‘Messy’ singer Lola Young, Olivia Dean vie for prizes at BRIT Awards

LONDON: Singers Lola Young and Olivia Dean top the table of contenders for Saturday’s BRIT Awards, with five nominations apiece at Britain’s pop music honours.

In the run-up to the event, another young star, 24-year-old PinkPantheress, was named as the first woman to get the producer of the year prize.

Young, 25, is listed for artist of the year, breakthrough artist, alt/rock act and pop act. Her chart-topping hit “Messy” is up for song of the year.

Dean, 26, is also a contender in that category with two tracks: “Man I Need” and “Rein Me In”, a collaboration with rocker Sam Fender. She is also nominated for artist of the year, pop act and album of the year for “The Art of Loving”.

PinkPantheress, who released her critically-acclaimed debut mixtape “To Hell With It” in 2021, is the youngest ever recipient of the producer prize. She is also nominated for artist of the year and best dance act.

“PinkPantheress is both an inventive and instinctive voice in British pop right now,“ Stacey Tang, chair of the 2026 BRIT Awards committee and co-president of RCA Records at Sony Music UK, said in a statement.

“She’s quietly reshaping what modern pop can be, and in doing so, opening the door for a new wave of female producers to step forward.”

Among other nominees are Fender, 31, who has three additional nods: artist of the year, alt/rock act and album of the year for “People Watching”. Rappers Dave and Jim Legxacy, singer Lily Allen and producer Fred again have three nominations each.

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Ozzy Osbourne, the late frontman of the heavy metal band Black Sabbath, will be honoured with a lifetime achievement award “in recognition and celebration of his inimitable impact and influence on music worldwide”, organisers said.

Known to fans as “The Prince of Darkness”, Osbourne died in July aged 76, around two weeks after Black Sabbath’s emotional farewell gig.

Pulp, who found fame in the mid-1990s Britpop wave, are nominated for group of the year, their first nomination since 1996. The band topped the charts last year with “More”, their first album since 2001.

Movies have also been recognised with actor Cynthia Erivo nominated for song of the year for her rendition of “Wicked” track “Defying Gravity”, while “Golden”, from Netflix phenomenon “KPop Demon Hunters”, is up for international song of the year.

This year’s BRIT Awards will be held in the northern English city of Manchester.