Fontaines D.C. win International Group at BRITs 2023: “I’m happy to celebrate friendship”

Fontaines D.C. won Best International Group at the BRITs 2023 tonight (February 11), with guitarist Carlos O’Connell dedicating the award to his bandmates.

This year’s BRIT Awards is taking place at London’s The O2, hosted by Mo Gilligan and taking place on a Saturday for the first time.

• READ MORE: Fontaines D.C.: “When we were younger these were things you’d never imagine”

Fontaines D.C. were announced as the winners in their category earlier tonight and sent in a video message from Australia, where they are currently on tour. “Thanks for voting us Best International Group,” guitarist Conor Curley said. “We sent our best man Carlos so we hope he’s behaving himself.”

O’Connell has not joined the band on tour due to the imminent birth of his first child. He was present at the BRITs to collect the band’s trophy and gave a speech in which he dedicated it to his bandmates.

“I’m having my first kid in 10 days now,” he explained. “My heart is fuller than ever, bringing life into this world and making sure that life is full of joy even though this world is hard and difficult.”

He added: “I’m happy to be here to celebrate that and to celebrate friendship. They’re my best friends in the world.”

Elsewhere at the BRITs 2023, Harry Styles kicked things off in sparkling style with a performance of ‘As It Was’ before acknowledging his “privilege” as he won Artist Of The Year. Wet Leg recited Alex Turner’s infamous 2014 BRITs acceptance speech as they won Best New Artist, and host Mo Gilligan sparked confusion as he introduced performer “Sam Capaldi”.

Other performances tonight will come from Cat Burns, Sam Smith and Kim Petras, David Guetta, Becky Hill and Ella Henderson.

Keep checking back to NME.com for all of the action from the BRIT Awards 2023 as it happens here.

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