Harry Styles ruled the night at the 2023 Brit Awards taking home all four trophies he was nominated for—Song of the Year for “As It Was,” Album of the Year for Harry’s House, Pop/R&B Act, and Artist of the Year.
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When accepting the award for Artist of the Year, Styles gave a grateful speech, thanking his family—especially his mom—and the former members of his band One Direction, with whom Styles got his start.
“Thank you again,” Styles said during his acceptance speech for Artist of the Year. “I’m gonna to start by—I want to thank my family for being the most supportive understanding patient loving family I could have ever asked for. I want to thank my mom for signing me up for X Factor without telling me. So I literally wouldn’t be here without you. I want to thank Nile, Louis, Liam, and Zayn because I wouldn’t be here without you either, thank you so much.
Styles then added a closing line about his privilege, subtly acknowledging the backlash he received following his Grammy speech for Album of the Year. In that speech Styles remarked, “This doesn’t happen to people like me very often.” The comment provoked online followers to discuss Styles’ privilege and how someone like him is acknowledged often in the music industry.
Styles concluded his Brit award speech by saying, “I’m really, really grateful for this and I’m very aware of my privilege up here tonight,” before dedicating the award to five female artists. “So this award is for Rina (Sawayama), Charli (XCX), Florence (Welch), Mabel, and Becky (Hill).”
Earlier in the evening, Styles, who was presented with the award by Shania Twain, took home Song of the year for “As It Was.”
“This album and this song was the most fun I’ve ever had making music, Styles said. “I want to thank Rob Stringer for lending me his house to record this in, write it in. I want to thank Tom and Tyler and everyone, all my friends who support me. Thank you to everyone who listened and thank you, Louis.”
“As It Was” is the lead single off Harry’s House, which spent 15 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, making history as the fourth-longest-running No. 1 ever on the chart. It also hit No. 1 on the U.K. Singles chart. Harry’s House debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and the U.K. Albums Chart.
Renowned for his live performances, Styles is currently crisscrossing the globe as part of his Love On Tour. The tour continues through July 22, when it wraps in Italy. Love on Tour started in September 2021 and included 15 sold-out shows at Madison Square Garden in New York City in August 2022.
Watch Styles accept the Brit award for Song of the Year.
Mastercard Album of the Year
The 1975, Being Funny in a Foreign Language, Dirty Hit
Wet Leg, Wet Leg, Domino Recordings
Harry Styles, Harry’s House, Columbia, Sony Music — WINNER
Stormzy, This Is What I Mean, 0207/Merky, Universal Music
Fred Again.. Actual Life 3 (January 1-September 9 2022), Atlantic Warner Music
Song of the Year
Aitch/Ashanti, “Baby,” Capitol, Universal Music
Cat Burns, “Go,” RCA/Since 93, Sony Music
Dave, “Starlight,” Dave/Neighbourhood, Universal Music
Ed Sheeran & Elton John, “Merry Christmas,” Atlantic/EMI, Warner Music, Universal Music
Eliza Rose/Interplanetary Criminal, “B.O.T.A. (Baddest of Them All),” Warner Records/One House/Warner Music
George Ezra, “Green Green Grass,” Columbia, Sony Music
Harry Styles, “As It Was,” Columbia, Sony Music — WINNER
Lewis Capaldi, “Forget Me,” EMI, Universal Music
LF System, “Afraid to Feel,” Warner Records, Warner Music
Sam Smith & Kim Petras, “Unholy,” Capitol, Universal Music
Artist of the Year
Central Cee, Central Cee
Fred Again…, Atlantic, Warner Music
George Ezra, Columbia/Sony Music
Harry Styles, Columbia/Sony Music — WINNER
Stormzy, 0207/Merky, Universal Music
Pop/R&B Act
Cat Burns, RCA/Since’93, Sony Music
Charli XCX, Asylum/Atlantic, Warner Music
Dua Lipa, Warner Records, Warner Music
Harry Styles, Columbia, Sony Music — WINNER
Sam Smith, Capitol, Universal Music
Photo by Samir Hussein/WireImage
