Singer-songwriters each receive five nominations at British music industry’s flagship awards – where Jarvis Cocker will return 30 years after Michael Jackson incident
Olivia Dean and Lola Young have cemented their breakthroughs to the front rank of British pop by topping the nominations for the 2026 Brit awards.
The singer-songwriters earned five nominations each. Dean is nominated for artist and album of the year, pop act, and has two chances at winning song of the year for Man I Need and Rein Me In, the latter thanks to a guest spot with Sam Fender.
The 26-year-old Dean already had a good measure of success from her 2023 debut album Messy, but the follow-up The Art of Loving – featuring songs about the confounding and joyous business of being in love, in a sophisticated range of styles from bossa nova to neo-soul – has been a global sensation, topping the UK charts and currently sitting at No 3 in the US. Lead single Man I Need has barely been out of the UK Top 10 since its release in August and reached No 1.
Dean is the first announced performer at the awards ceremony, held for the first time in Manchester, at the city’s Co-op Live arena on Saturday 28 February and broadcast on ITV, with Jack Whitehall hosting.
