[2] The awards were first held in 1977 and originated as an annual event in 1982 under the auspices of the British record industry's trade association, the BPI.

The highest profile music awards ceremony in the UK, the BRIT Awards have featured some of the most notable events in British popular culture, such as the final public appearance of Freddie Mercury, the Jarvis Cocker protest against Michael Jackson, the height of a high-profile feud between Oasis and fellow Britpop band Blur, the Union Jack dress worn by Geri Halliwell of the Spice Girls, and a Chumbawamba member throwing a bucket of iced water over then-Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott.

[5][6][7][8] These moments took place in the 1990s when the ceremony had a reputation for being "a little shambolic, unpredictable and, at times, anarchic" with a criticism it has lost its edge since then and "evolved into a more polished, sanitised affair".

[9] The BRIT Awards were broadcast live until 1989, when Samantha Fox and Mick Fleetwood hosted a widely criticised show in which little went as rehearsed.

Since 2011, the statuette has been regularly redesigned by well known British artists, architects, and designers[12] including Vivienne Westwood,[13] Damien Hirst,[14] Tracey Emin,[15] Peter Blake,[16] Zaha Hadid,[17] Anish Kapoor,[18] David Adjaye,[19] Yinka Ilori and Es Devlin,[20] Pam Hogg,[21] Olaolu Slawn[22] and Rachel Jones.

For many years, ITV have aired a launch show in January titled The BRITs Are Coming, which reveals some of the artists who have been nominated at the upcoming ceremony.

The nominees were also revealed by Tom Daley, Yung Filly, Jill Scott, and brothers Joe and George Baggs from Gogglebox across their own social media channels.

At the time there was a BBC electricians' strike in effect, and the organisers decided to use a non-TV events production company, called Upfront, to manage the show.

For a while, the outdoor broadcast scanner was rocked on its wheels by the protesters and they managed to shut off the power to one of the big GE video screen projectors.

[27] The hosts continually got their lines mixed up, a pre-recorded message from Michael Jackson was never transmitted and several guest stars arrived late on stage or at the wrong time, such as Boy George in place of The Four Tops.

In accepting the award for British Group from Boy George at the 1989 awards, Andy Bell of Erasure kissed George on stage to cheers from the crowd, with Bell stating it was an act in protest against Section 28 introduced by Margaret Thatcher's Conservative government that prohibited the "promotion" of homosexuality in schools.

[28][29] Mercury (who had been suffering from AIDS since 1987 but had not disclosed it to the public) did not make a speech, as Brian May did the talking on behalf of the other members, but his gaunt appearance was noticeable.

[33] Later that evening, the KLF dumped a dead sheep outside the venue of an after-show party,[31][33] and later buried their BRIT Award statuette at Stonehenge signifying their abhorrence of the music industry.

In 1998, Danbert Nobacon of the band Chumbawamba emptied a bucket of iced water over then-Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott.

Despite apologies on behalf of the band from EMI Europe, Chumbawamba were unrepentant, saying, "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.

"[36] The host of the 2007 awards ceremony, comedian Russell Brand made several quips relating to news stories of the time including Robbie Williams entering rehab for addiction to prescription drugs, the Queen's 'naughty bits' and a fatal friendly fire incident involving a British soldier killed by American armed forces in Iraq.

Less than half a minute into her acceptance speech, host James Corden was forced to cut Adele off in order to introduce Blur who were due to perform an eleven-minute set as they had received the Outstanding Contribution to Music and the ceremony was running over its allotted time.

[44] The speech divided both press and audience, being labeled as both "pretentious twaddle" and a sincere defence of the genre,[45][46] as well as garnering reactions from other musicians, with Johnny Marr saying it was "quite poetic".

[50] Wet Leg's singer Rhian Teasdale quoted part of Turner's speech, during the 2023 ceremony, as the band won New Artist.

[52] Bowie used his acceptance speech, delivered in his absence by Kate Moss, to urge Scotland to remain part of the UK in the September 2014 Scottish independence referendum.

Little Mix also called out the awards ceremony for the lack of nominations and wins for female groups in the category while paying homage to previous "female bands" including the Spice Girls, Sugababes, All Saints, and Girls Aloud etc, who all had made significant contributions to pop culture in the UK but were overlooked by the Brit Awards.

Halliwell was originally going to wear an all-black dress, but she thought it was too boring so her sister sewed on a Union Jack tea towel, with a 'peace' sign on the back.

As the performance continued, her male backing dancers stripped to their pink briefs whilst dancing with the Union Jack flag.

The four cartoon members of the band performed the song on giant life size screens (an early version of a 3D hologram) without the Blur frontman being present at all.

The performance saw the members, Cheryl Cole, Kimberley Walsh, Sarah Harding, Nicola Roberts and Nadine Coyle appear as though they were naked, with their modesty being covered by pink feather fans.

[60] Madonna's live return to BRIT Awards after 20 years was widely promoted in the media in the days leading up to the ceremony and during the show itself.

[69] In an interview on The Jonathan Ross Show, Madonna blamed her fall on a wardrobe malfunction as her cape had been tied too tightly so it could not be unfastened in time, before adding: "I had a little bit of whiplash, I smacked the back of my head.

"[59][60][68] In the leadup to the 2016 U.S. presidential election, Katy Perry was a major endorsement for Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, performing at many of her rallies and speaking at public events.

After Donald Trump won the election, Perry returned to recording her fifth studio album and in February 2017 released "Chained to the Rhythm".

[71][59] According to The BRIT Awards website, the list of eligible artists, albums, and singles is compiled by the Official Charts Company and submitted to the voting academy, which consists of over 1,000 members of the music industry, including the previous year's nominees and winners.