RAYE Becomes First Woman to Win Songwriter of the Year Ahead of 2024 Brit Awards

RAYE — who set a new record last month for the most Brit Awards nominations by an artist in any one year — is this year’s recipient of the Brit Award for songwriter of the year. The Brits will be held Saturday at 8.30 p.m. local time at The O2 arena in London. The show will broadcast on ITV1 and ITVX in the U.K. and will stream globally on YouTube.

The winner of the songwriter of the year award, which was introduced in 2022, is determined by a panel of expert judges. The two previous winners are Ed Sheeran and Kid Harpoon, which makes RAYE the first woman to receive the honor. The Brits added this category one year before the Grammys added songwriter of the year, non-classical. To date, no woman has won in that Grammy category.

RAYE’s “Escapism” (featuring 070 Shake) reached No. 22 on the Billboard Hot 100 in January 2023 and logged 23 weeks on the chart.

RAYE is set to also perform on this year’s Brits, along with Becky Hill together with Chase & Status, Calvin Harris & Ellie Goulding, Dua Lipa, Jungle, Kylie Minogue, Rema and Tate McRae. Lipa opened this year’s Grammys on Feb. 4 with a performance of “Training Season” and “Houdini.” The Brits will be hosted by Clara Amfo, Maya Jama and Roman Kemp.

RAYE is the fourth Brits winner to be announced ahead of the show.

Chase & Status are this year’s producer of the year winners. The electronic music duo, consisting of Saul Milton (Chase) and Will Kennard (Status), is also nominated for group of the year. They have produced not only their own releases, but the works of such other acts as Becky Hill, Paloma Faith, Rihanna, Rita Ora and Tinie Tempah. Chase & Status are the fourth multi-person production team to win producer of the year, following Stock Aitken Waterman (1988); Chris Potter, The Verve & Youth (1998); and Alan Moulder & Flood (2014).

Minogue will be presented with the Brits’ Global Icon award. Taylor Swift won that award three years ago.

The Last Dinner Party are the winners of the Brits Rising Star award.

The Brit Awards 2024 with Mastercard – the show’s official name – will take place Saturday, March 2, broadcast live from 8:30 p.m. local time on ITV1, STV, ITVX and STV Player.

Yinka Bokinni and Jack Saunders will present The Brits’ Red Carpet for ITV2 and The Brits’ Aftershow for ITVX.