Stormzy has been added to this year’s Brit Awards lineup, organizers have announced.
The British grime star, who is up for three gongs at the ceremony, joins previously announced stars including Harry Styles, Lizzo, Sam Smith and Kim Petras and Wet Leg.
After his previous three British won, Storm is this year in the running for artist of the year, best album and best hip-hop/grime/rap number.
Stormzy’s performance onstage at the 2020 awards show. Photo: Joel C Ryan/Invision/AP
One of Britain’s biggest stars of recent years, his three albums have all topped the charts, and in 2019 he became the first black British solo artist to headline Glastonbury.
The announcement of Stormzy’s performance this year follows controversy over the nominations, with an all-male Best Artist of the Year shortlist, raising questions about the new gender-neutral categories.
Stormzy is up for the award alongside Styles, George Ezra, Central Cee and Fred Again.
Defending the nomination choices, the awards said while the lack of female nominees was “disappointing”, it was until 2022 seeing “fewer high-profile female artists in the cycle with major releases” than in 2021. .
Why were the male and female artist categories removed?
Adele has been named artist of the year in 2022, the first year of the new award
Organizers reportedly intend to assess their decision to adopt gender-neutral awards as part of their annual review after the upcoming ceremony, which will take place on a Saturday for the first time this year, February 11.
The Brits have announced that the male and female award categories will be scrapped before the 2022 ceremony, becoming gender-neutral in a bid to make the awards more inclusive.
Adele won the top award for Best Artist and cleaned up with three awards.
On winning the award for best artist, the star told the crowd that while she understood why gender-specific awards were dropped, she loved being a female artist and wanted to celebrate women. “I’m really proud of us,” she said.
Stormzy last performed at the Brits in 2020, when he also won Best Male Artist, before the categories were changed.
Lizzo, pictured at Brits 2020, is also among the performers and nominees this year. Photo: Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP
With only four nominations out of a possible 25 in the mixed categories awarded to women that year, he paid tribute to the women on his team by receiving his award.
“To be the best man, I have the most amazing women on my team,” he said. “You are all the best, the best male is nothing without the best females. I love you guys.”
Read more:
Everything you need to know about the Brit Awards 2023
Brits 2023: The full list of nominations
Styles and Isle of Wight indie rock duo Wet Leg lead the race at this year’s Brit Awards, with four nods apiece – after the two were nominated for the 2022 Mercury Prize.
Cat Burns, Fred Again and The 1975, plus Stormzy are all up for three awards, while Central Cee, George Ezra, Arctic Monkeys, Nova Twins, Aitch, Dave, Eliza Rose, Beyonce, Lizzo, Taylor Swift, Ed Both Sheeran and Sam Smith have two nods each.
Burns, David Guetta, Becky Hill and Ella Henderson are also scheduled to perform.