ll be something of a disappointment.
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Snub: Central Cee
Central Cee has achieved the impossible: he is U.K. rapper that’s been commercially dominant in the U.S. His debut album Can’t Rush Greatness recently landed in the top 10 on the Billboard 200, the highest-ever placing for a U.K. hip-hop album. But he didn’t pick up the hip-hop/grime/rap category award, losing out to Stormzy who looked a little sheepish to be up on stage. He said that Cench should have collected the prize and that he disagreed with the fan-voted result.
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Surprise: RAYE
2025’s ceremony didn’t reach the same heights as her dominant sweep the year prior, but RAYE did come away with a trophy in the best R&B category. She was the only 2024 BRITs winner to win in the same category this year. She faced stiff competition from Cleo Sol, Jorja Smith, Michael Kiwanuka and FLO, though RAYE’s breakthrough material has come more in the pop space. FLO – who won the Rising Star award in 2023 – are a more traditional R&B girl group, and could feel hard done by to not have won this award.
This story originally appeared on Billboard
