Rising star Raye on Saturday swept the UK’s top music awards, setting a record for winning the most prizes in a single year.
The singer-songwriter scooped six awards including best artist, R&B act, new artist, song of the year for Escapism and album for My 21st Century Blues.
Her award for best songwriter was preannounced.
Photo: Reuters
Accepting the best new artist award, the 26-year-old called the win “overwhelming.”
“This is wild,” she added.
“What is actually happening right now?” Raye told the audience at London’s O2 arena, clearly delighted. “The artist I was three years ago would not believe the sight she is seeing today. I’m in control, I’m my own boss now.”
She had made history even before the ceremony started by being nominated for a record seven prizes in one year.
The Londoner, whose real name is Rachel Keen, had been up against six other female artists out of the 10 shortlisted in the gender neutral best artist category following a controversy last year.
Not a single female artist ended up being shortlisted in the category last year after the merging of the best female and male artist categories for the first time a year earlier.
That led Brit Awards chairman Damian Christian to complain about a “disappointing lack of female representation,” blaming a dearth of eligible 2022 releases by big female stars.
This year the shortlist was extended from five to 10 and included Dua Lipa and Jessie Ware, newcomer Olivia Dean, and Mercury Prize winners Little Simz and Arlo Parks, as well as Raye.
This year’s awards also saw prizes go to Dua Lipa for best pop act, US singer-songwriter SZA for international artist and US indie supergroup Boygenius for international group.
Kylie Minogue was honored with the Brit Awards global icon prize.
Before making it as a solo artist, Raye wrote songs for big names such as Beyonce, Jennifer Lopez and Little Mix. She had also had success as a guest artist on dance tracks.
However, after being signed by record company Polydor, creative disagreements led to a tearful online post in which she accused the label of refusing to release her debut album.
Polydor released her from her contract and she went on to critical and commercial success as an independent artist.
Her track Escapism ftook off on TikTok and scored a UK No. 1 hit just more than a year ago.
The single, the third from her debut album, also topped singles charts in Denmark and Ireland and entered the top 10 in 20 countries.
The Philippines yesterday said its coast guard would acquire 40 fast patrol craft from France, with plans to deploy some of them in disputed areas of the South China Sea. The deal is the “largest so far single purchase” in Manila’s ongoing effort to modernize its coast guard, with deliveries set to start in four years, Philippine Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Ronnie Gil Gavan told a news conference. He declined to provide specifications for the vessels, which Manila said would cost 25.8 billion pesos (US$440 million), to be funded by development aid from the French government. He said some of the vessels would
Hundreds of thousands of Guyana citizens living at home and abroad would receive a payout of about US$478 each after the country announced it was distributing its “mind-boggling” oil wealth. The grant of 100,000 Guyanese dollars would be available to any citizen of the South American country aged 18 and older with a valid passport or identification card. Guyanese citizens who normally live abroad would be eligible, but must be in Guyana to collect the payment. The payout was originally planned as a 200,000 Guyanese dollar grant for each household in the country, but was reframed after concerns that some citizens, including
Airlines in Australia, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia and Singapore yesterday canceled flights to and from the Indonesian island of Bali, after a nearby volcano catapulted an ash tower into the sky. Australia’s Jetstar, Qantas and Virgin Australia all grounded flights after Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki on Flores island spewed a 9km tower a day earlier. Malaysia Airlines, AirAsia, India’s IndiGo and Singapore’s Scoot also listed flights as canceled. “Volcanic ash poses a significant threat to safe operations of the aircraft in the vicinity of volcanic clouds,” AirAsia said as it announced several cancelations. Multiple eruptions from the 1,703m twin-peaked volcano in
A plane bringing Israeli soccer supporters home from Amsterdam landed at Israel’s Ben Gurion airport on Friday after a night of violence that Israeli and Dutch officials condemned as “anti-Semitic.” Dutch police said 62 arrests were made in connection with the violence, which erupted after a UEFA Europa League soccer tie between Amsterdam club Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv. Israeli flag carrier El Al said it was sending six planes to the Netherlands to bring the fans home, after the first flight carrying evacuees landed on Friday afternoon, the Israeli Airports Authority said. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also ordered
RSS