Mark Savage
Music correspondent

Image source, PA Media

Newcomer Myles Smith had the biggest-selling British single of 2025, with the feel-good pop track Stargazing. So it’s no big surprise that he’s won the Brits’ Rising Star Prize – awarded to acts who are just on the cusp of success.

He was told about the prize last December, while he was battling a terrible hangover in Los Angeles.

"The night before, I'd tried to go drink-for-drink with some people who were a lot more experienced than me, and we actually had to call a doctor to my Airbnb," he told the BBC.

So I was actually on a drip, when I found out I’d got a Brit Award – and that brought me back to life more than any vitamin C ever could."

Mark Savage
Music correspondent

Charli XCX - Brat

The bookmaker’s favourite, Charli’s album is simultaneously a hedonistic club record and a surprisingly vulnerable exploration of what it means to be a woman in your 30s.

It takes all of Charli’s trademarks - huge pop hooks, abrasive synths and a screw you attitude - and distils them into pop perfection. 

Ezra Collective - Dance, No-One’s Watching.

The third album by London jazz supremos Ezra Collective bursts with energy - not least because they recorded it live to tape in front of an audience at the iconic Abbey Road Studios. 

Drawing on Afrobeat, hip-hop, West African Highlife, reggae and grime, it’s a clarion call to the dancefloor that aims to connect people across the continents.

The Cure – Songs of a Lost World

The Cure’s first album in 16 years finds them at an artistic peak – conjuring up an intoxicating wall of sound, as they tackle the weighty topics of encroaching old age, death and loss.

Written during a period where frontman Robert Smith lost his mother, father and brother the music simultaneously dark and fragile. But the sheer existence of the record suggests a tenacity, or a determination to keep going, in spite of everything – and Smith told the BBC that writing the songs had been "hugely cathartic" in escaping the "doom and gloom" he felt.

Image source, Reuters

We can now bring you a bit more from best pop act winner, JADE, whose final thanks go to her former bandmates Little Mix.

"I love you so much, I wouldn't have this award without them, they changed my life so much," she tells the audience.

She also thanks her family, saying: "Thank you for making me feel like it was a realistic goal to be a pop star."

Image source, Reuters

Taking to the stage with his band, he jokes he's "not as drunk as last time".

He thanks his band, saying "without them I'm just mad person shouting at walls".

We'll soon find out the winner of this year's best alternative/rock act. Here's a look at the nominees:

• Beabadoobee
• The Cure
• Ezra Collective
• The Last Dinner Party
• Sam Fender

• Charli xcx
• Dua Lipa
• JADE
• Lola Young
• Myles Smith

Dua took this trophy last year. Can she do it again?

Mollie Perella
BBC Newsbeat reporter at the Brits

Image source, Mollie Perella/BBC

We’ve swapped the red carpet for chef whites in the kitchen with Joseph Allen and Josh Stanton, who’ve been preparing this menu for weeks.

Josh is on the starter, a celeriac and oyster leaf pearl presented in a scallop shell. As well as delivering on the wow factor, Josh says they opted for a plant-based first course as sustainability was a key part of the brief.

The main is Joseph’s domain and he’s serving up venison with mushrooms and wild garlic. In a nod to Charli XCX’s Brat summer, the dessert is “very neon,” he says.

Unluckily for these guys, they’ll be “too busy with the cleaning” to see much of the show, but service should be a spectacle in itself.

“It’s gonna be mayhem,” says Josh. “It’s gonna be long but it’s gonna be great fun.”

Image source, Reuters

And we're off...

‘This is cool, I'm really happy that a song about underwear now has a Brit Award," Charli XCX says after accepting the award.

Annabel Rackham
Culture reporter

Image source, Reuters

Sabrina Carpenter put a cheeky British twist on her performance of a selection of her biggest hits from best-selling album Short n’ Sweet.

Playing hits Espresso and Bed Chem mixed with Rule Britannia - she will be hoping it’s not her final time on the Brits stage this evening as she is nominated for international artist and song of the year.

Sabrina has also received the Global Success Award this year - becoming the first non-British artist to do so after a rule change allowing international acts to be awarded.

Joining Sabrina Carpenter on the stage tonight will be former Little Mix JADE, whose Angel of My Dreams is nominated for song of the year.

Four-time nominee Ezra Collective will also perform alongside special guest and previous Brits winner Jorja Smith.

Rising Star Award winner Myles Smith will be on the stage too, as will last year’s winners The Last Dinner Party, who tonight are in the running for a series of awards – including group of the year and album of the year.

Singer-songwriter Teddy Swims says it’s “an honour” to perform at tonight’s ceremony alongside Sam Fender and Lola Young.

Image source, Reuters

With the red carpet now over, we can shift our focus to the big names in the running for an award tonight.

Pop princess Charli XCX is leading with five awards - but she faces some stiff competition.

Seven-time Brit winner Dua Lipa is nominated for the same four awards: Pop Act - which she won in 2024 - Artist of the Year, Album of the Year and Song of the Year.

Last year’s Brit Rising Stars The Last Dinner Party are also up for four Brits, in the same categories as the four nominations for Mercury Prize 2023 winners Ezra Collective.

And a fairly famous act - The Beatles - are up for Song of the Year - almost 50 years since their last Brit nomination in 1977.

Jamie Whitehead
Live reporter at the O2

All the stars are through, the cameras are getting packed away, the selfies are being taken.

That was quite an experience. It was hot, it got a bit crowded, but it was great.

A good night awaits, see you in the winners room.

Jamie Whitehead
Live reporter at the O2

Carrying a sparkly carrier bag which looks a lot like one from the supermarket who tell us every little helps, she shows us what she’s bought.

It’s an eclectic selection. A Bjork record, a book she can’t say the title of on a live stream and what looked like some mints.

Good to come prepared, we’re all getting a bit hungry here.

Ezra Collective are nominated for four awards tonight's, and they've just given the BBC's Mark Savage some insight into their new album's lead single 'God gave me feet for dancing".

"It came out of a conversation with [DJ and radio host] Annie Mac, talking about joy and why we're here and who we are. Our fingers are designed for playing the piano, and our feet are designed for dancing," the band's drummer Femi Koleoso says.

"All of us are designed to feel joy at some point in our lives, and we're trying to facilitate that wherever it's possible," he adds.

Their performance later, with Jorja Smith, is going to be "the most Ezra Collective three minutes you've ever heard, dancing, noise and chaos".

Jamie Whitehead
Live reporter at the O2

Jade is here, on her way to perform at tonight’s ceremony.

Ok, the dress may not quite be as long and the red (or grey) carpet, it’s still the longest we’ve seen so far, and does need someone to carry the train for her.

I assume she’ll get changed before her performance, she won’t want a “Madonna moment".

Image source, Getty Images

Paul Glynn
Entertainment reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Superstar DJ Jamie xx is no stranger to the Brit Awards having been nominated before with his band the xx.

He’s up for best artist following the success of his most recent solo album In Waves, which filled dancefloors around the world.

He may look like butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth but he told the BBC that “bad behaviour is on the cards” once the red carpet is done and dusted.

“It’s usually very fun, after all the nervous waiting…”

Jamie Whitehead
Live reporter at the O2

5ive, the soundtrack to many an episode of Select MTV after school in the ‘90s, are here.

Admittedly not my cup of tea musically, it’s surreal to see five (5ive) people so omnipresent 30 years ago stood in front of us.

They’ll be back here at the O2 as part of their reunion tour later in the year.

“It’s still surreal to think about opening the Brits with the legend that is Brian May 25 years ago,” they say.

Stella Quaresma, Renée Downer and Jorja Douglas make up the British girl group FLO, who are nominated for best R&B act.

They've been working with Beyoncé's dance captain Amari Marshall, and tell the BBC's Mark Savage: "We've been running and singing and holding the plank."

Known for their harmonies, Mark wonders how high they can sing - take a look: