BRITS split image arlo parks bruce springsteen foo fighters

Tonight marks the return of the annual BRIT Awards, celebrating the best in British and international music.

The ceremony, which will be hosted at London’s O2 arena,  is one of the first major music events in the UK to take place in front of a live audience since the Covid-19 pandemic began.

The event is part of government led research into how live audiences can be safely welcomed back to large events. The BRITs gifted 2,500 tickets to key workers and their guests via a ballot lottery.

Music fans can also catch the ceremony on TV of course, which will be broadcast on ITV and ITV Hub from 8pm BST and hosted by comedian Jack Whitehall.

The event will certainly be one to watch; promising a host of performances from some of the industry’s most famous artists - and maybe even some record-breaking!

We’ve taken a look at some of the records that might be achieved tonight by this year’s nominated artists, as well as one that has already been broken.

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First female to receive the Global icon award

Taylor Swift has already had a record-breaking award season after securing the record for the most Album of the Year awards won at the Grammys back in March. 

However, her record-breaking streak continues at the BRIT Awards after being confirmed as the recipient of this year’s Global Icon award.

Her win makes her the first female to receive this award, as well as the youngest person to ever receive it at the age of 31 years 150 days.

The previous award winners in this category are Robbie Williams, David Bowie and Elton John.

Announcing the news on their website, the BRIT Awards said: "Taylor Swift is an eleven-time Grammy award winner and the first ever female artist to win the Grammy for Album of the Year three times. She has sold over 114 million albums worldwide with total global audio and video streams reaching 78 billion."

After listing off even more of the US singer’s accomplishments, they continue: "This is just a fraction of her incredible achievements, but it's safe to say there's no question that Taylor is more than deserving of this prestigious award."

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Youngest winner of a Best Album BRIT Award

London born singer Arlo Parks, if successful tonight, could become the youngest winner of a Best Album BRIT Award at the age of 20 years 275 days old for her debut album Collapsed in Sunbeams. Other nominees in the category include Celeste, Dua Lipa, Jessie Ware and J Hus.

Arlo started making music at just 14 years old and released her first EP in 2019, aged 17. She has also scooped nominations this year for Female Solo Artist and Breakthrough Artist and you can catch her performing live during tonight’s ceremony.

foo fighters brit awards

Most BRIT awards for Best International Group

Another category to keep an eye on this evening is the International group award. Yet again the competition is tough, with the likes of Haim and multiple Guinness World Records title holders BTS also nominated for the award.

However American rock band Foo Fighters’ fifth win in the category would see them equal U2’s record for the most BRIT awards for Best International Group. Foo Fighters previously claimed the award in 2008, 2012, 2015 and 2018.

bruce springsteen BRITs

Oldest winner of a BRIT Award

Finally, music legend Bruce Springsteen could potentially add yet another Guinness World Records title to his name - this time for the oldest winner of a BRIT Award.

Bruce will be 71 years 231 days at the time of the ceremony, meaning that if he scoops the International Male Solo Artist award, he will surpass Tom Jones as the title holder- who won the Outstanding contribution award at the age of 62 years, 258 days back in 2003.

You can find out more about tonight’s awards and view the complete list of nominees here.