Dua Lipa has become the most-nominated artist at the Brit awards for a second year in a row, underlining her status as one of the UK's biggest pop stars this decade.
After being nominated for five awards in 2018 and winning two, for British female and British breakthrough artist, the British-Kosovan singer is nominated four times in 2019 – though admittedly just for two hit songs. IDGAF, taken from her self-titled debut album last year but still eligible for this year's awards, was nominated for British single and British video, with One Kiss, her summer smash hit with Scottish producer Calvin Harris, also nominated in the same categories.
Like Lipa, whose breakthrough came after a few years of fitful popularity, Essex-born Anne-Marie began guesting on dance tracks back in 2013, but she has steadily developed into a chart-dominating solo star. She sang the 2016 Christmas No 1, Rockabye, produced by Clean Bandit (the pop group who are nominated twice this year for their song Solo) and earned her first Brit nomination in 2017, for British breakthrough. Other major collaborative hits followed, including Friends with US EDM producer Marshmello, and she was nominated for her second Brit in 2018 for her song Ciao Adios. Her album Speak Your Mind became 2018's biggest-selling debut in the UK (though only the 26th highest seller overall).
George Ezra, whose album Staying at Tamara's was the second-biggest selling of 2018 after The Greatest Showman soundtrack, has three nominations, for British album, British male, and British single for Shotgun, which spent 12 weeks in the Top Three over the summer. As the only artist with one of the ten biggest-selling albums of the year in the male and album categories, his sheer success and cross-generational appeal means he will be a strong favourite to win both.
Also with three nominations is versatile neo-soul singer Jorja Smith, who won the Critics' Choice award in 2018, as voted for by a panel of industry experts – this year's winner has already been announced as Tyneside singer-songwriter Sam Fender. Smith's debut album Lost & Found is nominated for the British album award, and she also picks up nominations for British female and British breakthrough.
Guitar-pop group the 1975 scored two prominent nominations, for British group and British album, though Arctic Monkeys were snubbed in the latter category and only scored one nomination.
A strong year for north American music, particularly rap, meant that only two of the 15 international category nominees were not from the US or Canada: First Aid Kit and Christine and the Queens. Rap superstars including Drake, Eminem, Travis Scott and Cardi B were all nominated – as was Jay-Z with wife Beyoncé in the group category – but there was also room for cosmic jazz saxophonist Kamasi Washington.
