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Country music has its share of talented biographers: Robert K. Oermann, Barry Mazor and Holly George-Warren, just to name a few. They are able to boil a life in the genre down to a few hundred pages. But not everyone gets that kind of space to document their history. Musicians have been known to convey their experiences in three or four minutes — a challenge, to be sure.
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George Birge, coming off back-to-back Country Airplay hits with “Mind on You” (No. 2, 2023) and “Cowboy Songs” (No. 1, 2024), engaged in that very exercise for his latest single, “It Won’t Be Long.”
“I was ready to take another step as an artist,” Birge reflects. “I found a little bit of a lane of stuff that was working for me. But I also wanted to continue to grow as I got a deeper connection with my fans, and kind of pull back the curtain a little bit more and maybe tell a little bit more of a story and showcase a little bit more in my life.”
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Over the course of 2024, he attempted several times to do that very thing, but none of those efforts seemed to land. That changed during a co-writing session on Oct. 22 at the Liz Rose Music offices in Nashville, where Joe Fox (“Last Night Lonely,” “Breakin’ In Boots”) had a room with a piano. The appointment that day also included Chase McGill (“Next Thing You Know,” “5 Foot 9”) and Trannie Anderson (“Heart Like a Truck,” “Wild Horses and Wildflowers”), writing with Birge for the first time after bumping into him regularly on the golf course. Anderson, it turned out, had an idea they all thought was workable, but before they got too far, McGill felt he should speak up.
McGill’s oldest daughter was a few weeks from turning 7, and just a few days earlier, he had had a discussion with his wife, Kara, about how fast their world seemed to be going. It inspired a hook, “Life might be a lot of things/ But it won’t be long.”
“I instantly was like, ‘That’s it. That’s what I’ve been looking for,’ ” Birge says. “And everybody’s like, ‘If you’re in, let’s chase it.’ ”
Even Anderson, whose idea was scrapped by that turn of events, was up for it. “We wrote exactly what he needed, right when he needed it,” she says. “It’s so rare that it happens that way.”
Since they knew what the song’s payoff line would be, they dug in on the opening line, turning the “It won’t be long…” hook into a repetitive device. The writers became Birge’s biographers, questioning him about key moments in his relationship with Kara. Those events — their first meeting, their first kiss in a parking lot, their first child — were folded into the piece, capturing the story of their relationship.
“As a songwriter, I’ve kind of learned that the more specific and personal you are, the more relatable a song usually is,” Fox notes. “That’s why it’s so cool with George on this one. A lot of it’s his details, but you wouldn’t know that listening to it. I mean, anyone listening to it could put their details in there.”
Indeed, Birge’s renovation of a dilapidated house, taken down to the studs, isn’t everyone’s experience, but anyone who has done even a minor home makeover can relate. “Any kind of remodeling you do, man, no one forgets that,” McGill says.
They also incorporated Birge’s Little League background, weaving in his No. 7 uniform, as well as his son’s use of the same number. They spent a half-hour on that vignette. “That was the line that took the longest to flesh out,” Birge recalls. “There’s a cadence change to it, and we wanted that line to really pop because it meant a lot seeing your last name [on a uniform] at the plate again. It’s a new version of you. It’s a new chapter. There’s nothing like your kids imitating you.”
The bridge would tie three Birge generations together, while the chorus provided an interpretation of the narrative. Halfway through that stanza, the phrasing and melody change just enough to spotlight the key point of “It Won’t Be Long”: a challenge to the listener to “take the risk” on a life-changing relationship.
“I always like a more drastic melodic change on the second half of a chorus,” Anderson says. “I tend to structure a lot of my songs that way, and I think everyone kind of wanted that to happen.”
“It Won’t Be Long” was written primarily on guitar, but as they finished the work, Fox segued to the piano, which he thought would better reflect the song’s emotional content. He layered that piano part with guitar to create the foundation for a spare demo, with Birge addressing the lead vocal almost as a narration and Anderson shadowing with a single harmony.
It wouldn’t be long before the song made its initial impact. Within hours, Birge’s team was doing figurative handstands over it, and by the end of the week, they had designated it as his next single and even picked an add date. And Fox was enlisted to produce it.
Fox used Birge’s lead vocal from that demo, as well as Anderson’s harmonies, and built a new instrumental framework one piece at a time. Fox played guitars and bass, hired Jerry Roe to deliver a light drum part, got David Dorn to redo the piano and brought in Justin Schipper for atmospheric steel guitar and Dobro. Fox also snuck a single synthesizer note underneath that plays throughout the entire song, even remaining in place when it clashes with the accompanying chord. It provides a barely perceptible, movie-like tension.
“I kind of went for the cinematic thing the whole way through,” Fox says. “It’s one of the first times I put strings in a radio country song.” He did have Birge return to the studio to update his vocal, though he only changed a couple of notes. “We fixed, like, two words,” Fox says. “The way he pronounced them just wasn’t super clear. We just added plosives to the words.”
The production impressed his co-writers, who had suspected Fox would make sure the song’s message remained central to the final recording.
“One of the hardest things to do on these types of songs is use restraint,” McGill says. “It’s so easy to go throw a huge, [amped-up] drum kit on there — big pop and snare — and make it a big banger. Sometimes, with lyrics like these, it’s best just to let it sit right there so the words can sink in. And I think they did an awesome job of that.”
RECORDS Nashville released Birge’s musical biography to country radio via PlayMPE on Jan. 16, anticipating that “It Won’t Be Long” will deepen his connection with listeners as they relate their life stories to his, even if he had only four minutes to create the arc.
“It’s all real life,” Birge says. “It was just picking the stories that pop the most, whittling them down to fit perfectly into the song.”
Selena Gomez has got something up her sleeves, and she’s been teasing her fans on social media. The superstar took to her Instagram Stories on Wednesday (Jan. 23) to share a video wearing headphones while sitting at what appears to be a studio desk, before grabbing the phone and turning it around to reveal the […]
The Contenders is a midweek column that looks at artists aiming for the top of the Billboard charts, and the strategies behind their efforts. This week, for the upcoming Billboard Hot 100 chart dated Feb. 1, we look at whether the surging quasi-title track from Bad Bunny’s latest will be able to get over the top on the chart.
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Bad Bunny, “DtMF” (Rimas): It’s been a triumphant week for Bad Bunny on the Billboard 200, as the Puerto Rican superstar has topped the chart with his new album Debí Tirar Mas Fotos, a personal album largely inspired by the salsa and plena music of his home territory. Though the album debuted at No. 2 – behind Lil Baby’s WHAM – thanks in large part to the set’s release on a Sunday, already two days into the chart tracking week, it climbs to No. 1 this week with 203,500 equivalent album units earned in the U.S., according to Luminate, a staggering number for any album’s second week, showing how many people were still discovering the album following its unusually timed drop.
Bunny would no doubt love to have the same thing happen with the set’s near-title track, “DtMF,” on the Billboard Hot 100. Despite appearing as the album’s penultimate track – number 16 out of 17 — and being something of a departure from Bad Bunny’s usual Latin trap-and-reggaetón-led sound, the song has exploded on streaming services, with fans attaching to its singalong chorus and sentimental lyrics, particularly on TikTok. It’s now pretty clearly the set’s biggest breakout hit, leaping from No. 38 all the way to No. 2 on this week’s Hot 100.
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The song’s explosive growth on streaming seems to be settling down a bit in its third week, though it continues to lead on both Apple Music’s real-time chart and Spotify’s Daily Top Songs USA chart. What really might get in the way of it getting over the top on the Hot 100 is radio airplay: While the song is now being promoted to radio, its airplay has been fairly minimal so far, as the song still trails three other tracks on Fotos, led by advance single “El Clúb.” It’s hard to imagine the unconventionally structured, entirely Spanish-language song ever becoming a major fixture on U.S. top 40, but Bad Bunny might need at least a little radio love to edge out some of the radio-friendlier songs it’s going to be in competition with in the weeks to come – particularly the song currently topping the chart.
Lady Gaga & Bruno Mars, “Die With a Smile” (Streamline/Interscope/Atlantic/ICLG): Like Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” in 2024, the chances looked dicey at first for Lady Gaga & Bruno Mars’ “Die With a Smile” to ever get to No. 1 – but now that it’s finally there, it might be sticking around for a little while. The song spends its third frame on top of the chart this week, while actually gaining in both streaming and sales, and remains in the top three of all three Hot 100 component charts: Radio Songs, Digital Song Sales and Streaming Songs.
That combination could make “Smile” tough to unseat on the Hot 100 in the weeks to come. The song is even challenging to finally take over the No. 1 spot on Radio Songs – which would be its first week atop the listing, with “A Bar Song” having reigned for the past 25 weeks (one week away from tying The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights” for the longest stay atop the chart). And if you’re looking for your early frontrunner for No. 1 on the 2025 year-end Hot 100, it’s gotta be Gaga and Bruno – an honor the latter hasn’t won since the Mark Ronson-led “Uptown Funk!” in 2015, and which the former has still yet to capture in her illustrious pop career.
ROSÉ & Bruno Mars, “APT.” (Atlantic): Bruno Mars’ biggest competition for all-platform pop dominance this early year might of course come from himself. “APT.,” his collaboration with K-pop star and BLACKPINK alum ROSÉ, was already well on its way to breakout smash status in late 2024, and has only continued to grow well into 2025, reaching the Hot 100’s top five – proof not only of ROSÉ’s rising solo star in the U.S., but of Mars’ status as perhaps the single-most can’t-miss pop hitmaker on the entire planet right now.
“APT.” leads on the Digital Song Sales chart for the first time this week, while slipping to No. 9 on Streaming Songs and climbing to No. 11 (after having previously peaked at No. 10) on Radio Songs. The latter chart of course remains its biggest opportunity for growth, as the song is not only challenging for top 10 again on the all-format Radio Songs, but for the No. 1 spot on Pop Airplay. If the song’s streaming performance settles a little in the weeks to come while it continues to spread out on the airwaves, we could very easily see a Bruno vs. Bruno battle at the top of the Hot 100 in the not-too-distant future.
01/23/2025
From música mexicana to urban, the genre-spanning list includes a vast range of Latin stars who we believe will have a big year.
01/23/2025
Kid Cudi’s L.A. residence was the target of a home burglary earlier in January, which reportedly saw the intruder make himself at home as he enjoyed snacks, took a shower and used the bathroom before L.A. County Sheriff’s deputies apprehended him.
Cudi heard fans and some on social media were making light of the invasive situation, and the Ohio native took to his Instagram Story and X on Thursday (Jan. 23) to set the record straight on the trolling of his home invasion by what he called an “unhinged 34 year old man.”
“I see the internets running w things and making jokes this s–t is not funny,” Cudi wrote. “The person that broke into my house was a crazed fan that has been stalking me for years without me knowing. He’s been to shows, events I’ve done in the states and overseas.
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Mr. Rager continued: “He drove across the country and broke into my house hoping to talk w me about collabing and ideas he had. There is nothing funny about this. My privacy was violated, and now I have to protect myself. I don’t feel safe now. He rummaged through personal things, my fiance’s stuff, took a shower and ate, all while thinking he was gonna have a conversation w me. This was an unhinged 34-year-old man.”
Cudi went on to push back on speculation that the intruder was homeless, and says he’s going to take more extreme measures to make sure he and his family are safe going forward so that this never happens again.
“I’m not online to see the comments but word got back to me people are making light of this and it’s not okay,” he added. “If I’m standoffish when u see me in public now, this is why.”
Per TMZ, Cudi wasn’t present at the time his home was burglarized. Earlier in January, Kid Cudi returned to social media to reveal he and his family were safe after evacuating his Los Angeles residence due to the devastating wildfires.
“Hey guys, had to evacuate my crib,” he began in an Instagram Story at the time. “Im safe, w my loved ones, dogs are safe. For all the folk who lost their homes, people that are dealing with this, my heart hurts for you and Im for praying us all and I send ALL my love to you and yours. if you have to evacuate, get out immediately. Dont hesitate. Be safe LA. Love you guys.”
See Cudi’s message about the burglary below:
Hey, so I wanna clear this up cause I see the internets running w things and making jokes and this shit is not funny. The person that broke into my house was a crazed fan that has been stalking me for years with out me knowing. He’s been to shows, events I’ve done in the states…— The Chosen One (@KiDCuDi) January 23, 2025
Boq is proud of his Glinda. Shortly after 2025 Oscar nominations were announced Thursday (Jan. 23) — revealing that Ariana Grande is in the running for best supporting actress for her Wicked performance — Ethan Slater shared a sweet photo on Instagram celebrating his superstar girlfriend’s success.
Allowing the picture to speak for itself, the Broadway actor simply uploaded a captionless snap of the “Yes, And?” singer standing by a window in what appears to be a hotel room, holding a bundle of pink balloons. Slater also tagged Grande — who reshared the post on her Story — and the Academy as well as the film.
The Spongebob Squarepants: The Musical star’s post comes shortly after the R.E.M. Beauty founder shared her own post reacting to the Oscar news, gushing that she “cannot stop crying” over receiving her first-ever nod. “i’m humbled and deeply honored to be in such brilliant company and sharing this with tiny ari who sat and studied Judy Garland singing Somewhere Over the Rainbow just before the big, beautiful bubble entered,” the pop star wrote. “i’m so proud of you, tiny.”
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Slater and the two-time Grammy winner have been dating since 2023 after meeting on the set of Wicked. Grande was previously married to luxury realtor Dalton Gomez for three years; the pair finalized their divorce in March last year. Slater was previously married to therapist Lilly Jay, with whom he shares a young son; they settled their divorce in September.
Grande and Slater have largely kept their relationship private, but both have previously spoken about the backlash they faced when their relationship first came to light. In a September cover story interview with Vanity Fair, Grande said that “the most disappointing part was to see so many people believe the worst version” of events.
“No one on this Earth tries harder or spreads themselves thinner to be there for the people that he loves and cares about,” Grande added at the time. “There is no one on this Earth with a better heart, and that is something that no bulls–t tabloid can rewrite in real life.”
In October, Slater reflected to GQ, “It’s really hard to see people who don’t know anything about what’s happening commenting on it and speculating, and then getting things wrong about the people you love … I’m just really, really proud of Ari and the work she’s done.”
In addition to Grande’s best supporting actress nod, Wicked received nine other nominations ahead of the 2025 Oscars, tying it with The Brutalist for second-most nominated. Emilia Pérez takes the lead this year with 13 nods total.
The Victorious alum’s co-leading lady Cynthia Erivo is also nominated, earning a best actress recognition, while Wicked is up for best picture, best original score and more.
Kiss’ “I Was Made for Lovin’ You” tops the final edition of Billboard’s Top TV Songs chart, powered by Tunefind (a Songtradr company), for 2024, appearing at No. 1 on the December 2024 survey after a synch in Disney+’s What If…?.
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Rankings for the Top Movie Songs chart are based on song and film data provided by Tunefind and ranked using a formula blending that data with sales and streaming information tracked by Luminate during the corresponding period of December 2024. The ranking includes newly released films from the preceding three months.
“I Was Made for Lovin’ You” racked up 8.6 million official on-demand U.S. streams and 1,000 downloads in December 2024 after being heard in the fourth episode of the third season of What If…?, according to Luminate. The anthology series based in the Marvel Cinematic Universe premiered its third season on Dec. 22 with an eight-episode run that concluded Dec. 29.
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It’s the second high-profile synch for “I Was Made for Lovin’ You,” a No. 11 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 in August 1979, in the last year, following the song’s appearance in the 2024 film The Fall Guy (both Kiss’ original and a cover by Yungblud).
“I Was Made for Lovin’ You” reached a new peak of No. 2 on Billboard’s Hard Rock Digital Song Sales chart dated Jan. 18, 2025, as viewers continued to catch up on What If…?.
The song is followed by a slew of tracks featured in the fifth season of Paramount Network’s Yellowstone, which began airing in November and concluded with its series finale on Dec. 15. In all, six of the chart’s 10 positions feature Yellowstone music, led by Lainey Wilson’s “Hang Tight Honey” at No. 2 (2.6 million streams, 4,000 downloads) and followed by Sam Barber’s “Better Year” at No. 4 (4 million streams, 1,000 downloads).
See the full top 10, also featuring music from Happy’s Place, NCIS: Origins and Squid Game, below.
Rank, Song, Artist, Series (Network)
“I Was Made for Lovin’ You,” KISS, What If…? (Disney+)
“Hang Tight Honey,” Lainey Wilson, Yellowstone (Paramount)
“Into the Mystic,” Van Morrison, Happy’s Place (NBC)
“Better Year,” Sam Barber, Yellowstone (Paramount)
“Pay No Rent,” Turnpike Troubadours, Yellowstone (Paramount)
“Good Lord Lorrie,” Turnpike Troubadours, Yellowstone (Paramount)
“True,” Spandau Ballet, NCIS: Origins (CBS)
“Still Ragin’,” Jackson Dean, Yellowstone (Paramount)
“Get to Work Whiskey,” Ward Davis, Yellowstone (Paramount)
“Time to Say Goodbye,” Andrea Bocelli & Sarah Brightman, Squid Game (Netflix)
Bad Bunny reaches No. 1 on Billboard’s Streaming Songs chart for the second time as “DtMF” soars 27-1 in its second week, topping the Jan. 25-dated tally.
In its first full tracking week of data (Jan. 10-16; the song was released alongside the rest of Bad Bunny’s new album Debí Tirar Más Fotos on Jan. 5), “DtMF” earned 34.9 million official U.S. streams, according to Luminate.
“DtMF” is the second song in a row to rise to, rather than debut at, No. 1, following preceding leader “Die With a Smile” by Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars, which first reigned on the Jan. 11 list following the end of the holiday season.
Bad Bunny notches his second No. 1 on the survey; “Me Porto Bonito,” with Chencho Corleone, led for two weeks in 2022.
Between “Me Porto Bonito” and “DtMF,” Bad Bunny’s best on the chart had been “Monaco,” which debuted and peaked at No. 2 on the Oct. 28, 2023-dated ranking.
Music from Debí Tirar Más Fotos occupies Streaming Songs’ entire top two and four of its top 10; “Baile Inolvidable” follows at No. 2 (26.7 million streams), and then comes “Nuevayol” (No. 4, 23.5 million streams) and “Voy a Llevarte Pa PR” (No. 6, 19 million streams).
In all, the 17-song album – which concurrently ranks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, as previously reported – occupies 17 spots on the 50-position chart, all the way down to No. 47, with “Lo Que Le Paso a Hawaii” (9.1 million streams).
The reign of “DtMF” on Streaming Songs was preceded by its No. 1 debut on the TikTok Billboard Top 50 dated Jan. 18, spurred by edits featuring the song set to photos and videos of passed-on loved ones.
“DtMF” also leaps 38-2 on the multimetric Billboard Hot 100, also garnering 2,000 downloads in addition to its streams. On Hot Latin Songs, it’s Bad Bunny’s 16th No. 1 and takes over from “Nuevayol,” which had debuted at No. 1 the previous week.
01/23/2025
Kendrick Lamar, Ariana Grande and The Beatles are among artists who either did better or worse than expected.
01/23/2025
Charli XCX leads the nominations for the 2025 BRIT Awards, with nods in five categories – artist of the year, pop act, dance act, Mastercard album of the year for the zeitgeist-shifting Brat, and song of the year for “Guess,” her collaboration with Billie Eilish. The awards are scheduled to take place on Saturday, March 1, at The O2 Arena in London. The show will be broadcast live on ITV1 and streaming service ITVX, and hosted by comedian Jack Whitehall.
The Essex-born musician achieved global success with Brat, which peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 – her highest charting record to date. The album, released in May 2024, also scored major wins across the U.K. Singles Chart, with three of its tracks earning top 10 placements: “Sympathy Is a Knife” (No. 7), “Apple” (No. 8) and “Guess” (No. 3). This slew of new BRIT nominations takes Charli’s career total up to eight.
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Recent Billboard UK cover star Dua Lipa, The Last Dinner Party and jazz group Ezra Collective follow with four nominations each. Lipa has become something of a BRITs darling over the course of her career, having won seven from 16 prior nominations received since 2017.
Goth rock icons The Cure pick up three nods across Mastercard album of the year, group of the year and alternative/rock act. It’s the latter’s first nomination at The BRITs since 1993; the group bagged British group in 1991. Coldplay, meanwhile, add two nominations to its all-time tally of 30.
Superstars including Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, Sabrina Carpenter, Chappell Roan, Eilish, Kendrick Lamar and more all feature in the international categories, though Ariana Grande is shut out at this year’s ceremony despite her past success at the awards.
The Beatles have secured the group’s first BRITs nomination since 1977 in the song of the year category for their final song “Now and Then.” The BRITs were first held in 1977 to celebrate British music over the past century, and became a yearly event in 1982.
In December, the BRITs announced Luton-born singer-songwriter Myles Smith as the recipient of the 2025 BRIT Rising Star award — a new music prize that is handed out to the British act that the voting academy believes will make the biggest impact on music in the coming year. Smith has also earned nominations for best new artist and song of the year for his global hit “Stargazing.”
Other first-time nominees include Leeds art-rock band English Teacher, who scooped last year’s Mercury Prize, alongside indie-pop artist Rachel Chinouriri. Appearing in the pop act lineup, Lola Young – who is currently enjoying U.K. chart success with breakthrough single “Messy” – earns her first BRIT nomination since 2022.
The winners of the honorary songwriter of the year and producer of the year awards will be revealed over the coming weeks, alongside the ceremony’s performers.
The nominees are compiled by the Brit Awards Voting Academy, its membership made up of musicians and industry figures, but the public will decide on the winners of the genre categories, with voting taking place via a WhatsApp campaign which will open in the coming weeks.
Here’s the complete list of 2025 BRIT Awards nominees.
Mastercard album of the year
Charli XCX – Brat, Atlantic/Warner Music Ezra Collective – Dance, No One’s Watching, Partisan RecordsDua Lipa – Radical Optimism, Warner/Warner MusicThe Cure – Songs of a Lost World, Polydor/Universal MusicThe Last Dinner Party – Prelude to Ecstasy, Island/Universal Music
Artist of the year
Beabadoobee, Dirty Hit Central Cee, Columbia/Sony MusicCharli XCX, Atlantic/Warner MusicDua Lipa, Warner/Warner MusicFred Again.., Atlantic/Warner MusicJamie xx, Young/XL BeggarsMichael Kiwanuka, Polydor/Universal MusicNia Archives, Island/Universal MusicRachel Chinouriri, Parlophone/Universal MusicSam Fender, Polydor/Universal Music
Group of the year
Bring Me the Horizon, RCA/Sony MusicColdplay, Parlophone/Warner MusicEzra Collective, Partisan RecordsThe Cure, Polydor/Universal MusicThe Last Dinner Party, Island/Universal Music
Best new artist
English Teacher, Island/Universal MusicEzra Collective, Partisan RecordsMyles Smith, RCA/Sony MusicRachel Chinouriri, Parlophone/Universal MusicThe Last Dinner Party, Island/Universal Music
Song of the year
“I Like the Way You Kiss Me,” Artemas, Parlophone/Warner Music“Kisses,” BI3SS x CamrinWatsin (ft. Bbyclose), Atlantic/Warner Music “BAND4BAND,” Central Cee (ft. Lil Baby), Columbia/Capitol/Motown/Sony Music“Guess,” Charli XCX (ft. Billie Eilish), Atlantic/Interscope/Warner Music“Backbone,” Chase & Status (ft. Stormzy), 0207 Records/EMI/Merky/Universal Music“Feelslikeimfallinginlove,” Coldplay, Parlophone/Warner Music“Training Season,” Dua Lipa, Warner/Warner Music “Alibi,” Ella Henderson (ft. Rudimental), Atlantic/Warner Music“Angel of My Dreams,” Jade, RCA/Sony Music “Kehlani,” Jordan Adetunji, Warner/Warner Music“Thick of It,” KSI (ft. Trippie Redd), Atlantic/Warner Music“Stargazing,” Myles Smith, RCA/Sony Music“You’re Christmas to Me,” Sam Ryder, East West/Rhino/Warner Music “Somedays,” Sonny Fedora/Jazzy/D.O.D, Solotoko/Ada Warner Music “Now and Then,” The Beatles, Apple/UMR
BRITs Rising Star
Myles Smith [WINNER], RCA/Sony MusicElmiene, Polydor/Universal MusicGood Neighbours, Polydor/Universal Music
International artist of the year
Adrianne Lenker, 4AD/XL BeggarsAsake, YBNL NationBenson Boone, Warner/Warner MusicBeyoncé, Columbia/Parkwood Entertainment/SonyBillie Eilish, Interscope/Universal MusicChappell Roan, Island/Universal MusicKendrick Lamar, Interscope/Universal MusicSabrina Carpenter, Island/Universal MusicTaylor Swift, EMI/Universal MusicTyler, the Creator, Columbia/Sony Music
International group of the year
Amyl and The Sniffers, Rough Trade Records/XL BeggarsConfidence Man, Chaos/Universal MusicFontaines D.C., XL Recordings/XL BeggarsFuture & Metro Boomin, RCA/Sony MusicLinkin Park, Warner/Warner Music
International song of the year
“Beautiful Things,” Benson Boone, Warner/Warner Music “Texas Hold Em,” Beyoncé, Columbia/Parkwood Entertainment/Sony“Birds of a Feather,” Billie Eilish, Interscope/Universal Music“Good Luck, Babe!,” Chappell Roan, Island/Universal Music“End of Beginning,” Djo, AWAL/Djo/The Orchard “Houdini,” Eminem, Interscope/Universal Music “Too Sweet,” Hozier, Island/Universal Music“Lovin On Me,” Jack Harlow, Atlantic/Warner Music“Stick Season,” Noah Kahan, Republic Records/Universal Music“I Had Some Help,” Post Malone (ft. Morgan Wallen), Republic Records/Universal Music“Espresso,” Sabrina Carpenter, Island/Universal Music“A Bar Song (Tipsy),” Shaboozey, American Dogwood/Empire“Fortnight,” Taylor Swift (ft. Post Malone), EMI/Universal Music“Lose Control,” Teddy Swims, Atlantic/Warner Music“Million Dollar Baby,” Tommy Richman, ISO Supremacy/Pulse/Stem Disintermedia
Alternative/rock act
Beabadoobee, Dirty HitEzra Collective, Partisan RecordsSam Fender, Polydor/Universal MusicThe Cure, Polydor/Universal MusicThe Last Dinner Party, Island/Universal Music
Hip-hop/grime/rap act
Central Cee, Columbia/Sony MusicDave, Def Jam/Universal Music Ghetts, Warner/Warner Music Little Simz, AWAL/Sony MusicStormzy, 0207 Records/EMI/Merky/Universal Music
Dance act
Becky Hill, Polydor/Universal MusicCharli XCX, Atlantic/Warner MusicChase & Status, 0207 Records/Universal MusicFred Again.., Atlantic/Warner MusicNia Archives, Island/Universal Music
Pop act
Charli XCX, Atlantic/Warner MusicDua Lipa, Warner/Warner MusicJade, RCA/Sony MusicLola Young, Island/Universal MusicMyles Smith, RCA/Sony Music
R&B act
Cleo Sol, AWAL/Sony MusicFlo, Island/Universal MusicJorja Smith, FAMM/The Orchard/SonyMichael Kiwanuka, Polydor/Universal MusicRaye, Human Resources/The Orchard/Sony