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Awards shows, by their very design, produce winners and losers and the 2026 BRITs were no different.
The ceremony, which was held at Manchester’s Co-op Live for the first time, featured more losers than normal as Olivia Dean swept her categories and will head back to her hometown London with four prizes: album of the year, artist of the year, song of the year and pop act. She was crowned the new queen of British pop, following triumphs from RAYE (2024) and Charli xcx (2025) at recent ceremonies.
The rest of the awards were spread fairly among a number of acts: Sam Fender nabbed two, Rosé became the first-ever K-pop winner at the BRITs and Rosalía made history by becoming the first Spanish-language artist to earn a win in the international artist field. See the full list of winners from this year’s ceremony here.
Honorary prizes to Noel Gallagher (songwriter of the year), PinkPantheress (producer of the year) and Mark Ronson (outstanding contribution to music) were reminders that award shows can have strong, memorable moments when artists are not pitted against each other, but celebrated for their own unique achievements and style. They provided a welcome change of pace.
Even if Billboard‘s predictions were largely on the money, the results do leave some questions and surprises. A handful of massive names went home empty-handed, something that’ll happen rarely in their illustrious careers. Similarly, some acts will feel particularly thrilled to come home with a trophy and maybe did not see the win coming.
These are the biggest snubs and surprises from the 2026 BRIT Awards.
Snub: Taylor Swift
Taylor has to be considered a frontrunner at any awards ceremony — but she left the 2026 BRITs without a trophy. She competed in two categories (international artist and international song) and lost out to Rosalía and Rosé & Bruno Mars, respectively. The Life of a Showgirl had a four-week run at No. 1 but divided some of the U.K’s critics, which make up part of the Brits Voting Panel and could have played a factor.
Surprise: Sam Fender & Olivia Dean
Although we predicted that their collaboration “Rein Me In” would scoop the song of the year prize, it remains a remarkable victory. The song first featured on Fender’s 2025 album People Watching, with Dean joining for a new version in June following a live performance. It had a 35-week climb to No. 1 on the U.K. Charts and finally hit the top spot just seven days before the ceremony. It has peaked at just the right time, and the audience-voted prize benefits songs that can mobilize multiple fanbases like Fender’s and Dean’s.
Snub: Lily Allen
Lily is unlikely to feel too hard done-by: her track record at the BRITs over her career has been spotty, picking up just one award out of 12 nominations since 2007. But her 2025 LP West End Girl was the finest of her career and has dominated pop culture ever since, and to go home empty-handed is a shame.
Surprise: Rosalía
The international artist category was full of heavyweights — Swift, Sabrina Carpenter, Chappell Roan and more — but Rosalía deservedly came out top of the pile. She gave the night’s best performance and stunned the Co-op Live with a headbanging version of “Berghain.” To make such ambitious, challenging songs and still be recognized at mainstream award ceremonies is a testament to her skill and credibility as a songwriter.
Snub: Sleep Token
Of the acts nominated in the group of the year category, the masked metallers are the only to have had No. 1s on both the U.K.’s Official Albums Chart and the Billboard 200. In fact, Wet Leg is the only other act in the field to land a placement on the latter (Moisturizer, No. 45) in 2025. Sleep Token is playing arenas on a global level, a rarity among British groups, but it appears chart placings and ticket sales do not always translate to trophies.
Surprise: Noel Gallagher
Debate has raged regarding the songwriter of the year prize being handed to a musician who has not released original material since 2023 (and since 2009 under the Oasis name). But the Britpop icons’ songbook did define 2025 with their reunion tour wowing millions and dominating the U.K. charts all summer long. He thanked his brother Liam and the people of Manchester for this deserved award.
Snub: Jim Legxacy
The London musician was up for three prizes on the night but lost out in all of them. Missing out to Lola Young for breakthrough artist is no real surprise, and the hip-hop/grime/rap prize always felt like it belonged to Dave. But the R&B act prize did not feature many commercial heavyweights, and his Black British Music was both critically-acclaimed and the highest-charting project from any of the nominees. Sault collected the prize, despite their ongoing mystery.
Surprise: Geese
The New York rock band has found a special home in the U.K., who adopted them and supported them from early on in their career. To win a BRIT Award as an independent artist and especially against HUNTR/X, HAIM, Turnstile and Tame Impala is something of a shock, but a richly deserved moment for a band on the cusp of greatness.
