Olivia Dean and Lola Young top the list of nominees at the 2026 BRIT Awards, with five nominations, as the BRIT Awards are set to move from London to Manchester for the first time in the event’s nearly half-century history, as organizers revealed on Wednesday. The BRIT Awards stated that the nominees were unveiled during “Bring on the BRITs,” a digital TV program taped at Manchester’s Co-op Live, which aired on the BRITs’ Instagram and Facebook pages.
The winners will be announced on Saturday, Feb 28th, when the ceremony makes its debut on Co-op Live and on ITV and ITVX. Comedian Jack Whitehall will be back to host his sixth ceremony to present the BRITs awards.
Dean was nominated for Artist of the Year, Mastercard Album of the Year, and Pop Act, while she also picked up two Song of the Year nods for “Man I Need” and “Rein Me In,” which she recorded with Sam Fender. Organizers also confirmed Dean as the first artist set to perform at the 2026 ceremony.
Young picked up five nods, which include Artist of the Year, Breakthrough Artist, Song of the Year, Alt/Rock Act, and Pop Act.
Fender received four nominations in the Artist of the Year, Mastercard Album of the Year, Song of the Year, and Alt/Rock Act category. According to the BRITs, Fender won the Alt/Rock Act award two times before and received the Mercury Prize in 2025.
A number of artists collected three nominations, including Dave, Fred again., Jim Legxacy, Lily Allen, and Wolf Alice. The BRIT Awards also introduced a broader field that includes Calvin Harris, JADE, Ed Sheeran, Little Simz, PinkPantheress, RAYE, Skye Newman, and Wet Leg. The Britpop group Pulp has been nominated for a BRIT Award for the first time since 1996 in the category of Group of the Year.
Among the global categories, new nominees for International Artist of the Year are Bad Bunny, Doechii, ROSALÍA, and sombr for the awards. For the International Group category, new nominees are Geese and Turnstile. Bruno Mars has twice-nominated performances for the awards.
The BRITs announced that the winners for Song of the Year and International Song of the Year will be voted for by public voting on WhatsApp from midday on Friday, Jan. 30, until 6 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 13.
Organizers pointed out that the nominations include the highest proportion of females and people who identify as non-binary as solo acts or as co-genders or co-gender groups at 69.2%.
“The list of artists nominated reflects a stellar year in music,” said Stacey Tang, chair of the BRIT Awards Committee, in the statement. “It will be a fantastic opportunity in Manchester to highlight the best of what Britain has to offer in music around the globe,” said Jo Twist, BPI’s CEO.
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