RAYE will take to the 02 Arena stage to perform at The BRIT Awards 2024 – amid her record-breaking SEVEN nods

RAYE will take to the 02 Arena stage to perform at The BRIT Awards 2024, it was announced on Tuesday.

The singer, 26, – who has a record-breaking seven nominations at this year’s awards – is set to dazzle the audience on the main show at the event on March 2.

The ceremony will be broadcast exclusively on ITV1 and ITVX and will feature the usual star-studded red carpet ahead of the awards. 

It comes as she is also set to headline her biggest London show to date on March 15 at The O2 arena.

RAYE is the second live performer to be announced so far for The BRITs, with Dua Lipa also confirmed to be part of the UK’s biggest night in music.

Last week Solo female artist RAYE became the most nominated British female in BRIT Awards history after receiving seven nominations on Wednesday.

Indeed, any residual upset regrading last year’s male dominated ceremony was swept aside as nominations for this year’s event were announced in London. 

The controversial decision to replace Male and Female categories with a non-gendered Artist Of The Year Award sparked outrage in 2023 over its failure to include any female or non-binary artists among its five nominations. 

But a lot can happen in a year, and subsequent tweak to the category – which has doubled in size – has resulted in a balanced mix, with six of its ten nominees established female artists, among them RAYE. 

The London-born singer broke records on Wednesday with seven nominations, the most received by any female artist, following the release of her long-awaited debut album, My 21st Century Blues, in 2023.

The LP also features as an Album Of The Year nominee, while its third single, Escapism, is included as a potential Song of the Year. 

RAYE is also included in the five strong Best New Artist category and will also compete as a nominee in the categories for R&B Act and Pop Act. 

Elsewhere she features in a seventh for Song of the Year after co-writing the BRIT nominated Prada with Casso. 

Speaking as the nominations were announced on Wednesday, the singer admitted she was humbled to be recognized after years of struggling to assert herself in the music industry.  

‘It’s a miracle, it’s deep,’ she said. ‘A year and a half ago, as far as the industry was concerned, I was down and out and never in my wildest dreams would I feel like trying again and it would lead to seven BRIT nominations.

‘I’m a Brit kid, I went to the BRIT’s School and this was the goal. The ultimate goal was to find my way somehow to the BRIT Awards. This is a whole different thing. It’s a joke. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart.’

The British Phonograph Industry – who organize the annual event – admit gender balance has been readdressed following last year’s controversial decision to omit female and non-binary artists from the Artist Of The Year category. 

When the awards went gender-neutral for the first time in 2022, 18 female artists or all-women groups were nominated overall – the most in a decade – and this increased to 20 in 2023.

Meanwhile, more than half (55%) of this year’s nominations feature women – either as a solo artist or as part of female groups – rising to 57% when women in mixed-gender groups are included.

Speaking on Wednesday, BPI Chair Yolanda Brown said: ‘We shared our upset that no women or R&B artists were represented last year.

‘We consulted with our advisory group, we thought long and hard about moving forward.’ 

Youth Music CEO Matt Griffiths added: ‘It’s great to see that the BRIT Awards are committed to making the show more inclusive, responding proactively to last year’s feedback by taking concerted actions for 2024.

‘The 50/50 gender split for the nominees in the Artist of the Year category is the standout development following last year’s controversy. 

‘Doubling the number of nominations for Artist of the Year, International Artist of the Year and introduction of R&B as its own genre award are also positive steps forward, together with greater transparency in setting out the makeup and demographics of the Voting Academy.

‘It’s important now that this positive momentum is built on as there’s more to be done to ensure a creative, diverse, and inclusive music industry.’

Arlo Parks, Jessie Ware, Little Simz, Olivia Sims and Dua Lipa make up the female nominees for Artist Of The Year, while male nominations go to Central Cee, Dave, J Hus and Fred Again… 

Dua Lipa’s limited output over the last 12-months hasn’t stopped her featuring in two additional categories at the forthcoming event. 

The singer’s Barbie soundtrack Dance The Night – one of only two original tracks to be released by the artist since 2020 album Future Nostalgia – features among the nominees for Song of the Year. 

Lipa’a global appeal has also helped find a place in the category for Pop Act, despite spending much of the last 12-months touring the world. 

Additionally, the singer – whose third album is expected to be released later this year – will perform live at the O2 Arena event on March 2. 

This year’s BRIT Awards sees a total of 98 nominees, the most there has ever been.

Calvin Harris is up for Song of the Year as well as Dance Act, while indie band Blur has been nominated for Group of the Year and Alternative Rock group.

Kylie Minogue, Taylor Swift, and Miley Cyrus have also been nominate for International Artist of the year.

And Billie Eilish, Doja Cat and Olivia Rodrigo are nominated for International Song of the Year. 

Harry Styles however, hasn’t been nominated for any categories this year after a very successful 2023 BRIT Awards, during which he was named Artist of The Year. 

Last year Styles and the band Wet Leg were the most nominated artists with four nominations each.

Styles emerged as the big winner, winning all four of the categories he was nominated in.

RAYE has beaten reigning champions Craig David, Robbie Williams and the Gorillaz who all had been nominated for six awards in previous years.

Williams holds the record for winning the most BRIT awards, holding 17 as a solo artist and part of Take That.

Adele follows shortly after him with 12 followed by Coldplay with nine.

In an additional twist, the public will have the power to vote for five categories instead of four compared to previous years. 

‘This year feels like we have a really good story to tell and how British talent is better represented, we are making good strides forward’

The award this year was designed by British artist Rachel Jones and has been inspired by ‘colours, patterns and textures’.

This year, ceremony organisers came under scrutiny after female musicians – including Charli XCX and Florence And The Machine – were snubbed from Artist Of The Year, which Harry Styles went on to win. 

After the furor, an extensive review took place, and the category has been expanded from five nominations to 10. This will also apply to International Artist Of The Year. 

Other changes for the award show, set to take place on Saturday, March 2, are a new standalone category for R&B. It was previously Pop/R&B. 

A source told The Sun: ‘The BRITs’ decision to ­create genderless categories was huge and they’ve now tweaked it again to try to make it more inclusive.

‘The move to go genderless was meant to be progressive, and by making this change they are hoping that it reflects this.’

Music industry chiefs faced a backlash when they scrapped the two categories in a bid to be inclusive and relevant after non-binary musicians including Sam Smith, who identifies as neither male nor female, said they felt excluded.

The first gender-neutral award was handed to Adele in 2022, but in her acceptance speech she pointedly told the audience: ‘I love being a woman.’

It is understood she also voiced her dismay after when this year’s shortlist was revealed to contain only men. 

When former One Direction star Harry, 29, accepted the Artist Of The Year award, he dedicated it to several female artists who weren’t nominated.

He said: ‘I’m aware of my privilege up here tonight so this award is for Reyna, Florence [Welch], Mabel and Becky [Hill].’ 

The changes came after singer Sam Smith – who identifies as non-binary – put organisers under pressure to scrap male and female categories in 2021. 

This year’s BRIT Awards will be live on ITV on March 2 at 8pm.