The Brit Award for British Artist of the Year is an award given by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), an organisation which represents record companies and artists in the United Kingdom. The accolade is presented at the Brit Awards, an annual celebration of British and international music. The winners and nominees are determined by the Brit Awards voting academy with over one thousand members, which comprise record labels, publishers, managers, agents, media, and previous winners and nominees.
The current holder of the award is Olivia Dean, who won in 2026.
History The category was introduced in 2022 and combined the previous categories for British Female Solo Artist and British Male Solo Artist. The restructuring of these categories was a result of the Academy's wish to eliminate the distinctions between male and female artists and replace it with new gender-neutral category. This category is intended to honour solo artists, as groups are still nominated in the British Group category.
Following an all-male shortlist in 2023, the list of nominees was expanded from five to ten beginning with the 2024 Brit Awards in an effort to increase diversity.
Eligibility In order to be eligible for the Artist of the Year award, "an artist must have achieved at least one top 40 album or two top 20 singles" during the Brits eligibility period, which generally runs from early December of one year to a similar date of the following year (e.g. the eligibility period for the 2023 Brit awards was 10 December 2021 to 9 December 2022). To determine the nominees for the category, record labels are invited to submit their eligible artists for consideration for the members of the BPI to vote on. Each of the approximately 1,200 members chooses their personal top five in order of preference and the votes are counted to produce the shortlist of five nominees.
Winners and nominees YearRecipientNominee 2022 (42nd) Adele Dave Sam Fender Little Simz Ed Sheeran 2023 (43rd) Harry Styles Central Cee Fred Again George Ezra Stormzy 2024 (44th) Raye Arlo Parks Central Cee Dave Dua Lipa Fred Again J Hus Jessie Ware Little Simz Olivia Dean 2025 (45th) Charli XCX Beabadoobee Central Cee Dua Lipa Fred Again Jamie xx Michael Kiwanuka Nia Archives Rachel Chinouriri Sam Fender 2026 (46th) Olivia Dean Dave Fred Again JADE Lily Allen Little Simz Lola Young PinkPantheress Sam Fender Self Esteem
Artists with multiple nominations 4 nominations Fred Again
3 nominations Central Cee Dave Little Simz Sam Fender
2 nominations Dua Lipa Olivia Dean
Controversy In 2023, the awards attracted controversy due to all five nominees for the solo award being male.
See also Brit Award for International Solo Artist
Notes Adele (2008) also won the Brit Award for Rising Star Adele (2012, 2016) also won the Brit Award for British Female Solo Artist
References