The best acceptance speeches from the BRIT Awards

Here are our picks for some of the most memorable BRIT Award speeches.

Skiddle Staff

Date published: 9th Feb 2023

Award shows mean that celebrities have to do acceptance speeches some use it to say thanks, other to make jokes and sometimes people even make political statements. The BRIT Awards are no strangers to weird, brilliant and emotional moments and we thought we'd take a look at some of the most memorable ones.

 

Lewis Capaldi 2020

We begin with one of the most bizarre speeches in BRIT Award history. Lewis Capaldi was at his peak in 2019 and at the 20202 awards he won song of the year for 'Someone You Loved'. So of course, he revealed that the song wasn't about an ex-girlfriend but about his grandma and duly thanked her for dying. Which was equal parts weird and hilarious.

 


 

Alex Turner, 2014

"That rock n' roll, eh?", Alex turner says in a slightly slurred manner as Arctic Monkeys picked up the award for album of the year. One of the defining moments of the awards show, Turner went on to describe the endurance of rock before finishing off his speech with a mic drop. 

 


 

Little Simz, 2022

We move on to a wholesome moment from the 2022 ceremony, where Little Simz was awarded as the best new artist. She brought her mum up on stage with her and thanked her for contributing to success before making a point that no matter where you come from, you can do something extraordinary and encouraged people to dream.

 


 

Stereophonics, 1998

Stereophonics won the award for best British newcomer in 1998 and it wasn't received quite in the way that people would have expected. Over almost as quickly as it began, with Kelly Jones saying some quick thanks before saying, "About time we got a bit of f****** recognition too" and swiftly exiting the stage.

 


  

KLF, 1992

The best part of the KLF's speech was the absolute lack of one. Using the BRIT's as an excuse to burn bridges with the music industry, they performed with Extreme Noise Terror after sharing the best British group award with Simply Red. During the performance, Bill Drummond fired blanks from a machine gun before it was announced that the KLF had left the music business.

 


 

Tyler, The Creator, 2020

Tyler, The Creator was banned from visiting the UK for some time, so when the ban was lifted and he was able to travel over, he could pick up his award for best international male solo artist. Using his speech, he called out Theresa May, the former PM that had banned him in the first place.

 


 

The 1975, 2019

This was one of the rare moments where one of Matty Healy's speeches didn't go wrong. Winning best British group, the band used their platform to call out misogyny in the music industry, quoting a Guardian article that was written in response to Ryan Adams' predatory behaviour and exploitation of young women in the industry.

 


 

Adele, 2012

It's the shortness of the speech that makes this incident so famous. James Corden had to cut Adele's speech short at the 2012 ceremony and this did not please the singer at all as she proceeded to flip off the ceremony in anger. The BRIT's claimed that there would not have been enough time for her to finish he speech as Blur needed to play a song just before the show ended.

 


 

Dua Lipa, 2021

The country was still reeling from lockdown in 2021 and Dua Lipa used her award for the best female solo artist to shout out the NHS and call for them to receive a pay rise. It's nice to see one of the biggest pop stars actually seem to care about the NHS.

 



 

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