Brit Awards to leave London for Manchester after 48 years
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Colin Paterson
BBC Entertainment Correspondent
Next year’s Brit Awards are to be held in Manchester – the first time the ceremony has taken place outside London since the awards began in 1977.
The ceremony will be held at the Co-op Live arena on Saturday 28 February.
A two-year deal means that the 2027 ceremony, which will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Brit Awards, will also be held at the same venue.
It is the second major music ceremony this year, to announce plans to leave London. Last month the BPI, which represents the British music industry and runs the Brit Awards, also revealed that this year’s Mercury Prize will be held in Newcastle in September after 32 years in the capital.
Dr Jo Twist, CEO of the BPI, told the BBC: “We’ve had a fantastic history in London for nearly 50 years, and we just feel that now is the time to make a bold leap into other parts of the UK to the fans.
“Manchester has such a rich musical heritage and it has a fantastic ecosystem of support there on the ground, including lots of amazing grassroots venues.”
Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham described the move as “a massive coup” for the area.
Hailing the city’s “unparalleled music heritage,” Burnham said Manchester would “pull out all the stops” to prove the BPI had made the right decision.
The past 15 Brit Award ceremonies have taken place at London’s O2 Arena. This year’s awards were dominated by Charli XCX, who won five including best artist, album and song of the year.
Back in 1977, when the awards started, they were called The British Record Industry Britannia Awards. As part of the celebrations for the Queen’s Silver Jubilee, they gave prizes to the best music released during her reign.
Best album went to Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band by The Beatles. Best single was a tie between Procul Harum’s A Whiter Shade of Pale and Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen, who turned up to accept the award from host Michael Aspel.
The ceremony was held at the Wembley Conference Centre, which was demolished in 2006 and turned into flats.
The Brit Awards became an annual event in 1982, taking place at the Grosvenor House Hotel and other London venues including the Royal Albert Hall, the Dominion Theatre, Hammersmith Apollo, Alexandra Palace, Earls Court Exhibition Centre and London Arena.
Co-op Live has already held a major music award ceremony, the MTV Europe Music Awards (EMAs), in November last year, which attracted the likes of Teddy Swims, Benson Boone and Shawn Mendes.
Britain’s biggest indoor venue originally made headlines when its opening was delayed three times due to a series of highly-publicised problems.
These included part of a ventilation system falling from the ceiling, an event the boss of Co-op Live Tim Leiweke said could have been “catastrophic”.
Since then, the venue has held the only UK shows on The Eagles’ farewell tour, celebrated its first anniversary with three Bruce Springsteen gigs, and last November Charli XCX opened her Brat World Tour there.
Manchester has a serious Brit Awards pedigree.
Take That, who formed in the city, have won eight Brit Awards. Their former member Robbie Williams holds the record for the most Brit Award wins, with 18 including five while in the band.
Simply Red, Elbow and The 1975 have all been named best group.
M People were best dance act in 1995 and The Chemical Brothers, who met at the University of Manchester, won the same award in 2000.
New Order won best video in 1988 for True Faith.
Two years ago, Aitch was named best hip hop, grime or rap act and in his acceptance speech said: “Not many people from my side of Manchester get the opportunity to stand up here and receive such an amazing gift or award.”
The Stone Roses, Happy Mondays, The Bee Gees, 10CC, Morrissey, Johnny Marr, Ian Brown, Doves, James, Blossoms and Badly Drawn Boy have all been nominated for Brit Awards over the years, but none of those acts have ever won.
The Smiths, one of the most influential indie bands of all time, were never nominated at the Brits.
One interesting potential storyline for 2026 is that if the Brit Awards were to bring back the best live act category (last presented in 2013 to Coldplay) then a possible winner might be one of the biggest Manchester bands of all time.
Oasis will start their reunion tour in Cardiff on 4 July. The thought of the Gallagher brothers picking up a Brit in their hometown, is one that would certainly help bring in audiences.
Twist has a twinkle in her eye when she says: “Our categories are always under review, so we will be looking at that. We’re very excited to be part of that whole buzz.”
It is exactly 30 years since Oasis won the first of their six Brit Awards – British breakthrough act, beating fellow nominees Echobelly, Eternal, Portishead and PJ & Duncan.
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