The shortlist for best artist at this year’s Brit Awards doesn’t include any female artist. So where are the women, and what does it say about the music industry? The Brit Awards 2023 are a month away, but we already know one thing about the winner of the best artist award it will be a man.
The Brits scrapped their best male and best female awards last year in favour of gender-neutral prizes. But when the nominations for this year’s ceremony emerged on Thursday, there was a backlash over the men-only best artist list.
Out of the 70 stars who were eligible to be nominated for the prize, just 12 were female.
Here are the five nominees the voters chose:
- Harry Styles (pictured) – he dominated the charts with his song As It Was and album Harry’s House, and is tipped to win
- Stormzy – his third album This Is What I Mean was a commercial and critical hit and included hits like Hide & Seek and Firebabe
- George Ezra – the singer-songwriter made a successful comeback with the single Green Green Grass and had a number one album
- Central Cee – the London rapper had a number one album and two top 10 singles in 2022
- Fred Again – the fast-rising house producer went to number four with his third album Actual Life 3
The Brits, like some other entertainment awards, have introduced gender neutral awards to be “even more inclusive, recognising exceptional work rather than how artists identify”, a spokesperson said.
Why are no women nominated for Brit Awards 2023?Concerns that the move risked sidelining female acts seemed to have been eased when two women were nominated for best artist in 2022 – Adele and Little Simz – and women or female-fronted acts won 10 of the 15 awards on the night.
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