Pop star behind ‘Brat summer' takes home major Brit awards

Telegraph

01-03-2025

The pop star behind the phrase 'brat summer' has taken home five Brit awards despite previously rowing with its organisers.
Charli XCX, whose real name is Charlotte Aitchison, declined to perform at this year's ceremony and has previously criticised the music awards for not nominating enough women.
She won song, album and artist of the year at Saturday's awards ceremony following the success of her sixth studio album brat, referring to a person who has a 'confident, independent, and hedonistic attitude' to life.
The term and its broader lime-green aesthetic went viral and was named 'word of the year' by Collins Dictionary.
The Cambridge-born artist, 32, won each of the five awards she was nominated for – the others being best songwriter and best dance act. They are the first Brits she has ever won and represent the second-most won by any artist in one year in history, behind Raye who won six in 2024.
Other Brit winners included Ezra Collective, who won group of the year, The Last Dinner Party, winner of best new artist, and Chappell Roan, the international artist of the year.
Stormzy was named best hip hop, grime or rap Act, Jade won best pop act and Tyneside-born Sam Fender won best alternative or rock act.
Charli XCX was in attendance at this year's ceremony but did not perform after turning down a request from event organisers.
Damian Christian, chair of the Brit committee, confirmed that she had told organisers: 'Thanks for the offer, but I'm going to go and enjoy the night with my friends and family.'
In 2023 she criticised the Brits for not nominating any females in the Artist of the Year category.
'We're doing everything right,' she said at the time. 'I don't think it's our fault, I think it might be theirs.'
Charli XCX is now expected to take a break from her music career and spend more time acting.
'It's probably no music for quite a while,' she told The Sun this week. 'I also want to act now. I'm already there and thinking about that stuff a little bit more.
'The success of Brat and the success of the marketing of Brat is also, in ways, a curse. I'll pivot but whatever I do next will be compared. I'm aware that whatever comes next will be the albatross, so to speak.'
The artist has already appeared in six films including Faces of Death, a remake of the 1978 horror film, I Want Your Sex, an erotic thriller, and dark comedy The Gallerist.
She has also appeared in period fantasy 100 Nights of Hero with Emma Corrin and Sacrifice, which was inspired by Joan of Arc.
Speaking last year, she said an archetypal brat was 'that girl who is a little messy and likes to party and maybe says some dumb things sometimes, who feels herself, but then also maybe has a breakdown, but kind of parties through it'.
The movement embraced messiness, body positivity and sultry style choices, marking a sharp departure from the preceding 'clean girl' trend, which had promoted 'wholesome' activities such as yoga, early nights and slicked back hair.
Lexicographers at Collins Dictionary ranked brat top of the list as it had been 'embraced so widely' and had become 'one of the most talked about words of 2024'.
In July, Charli XCX tweeted that 'Kamala IS brat', prompting the then-American vice president and presidential nominee to use her song '365' in a TikTok video.
Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, was also mocked when he attempted to jump on the bandwagon, claiming in a social media post that London's ultra-low emissions zone (Ulez) scheme is 'brat'.
Charli was raised in Essex by her mother Shameera, a former nurse and flight attendant who came from a Gujarati family in Uganda, and her father, Jon, a Scottish entrepreneur.
The 'XCX' part of her stage name is taken from the handle Charli used on Messenger, an online chat service when she was at school.