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The ''BRIT Awards'', often simply called '''The BRITs''', are the annual United Kingdom pop music awards founded by the British Phonographic Industry . The Backronym BRIT stands for The '''British Record Industry Trust''' OVERVIEW The awards began in 1977 under the auspices of the BPI , the British record industry's trade association. The last BPI Awards show took place at the Albert Hall and was the first prime-time TV event. In 1989 they were renamed The Britannia Awards, or BRIT Awards. MasterCard is the long-time sponsor of this annual event. BRIT is also an Acronym for the British Record Industry Trust Show - the Trust supports youngsters in the Arts and Education mainly at The BRIT School in London . Strong music industry sponsorship and involvement mean that awards are given without much democratic process and, many suspect, for strongly commercial reasons. These are awards given by the music industry to the music industry. Robbie Williams pointed this out accepting an award a few years back. More recently, the awards have more reflected the tastes of the record-buying public, with an artist needing to prove popular and chart-topping before they are rewarded. The BRIT Awards used to be broadcast live until 1989 , when Samantha Fox and Mick Fleetwood hosted a shambolic show in which just about everything went wrong - lines were fluffed, bands mis-cued, and airtime filled with embarrassing silence. After this the show was recorded, and broadcast the following night, part of a revamp by Jonathan King for 1990 whose actions also included naming them the BRITs, hosting the show in 1987 - the most successful previous show - and releasing a Megamix of British dance acts including S'Express and A Guy Called Gerald called BRITs 1990. He also managed to get Margaret Thatcher to croon How Much Is That Doggy In The Window? King subsequently went on to revamp A Song For Europe and won the Eurovision Song Contest for the UK in 1997, in which year the BPI awarded him their Man of the Year accolade. Pre-recording proved to be a good idea when, during a in 1992 . As of the 2007 BRIT Awards, the show was once again broadcast live on British television, airing on 14 February 2007 live on ITV1 . Comedian Russell Brand presented the event. Three awards have been dropped from the 2007 ceremony - Best British Rock Act, Best British Urban Act and Best Pop Act. BBC In addition, an equivalent awards ceremony for Classical Music , called the Classical BRIT Awards , is held each May. MAIN WINNERS FOR EACH YEAR
SELECTED FAMOUS AND INFAMOUS BRIT AWARD INCIDENTS Russell Brand hosting (2007) Some controversy was caused by the host of the 2007 Awards ceremony, comedian Russell Brand , who made several quips relating to news stories of the time including singer Robbie Williams ' entering Rehab for addiction to prescription drugs, and a fatal Friendly Fire Incident involving a British soldier killed by American armed forces in Iraq . TV channel ITV1 received over 300 calls from viewers complaining about the presenter's jokes which also featured Sexual Innuendo s including one about the Queen . BBC Ronnie Wood vs Brandon Block (2000) After consuming large amounts of alcohol (and allegedly drugs) dance DJ Brandon Block was told by his friends that he had won an award and had been summoned to the stage to collect it. Because of his advanced state of intoxication he believed them and walked onto the stage, eventually ending up next to a bemused Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood and actress Thora Birch who were about to present the award for best soundtrack album. Having been successfully bundled off the stage by security, Ronnie Wood aimed an insult in his direction at which Block broke free from his captors to square up to the guitarist. A series of insults were then traded between the two – both comically leaning into the microphone so that everyone could hear. Wood threw his drink into Block’s face and the DJ was eventually removed from the stage. Some time after the incident, Block claimed that he had subsequently apologised for his behaviour to Wood, who had merely brushed it off. Robbie Williams vs Liam Gallagher (2000) Around the time of his departure from Take That , Robbie Williams had begun an unlikely friendship with the Gallagher brothers from Britpop band Oasis at the Glastonbury Festival . The friendship was short lived, however, and the two parties regularly traded insults in the press with Noel Gallagher once famously referring to Robbie as “the fat dancer from Take That ”. Having won “Best British Single” and “Best Video” for “She’s The One”, Williams challenged Liam to a televised fight saying, ''”So, anybody like to see me fight Liam? Would you pay to come and see it? Liam, a hundred grand of your money and a hundred grand of my money. We'll get in a ring and we'll have a fight and you can all watch it on TV.”'' Gallagher was in Japan at the time touring with Oasis. Belle & Sebastian beat Steps to best newcomer award (1999) In 1999, indie band Belle & Sebastian were nominated for Best British Newcomers. Some questioned the band's eligibility for the category, as they had released three albums before the 1999 Awards. The award was sponsored by Radio One and voted for online by their listeners. At the time, Steps were Britain's biggest boy/girl pop band and were also nominated. There was all round surprise, however, when the winners were announced as Belle & Sebastian. On the Saturday after the awards, a story appeared in the press alleging that Belle & Sebastian had rigged the vote in their favour, encouraging students from two universities to vote online. However, fans argued that the band had a predominantly student following and that band member Isobel Campbell had attended one of the universities in question. The following year Steps were presented with the award for Best Selling Living Act, a newly-created award for that year. Belle & Sebastian were not the first act to have been accused of motivating all their fans to vote for them in a BRITs public vote; similar allegations were directed at Depeche Mode for winning Best British single with "Enjoy the Silence". Chumbawamba throw water over John Prescott (1998) In 1998, Danbert Nobacon of politically active band Chumbawamba threw a bucket of iced water over Labour cabinet minister John Prescott . Despite apologies on behalf of the band from EMI Europe, Chumbawamba were unrepentant claiming, ''”If John Prescott has the nerve to turn up at events like the BRIT Awards in a vain attempt to make Labour seem cool and trendy, then he deserves all we can throw at him"''. Geri Halliwell's (Ginger Spice) Union Jack dress (1997) In 1997, probably the most famous moment in Brits history, Geri Halliwell , aka Ginger Spice of the British girl group, the Spice Girls , wore the infamous Union Jack dress, sewn by her sister, during a performance to the group's hit " Who Do You Think You Are ". Later on she sold her dress in a charity auction to Hard Rock Cafe in Las Vegas for a record £36,200. Jarvis Cocker’s stage invasion during Michael Jackson’s Earth Song (1996) The 1996 awards witnessed a special performance by Michael Jackson of Earthsong where he was awarded as the Artist of a Generation. Some found the performance offensive interpreting the presentation, as depicting Jackson as Christ surrounded by adoring children ( a similar performance can be seen in the video to his earlier hit single Will You Be There although there was no critism from this song in early 1993 before child abuse accusations). The events prompting a spur of the moment decision by Cocker (of the band Pulp ) to mount the stage in protest. Once onstage, Jarvis ran around lifting his shirt and pointing his (clothed) bottom in Jackson’s direction. Cocker was subsequently questioned by the police on suspicion of causing injury towards 3 of the children in Jacksons performance but no criminal proceedings were forthcoming. The media reaction was mixed and there has been serious speculation on how damaging these event actually were to Jacksons career. Earthsong became Jacksons biggest hit in the UK spent six weeks at the top of the chart and his album HIStory released the previous year became the best selling double disk album of all time. Today Cocker is known for this as well as his music with Pulp . The KLF, a machine gun and a dead sheep (1992) In 1992, dance/art band firing blanks from a vintage machine gun into the audience and announcer Scott Piering stating ''”Ladies and gentleman, The KLF have now left the music business”''. Producers of the show then refused to let a motorcycle courier collect the award on behalf of the band. Later, guests arriving for an after show party witnessed the band dump a dead sheep outside the venue with the message ''”I died for ewe – bon appetite”'' tied around its waist. KLF disbanded three months later. The Sam Fox and Mick Fleetwood fiasco (1989) Until 1989, the BPI Awards were a spectacularly lifeless affair usually presented by Noel Edmonds and brimming with industry types and ageing Radio 1 DJs. In 1989 all that changed. In an attempt to add some excitement and appeal to the proceedings organisers decided to rename the awards to 'The BRIT Awards' and came up with the idea of having Fleetwood Mac ’s Mick Fleetwood and former Page Three girl Samantha Fox as co-hosts of the live show. The results were indeed spectacular. The inexperience of the hosts, an ineffective autocue and poor preparation combined to create one of the most shambolic performances ever aired on live British television. The hosts continually got their lines mixed up, a pre-recorded message from Michael Jackson was never actually broadcast and several star guests arrived late. A classic moment included the appearance of Boy George of Culture Club and was along the lines of: Sam Fox: ''(with a fixed beaming smile) …and the winner is...'' Celebrity (Radio 1 DJ Gary Davies) presenting the award: ''(looking panicked) aren’t you going to read out the nominations first?'' Sam Fox: ''(with a determined look) …here they are … the FOUR TOPS...'' Boy George appears from backstage looking self-conscious. Boy George: ''(with an apologetic smile) I’m afraid I’m just the one top...'' The Samantha Fox / Mick Fleetwood show proved to be the single most important event in BPI/BRIT Awards history. It was just so disastrous that the British public’s interest was revived and the BRITs became associated with risky live TV. BBC The show’s organisers would successfully exploit this association to publicise future shows, although until the 2007 awards they were never actually transmitted live. AWARDS 2007 See Also: 2007 BRIT Awards ''Host'': Russell Brand ''Venue'': Earls Court 2006 See Also: 2006 BRIT Awards ''Host'': Chris Evans ''Venue'': Earls Court 2005 ''Host'': Chris Evans ''Venue'': Earls Court
A Special BRITs 25 Award for the best single from the past 25 years was awarded to Robbie Williams " Angels ". The producers added a fake Film Effect to the TV coverage of the 2005 awards show, which was criticised by some who thought ruined the immediacy of the awards show, and was dizzying when combined with fast camera movements. 2004 ''Host'': Cat Deeley ''Venue'': Earls Court
This year was the very first time the winner of the Outstanding contribution award did not close the show, this role was instead handed to The Darkness. This was seen by many viewers as inappropriate as well as against tradition, and said the honour should have gone to Duran Duran. There were also claims that the British rock act category was fixed. 2003 ''Host'': Davina McCall ''Venue'': Earls Court
2002 ''Hosts'': Frank Skinner & Zoe Ball ''Venue'': Earls Court
2001 ''Hosts'': Ant & Dec ''Venue'': Earls Court
2000 ''Host'': Davina McCall ''Venue'': Earls Court
1999 ''Host'': Johnny Vaughan ''Venue'': London Arena
1998 ''Host'': Ben Elton ''Venue'': London Arena
1997 ''Host'': Ben Elton ''Venue'': Earls Court
1996 ''Host'' : Chris Evans ''Venue'': Earls Court
1995 ''Host'': Chris Evans ''Venue'': Alexandra Palace
1994 ''Hosts'': Rupaul & Elton John ''Venue'': Alexandra Palace
1993 ''Host'': Richard O'Brien ''Venue'': Alexandra Palace
1992 ''Venue'': Hammersmith Odeon
1991
1990 ''Host'': Cathy McGowan ''Venue'': Dominion Theatre
1989 ''Hosts'': Mick Fleetwood & Samantha Fox
1988 ''Venue'': Royal Albert Hall
1987 ''Host'': Jonathan King ''Venue'': Grosvenor Hotel
1986 ''Venue'': Grosvenor Hotel
1985 ''Host'': Noel Edmonds ''Venue'': Grosvenor Hotel
1984 ''Venue'': Grosvenor Hotel
1983 ''Host'': Tim Rice ''Venue'': Grosvenor Hotel
1982 ''Host'': David Jacobs ''Venue'': Grosvenor Hotel
1977 ''Host'': Michael Aspel ''Venue'': Wembley Conference Centre n.b. these awards were to mark the Queen 's Silver Jubilee and were for the previous 25 years of her Reign .
MOST SUCCESSFUL ACTS There have been numerous acts, both groups and individuals, that have won multiple awards. The table below shows those that have won five or more awards. SEE ALSO REFERENCES EXTERNAL LINKS
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