The BRITs proper are not for another few days yet, but Raye has already been announced as winner of this year’s award for Songwriter of the Year. She was chosen by what is described as “a select panel of expert judges.”
She joins three other artists who have also been notified in advance of their successes. The BRITs Rising Star award has gone to The Last Dinner Party and Kylie Minogue will be presented with the Global Icon award at the ceremony on Saturday night. Earlier this week Chase & Status was announced as Best Producer.
With space on her mantelpiece now already cleared for one award, Raye will be hoping to make a clean sweep of it at the weekend – when the nominations were revealed in January she set a new record for the highest number of nominations received by a single artist in any one year (the previous record of six nominations in a single year was jointly held by Craig David, Robbie Williams, and Gorillaz.)
In addition to her Songwriter of the Year award, Raye is up for another seven gongs at this year's ceremony.
As well as bagging her Songwriter of the Year gong, she will be contesting Best New Artist – against Mahalia, Olivia Dean, Pink Pantheress and Yussef Dayes – as well as, somewhat confusingly, Artist of the Year, and Pop Act, R&B Act, and Album of the Year. She also has two entries in the Song of the Year category, for “Escapism” featuring 070 Shake, and “Prada”, her collaboration with cassö and D-Block Europe.
It all represents a vindication of the 26-year-old’s belief in herself: in 2021, after years of frustration with former record label Polydor, she claimed in an explosive tweet: “I have been on a 4 album record deal since 2014 !!! And haven’t been allowed to put out one album. All I care about is the music. I’m sick of being slept on and I’m sick of being in pain about it this is not business to me this so personal.”
She later released the album My 21st Century Blues (which is now BRIT-nominated) independently – it went on to peak at No. 2 in the U.K. charts, was nominated for the 2023 Mercury Prize for album of the year, and also contained “Escapism”, which was the year’s biggest selling single by a female British artist in the UK.
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Raye's single 'Escapism' was 2023's biggest selling single by a female British artist in the UK.
Speaking about her Songwriter of the Year award, which has previously been won by Ed Sheeran and Kid Harpoon, who worked with Harry Styles on his Harry’s House LP, Raye said she was: “So, so honored and blown away. To be given this prestigious award for Songwriter of the Year, it is my very first BRIT award and I will treasure this trophy very much. I am so grateful to be recognized as a songwriter as this is a craft I am so passionate about and have been since I started my journey as a musician, and I’m very grateful to those who voted for me to have this award.”
Damian Christian, Managing Director and President of Promotions at Atlantic Records and Chair of the BRIT Committee for 2024, added:
“This year's BRIT nominees really highlight the incredible breadth and diversity within British music. After receiving a record-breaking seven nominations, I'm delighted that Raye has also been named Songwriter of the Year. Raye has been such a prominent and respected songwriter for many years, so it's great to see her getting the recognition she deserves on the biggest stage.
“I'd like to congratulate her on this win and wish her all the best for Saturday night.”
The BRITs ceremony takes place at the O2 in London this Saturday, March 2.
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