Dua Lipa brought her new single “Training Season” to life at this year’s BRIT Awards. She opened the song singing alone onstage while dozens of dancers dressed in black leather lounged on the bleachers. After she marched down the runway with them in tow, Dua Lipa was surrounded by a new circle of levitating acrobats, who proceeded to to do Cirque du Soleil-style tricks in the air — at one point even lifting her up by the hands.
Raye
Raye had a huge night at the BRITs, winning six awards—the most ever for a single artist in a year—after her record-setting seven nominations. It allowed her performance to feel like a victory lap of sorts. What began with Raye performing “Ice Cream Man” on piano quickly turned into a thorough medley. She belted out “Prada” next and segued into the brassy “Escapism,” all with a choir and backing band performing live behind her.
The BRITs are the U.K.’s biggest awards show for music, so it isn’t surprising that queens like Kylie Minogue, Dua Lipa and more slayed the red carpet.
Lipa, 28, graced the red carpet in a curve-hugging black leather Versace gown before she won the BRIT Award for Pop Act on Saturday, March 2, at The 02 Arena in London.
“Speechless! @dualipa you are a vision in Versace, as always,” Donnatella Versace captioned a video of the “Dance the Night Away” singer at the show via Instagram. “No one quite does the Brits like you!! I love you 🖤🇬🇧.”
Meanwhile Minogue, 55, proved why she was getting the Global Icon Award with her showstopping black dress, which included a velvet corset bodice and black ruffle skirt. The “Padam Padam” singer wore a dangling earrings one diamond ring and tennis bracelet as well as a diamond anklet over her black tights.
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Becky Hill is digging through her purse as I walk into her dressing room. It’s about a half hour or so until she’s headlining at The Brooklyn Steel in New York, and the opening duo act GAWD is getting the already-hyped crowd, who has chanted her name at any lull, ready for her. Arriving at the venue, there was no doubt in my mind people were ready for Becky Hill, but right now Becky is ready for me.
She’s wearing a denim set that glistens in the light thanks to a thousand crystals, it’s reminiscent of Y2K pop queens like Britney Spears. Her face stretches into a warm smile as she hugs me and my photographer hello, ushering us to the couches and introducing herself as if I haven’t been listening to her music for a good chunk of my life. Sitting with Becky Hill already feels comfortable, and it’s all thanks to her.
What Becky was looking for in her purse was her set of press-on nails, which she begins to put on as we speak…like we’re two besties gossiping before she has to perform. We start talking about the year she’s had already, with releasing two new singles: “Disconnect” with Chase & Status and “Side Effects” with Lewis Thompson.
The two singles indicate a new album currently slated to release in May, which she’s so excited about. She knows how to write an album now, it’s a real dance album. She’s shed the fear of not being accepted for her album not being pop enough, and is showcasing her confidence as a woman, songwriter, and singer.
“I found that the music I was putting out wasn’t matching the music I wanted to listen to…and I decided last year that I was going to make a f—ing album that I would rave to, that I would be seen listening to in the clubs.”
She takes me on a journey: moving to London alone at age 18 with no friends or family to help her, she meets Karen Poole (or as Becky lovingly calls her, Auntie Karen) who has since helped her write and create songs like “Remember” with David Guetta. Poole is the melody queen, and Becky Hill has the voice that can take your breath away: powerful, gritty, moving, and real. It’s a match made in music heaven.
“If you would say a lyric to your friend, then that’s what makes the song,”
Becky got her start on The Voice UK as a member of Jessie J’s team, quickly separating herself as a star in her own right when she became the first and only member of the show to score a #1 UK single with Oliver Heldens’ “Gecko (Overdrive).” For the past two years, she’s received the BRIT Award for Best Dance Act. She’s collaborated with David Guetta, Joel Corry, Matoma, Jonas Blue, and more.
Since I’ve spoken with both Joel Corry and David Guetta, I ask her about those collaborations: songs like “Remember” and “Crazy What Love Can Do” with Guetta, and “HISTORY” with Corry. Joel Corry is a friendly face, a hard worker and “an utter sweetheart.” She goes on to tell an amazing story about her relationship with David Guetta, one of the most iconic DJ’s to date.
“David made a turning point in my career that he didn’t have to make. It just shows what a beautiful f****** person he is. “
When Becky Hill proposed her song to David Guetta she left out a few facts: (1) that is was her song and (2) that Guetta wouldn’t own it
for himself. Once she got his approval of the track, she let him in on the secret and he still wanted to work with her. Becky delves into how she hasn’t always been well-received as a woman in the dance sphere.
“I absolutely love and respect David Guetta not for his empire of what he’s built and who he is…but how he has treated me as a woman in dance music, which is quite rare. The respect he has given me has been second to none and I’ll always have him to thank.”
“Remember” is the catalyst track for Becky Hill- the one that changed it all for her and allowed her to unlock new, well-deserved success. It’s the last song she plays on her sets for a reason, the one he allows for her to perform at the BRITS, to celebrate all she’s accomplished summed up in one song.
She shares her dreams of working with Calvin Harris, but being a feature artist is not where Becky deserves to shine. As a woman in a predominately male dance music field, it hasn’t come easy. Someone with Becky Hill’s voice and already impressive track record should be a well-respected titan in her industry…but not everyone is so easy to trust a woman. Becky gets serious as I ask about being a woman in the industry,
“It’s more-so just deflating. I have had to work twice as hard in the industry- I’ve been working for 12 years, I came off The Voice when I was 18 and I just broke the UK two-three years ago. Still to this day I have been having to do features for people to even give a f– about my music. My label is amazing, but there’s still this conversation when I make a song about which DJ to put on. I think people are less responsive to women than they are faceless male DJs.”
She lists faceless DJ’s like Marshmello and Daft Punk, who have found major success while women have to dress and look a certain way to be well-received. She’s not wrong, but she admits since she’s broken through she’s seen more women have the confidence to pursue their dreams.
“It’s the same for all women: you have to be sexy…but not too sexy. You can’t dress too masculine, but you can’t dress too feminine.”
And while Becky Hill has navigated all of this, she’s still a blazing star constantly growing her outreach. It’s a sold-out show, her first for New York, with 8,000 people there only for Becky Hill, and you know it won’t be her last.
Mike Kerr and Ben Thatcher are childhood friends who shared a love for rock-and-roll music growing up. With Kerr’s vocals and bass and Thatcher’s drums, together the pair created Royal Blood- manifesting their love of rock into a full-fledged rock duo sensation. The British duo have been making hits for a while now, amassing a dedicated fanbase for good reason.
Their knowledge of rock shows in their own music, playing into guitar riffs and big drumbeats that meld perfectly together. Their music quickly tops the UK charts, and together they earned the highly coveted Best British Group at the 2015 BRIT Awards- beating out One Direction, Clean Bandit, Coldplay, and alt-J. Since 2013, the band has put out four flawless studio albums, most recently Back To The Water Below.
The aforementioned album was a stylistic shift for Royal Blood, who abandoned their normal sound and tailored each song specifically- choosing instruments that sounded right for specific tracks. They completely produced the track independently, and they stayed true to Royal Blood by having fun doing it.
It can feel risky for artists to change up their sound completely, but with the duo’s growing confidence in their ability to make major music…there was no better time than now. With the success of their previous album, Typhoons, Royal Blood was able to create a full album unlike anything they’ve ever done before. It worked.
Back To The Water Below consists of 10 flawless tracks (and two bonus singles on the Deluxe version) that switch from graceful piano melodies to dream-pop bass runs seamlessly. It blends genres of pop, rock, and alternative without missing a beat, which is a sign of a band that knows who they are. You can listen to the album here:
Their performance at Sea.Hear.Now told me all I needed to know about Royal Blood: their confidence and swagger radiates onstage…and the new tracks like “Pull Me Through” truly encompass this new era.
Kicking off their North American headline tour at Sea.Hear.Now 2023, I sat down with singer and bassist, Mike Kerr to talk the new album, tour, and more!
PD: You released your new album this month, Back To The Water Below. What was the inspiration behind it?
RB: The inspiration is kind of always about reacting to the album you made before it, you know? So the album we made before was during COVID and lockdown, so it felt more like a studio album. With this album now, we made it for the live shows. Playing live and going back to that simplicity and who we are again is the main sort of inspiration.
PD: Would you say you had playing live in mind when you wrote the album?
RB: I think we always do. We get a lot of ideas- or beginnings of ideas- on the road when we were touring. So I feel like, yeah, it was always on our minds.
PD: This kicks off your North American tour- what are you most excited about with performing live?
RB: I think it’s just getting to be with our fans and getting that connection. We don’t get to come here as often as we’d like…and as COVID proved, you never know when the next time is that you’re going to get to be together. I think it’s about being in front of people.
PD: You’re childhood friends who shared a love for rock- who were your favorite artists growing up?
RB: Favorite artists would be The Beatles, Queen, Rage Against The Machine, Foo Fighters, Nirvana, and Jeff Buckley.
PD: If you could summarize the album in a few words, what would they be?
RB: I would say melodic, English, and rock-and-roll…which I’m counting as one word.
PD: Songs like “Pull Me Through” are a bit of a stylistic shift for you guys. Were you consciously doing this while writing or did it just happen?
RB: It’s mainly something that’s just happening. I think when we start ideas that sound fresh, that’s usually the kind of reason to continue with them. I think when you’re writing and you feel like you’ve done it before, it’s not really inspiring.
PD: What are your favorite songs to perform live?
RB: “Shiner In The Dark” is my favorite at the minute and a song called “Waves”, which is the last track on the album.
Last week the “Watermelon Sugar” singer’s high from winning the Grammy for Album of the Year was knocked down a few pegs after making an off-putting comment during his acceptance speech.
“This doesn’t happen to people like me very often,” Styles said after winning the most coveted award of the night for “Harry’s House.” The line quickly sparked backlash online because, well, the Grammys rewards white men with accolades pretty regularly.
So when Styles won Artist of the Year at the BRIT Awards on Saturday, he appeared to course-correct by being as humble as possible.
In his speech, Styles garnered cheers from the audience for thanking his mom and his former One Direction boy band members for their role in his journey toward obtaining yet another statue of validation.
He then topped off his speech with a little damage control (video above).
“I’m really, really grateful for this, and I’m very aware of my privilege up here tonight,” he concluded before shouting out a few female-identifying artists who were snubbed for the award, like Rina Sawayama, Charli XCX, Mabel, Florence + the Machine and Becky Hill.
Styles’s shoutouts were in reference to another controversy that he had nothing to do with. In 2021, the BRIT Awards eliminated gendered categories to better include nonbinary and gender non-conforming artists. But the award ceremony faced backlash this year when all the nominees for its Artist of the Year category were men.
Sam Smith and Kim Petras performed their song “Unholy” at the BRIT Awards 2023. The set differed in palette—if not theme—from the devilish bondage aesthetic of their 2023 Grammys performance last week. The track was nominated for Song of the Year but did not win, falling to Harry Styles’ “As It Was.” Check it out below.
Smith was also nominated for Best Pop/R&B Act, again losing out to Styles. Smith and Petras are fresh off their win for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance with “Unholy” at the 2023 Grammys. Petras is the first trans woman to win the award. The track is featured on Smith’s fourth studio album Gloria, which was released in January.
Watch Sam Smith break down their favorite vocal performances in Pitchfork’s “Under the Influences” video series.
