(REUTERS): Adele and Ed Sheeran will have to go head-to-head for Brit Awards after bosses decided to make the gongs gender-neutral and more inclusive.
Adele and Ed Sheeran were announced as two of the top nominees for the 2022 BRIT Awards. Rappers Dave and Little Simz also received four nominations for the awards, in a list that saw Britain’s annual pop music honours dispensing of male and female categories.
They’ve been nominated for some of the most prestigious awards of the night including, Best Album and Best British Act. If Adele sweeps all four categories she will join Robbie Williams’ record as having the most Brit Awards of any artist, with 13 in total.
The British songstress faces competition in the best album and artist categories from singer-songwriter Sam Fender. In the international artist category, Doja Cat, Olivia Rodrigo, Billie Eilish and Lil Nas X are each nominated for two awards and all are up against Taylor Swift.
Organisers said last month they were introducing gender-neutral awards for local and international artists, with performers now in the running for artist of the year or international artist of the year.
The Brit Awards have followed in the footsteps of the Grammys and MTV awards to drop the gendered categories, which those major ceremonies did last decade.
Next year’s BRITs, the 42nd edition of the awards show, also sees the introduction of four genre awards: alternative/rock act, hip-hop/grime/rap act, dance act and pop/R’n’B act.
Organisers have already announced newcomer Holly Humberstone as the winner of the Rising Star award. The BRITs will take place on February 8 in London.
