# Brit Awards 2015

Brit Awards 2015 was held on 25 February 2015. This was the 35th edition of the British Phonographic Industry's annual pop music awards. The awards ceremony was held at The O2 Arena in London, presented by Ant & Dec. This was their second time hosting, and their first since 2001. Award nominations were revealed on 15 January 2015. Tracey Emin became the fifth artist to style the BRITs statue.

## Performances
### The Brits Are Coming: Nominations Launch Party

Reggie Yates hosted the launch show inside the ITV Studios in London on Thursday 15 January.
| Artist(s) | Song(s) | UK Singles Chart reaction |
| Jessie Ware | "You and I (Forever)" | N/A |
| Clean Bandit Jess Glynne | "Real Love" "Rather Be" | 12 (–1) 39 (–9) |
| FKA Twigs | "Hide" "Pendulum" | N/A |
| James Bay | "Let It Go" | N/A |

### Main show performances

The first three performers were announced for the 2015 Brit Awards on 16 December 2014.
| Artist | Song | UK Singles Chart reaction | UK Albums Chart reaction |
| Taylor Swift | "Blank Space" | 29 (+/–) | 1989 – 5 (+3) |
| Sam Smith | "Lay Me Down" | 15 (+73) | In the Lonely Hour – 1 (+1) |
| Royal Blood | "Figure It Out" | 43 (re-entry) | Royal Blood – 3 (+15) |
| Ed Sheeran | "Bloodstream" | 35 (re-entry) | x – 2 (+1) + – 25 (+21) |
| Kanye West featuring Theophilus London and Allan Kingdom | "All Day" | 18 (debut) | N/A |
| Take That | "Let in the Sun" | did not chart | III – 18 (+3) |
| George Ezra | "Budapest" | 18 (+12) | Wanted on Voyage – 4 (+2) |
| Paloma Faith | "Only Love Can Hurt Like This" | 32 (re-entry) | A Perfect Contradiction – 8 (+25) |
| Madonna | "Living for Love" | 26 (debut) | Celebration – 38 (re-entry) |

## Winners and nominees

| British Album of the Year (presented by Russell Crowe) | British Producer of the Year |
| Ed Sheeran – X Sam Smith – In the Lonely Hour Royal Blood – Royal Blood alt-j – This Is All Yours George Ezra – Wanted on Voyage | Paul Epworth Alison Goldfrapp & Will Gregory Flood Jake Gosling |
| British Single of the Year (presented by Lisa Snowdon and Lionel Richie) | British Video of the Year (presented by Jimmy Carr and Karlie Kloss) |
| Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars – "Uptown Funk" Calvin Harris – "Summer" Clean Bandit featuring Jess Glynne – "Rather Be" Duke Dumont featuring Jax Jones - "I Got U" Ed Sheeran – "Thinking Out Loud" Ella Henderson – "Ghost" George Ezra – "Budapest" Route 94 featuring Jess Glynne – "My Love" Sam Smith – "Stay with Me" Sigma – "Nobody to Love" | One Direction – "You & I" Ed Sheeran – "Thinking Out Loud" Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars – "Uptown Funk" Sam Smith – "Stay with Me" Calvin Harris - "Summer" Eliminated Charli XCX – "Boom Clap" Duke Dumont featuring Jax Jones – "I Got U" Rita Ora – "I Will Never Let You Down" Route 94 featuring Jess Glynne – "My Love" Sigma – "Nobody to Love" |
| British Male Solo Artist (presented by Orlando Bloom and Rita Ora) | British Female Solo Artist (presented by Mark Ronson) |
| Ed Sheeran Damon Albarn George Ezra Paolo Nutini Sam Smith | Paloma Faith Ella Henderson FKA Twigs Jessie Ware Lily Allen |
| British Group (presented by Jimmy Page) | British Breakthrough Act (presented by Fearne Cotton and Charli XCX) |
| Royal Blood Alt-J Clean Bandit Coldplay One Direction | Sam Smith CHVRCHES FKA twigs George Ezra Royal Blood |
| International Male Solo Artist (presented by Cara Delevingne) | International Female Solo Artist (presented by Lewis Hamilton and Ellie Goulding) |
| Pharrell Williams Beck Hozier Jack White John Legend | Taylor Swift Beyoncé Lana Del Rey Sia St. Vincent |
| International Group (presented by John Bishop) | Critics' Choice Award |
| Foo Fighters 5 Seconds of Summer Black Keys First Aid Kit The War on Drugs | James Bay George the Poet Years & Years |

### Global Success Award

* Sam Smith (presented by Kim Kardashian)

## Multiple nominations and awards

Artists that received multiple nominations :
| Nominations | Artist |
| 5 | Sam Smith |
| 4 (3) | Ed Sheeran |
| 4 (3) | George Ezra |
| 4 (3) | Royal Blood |
| 3 (2) | alt-J |
| 3 (2) | Jess Glynne |
| 2 (12) | Ariana Grande |
| 2 (12) | Bruno Mars |
| 2 (12) | Clean Bandit |
| 2 (12) | Duke Dumont |
| 2 (12) | Ella Henderson |
| 2 (12) | FKA Twigs |
| 2 (12) | Jessie J |
| 2 (12) | Mark Ronson |
| 2 (12) | Nicki Minaj |
| 2 (12) | One Direction |
| 2 (12) | Route 94 |
| 2 (12) | Sigma |
Artists that received multiple awards :
| Awards | Artist |
| 2 | Ed Sheeran |

## Notable moments
### Kanye West performance

Kanye West was confirmed to perform just the day before the awards took place. He performed his song "All Day" amongst a large entourage including grime musicians Skepta, Stormzy, Krept and Konan, Jammer and Novelist. The entourage held flamethrowers and wore all black. However, his performance was repeatedly muted throughout most of the track for those watching on television due to the extreme explicit language featured within the song's lyrics, with the use of "nigga" being repeatedly rapped live on ITV. The performance drew mixed reactions from the crowd, with presenters Ant & Dec joking about it afterwards, and divided opinions on social media; some criticising West's performance and some criticising how ITV dealt with the issue.

### Madonna incident

Madonna was the last to perform on the night, singing a version of her song "Living for Love" to close the show and mark her first Brits performance in 20 years. Shortly into her performance, a problem with her costume caused her to be pulled down a flight of stairs that made up part of the stage.
She later took to Instagram to confirm that she was uninjured, posting "Thanks for the good wishes! I'm fine". It was later revealed that her cape was tied too tightly when her dancers attempted to remove it from her neck, causing her to crash to the floor and leaving the audience in shock. After several seconds, she continued the performance as planned.

## Brit Awards 2015 album

The Brit Awards 2015 is a compilation and box set which includes the "63 biggest tracks from the past year". The box set has three discs with a total of sixty-three songs by various artists.

### Weekly charts

| Chart (2015) | Peak position |
| Irish Multi-Artist Compilations | 5 |
| UK Compilations | 2 |

## Ratings and critical reception

An average of 5.3 million people tuned in to the ceremony on ITV, according to overnight ratings – rising to 5.8 million when ITV+1 viewers are added in.