British superstar singer Adele won three awards, including the coveted Album of the Year, at the Brit awards on Tuesday at the first genderless edition of Britain’s annual pop music honours.
Adele who was nicknamed “Queen of the BRITs” by host Mo Gilligan, won best album for “30”, as well as song of the year for her hit single “Easy On Me” and artist of the year, no longer female or male, after which she acknowledged the changing times.
“I understand why they changed the name of this award, but I really love being a woman, being a female artist, I do,” she said to applause at the packed O2 arena in London.
“I can’t believe a piano ballad won against so many bangers,” she said after winning song of the year against competition from the likes of A1 & J1, Central Cee, Glass Animals and KSI.
“I’d like to dedicate this award to my son, and to Simon, to his dad. This album was all of our journey, not just mine,” a tearful Adele said, referring to her ex-husband Simon Konecki.
“I’m very proud of myself for sticking to my guns and putting out an album that was about something that was so personal to me (because) not many people would do stuff like that any more.”
Last month, Adele apologised to her fans for postponing her Las Vegas residency, just 24 hours before the opening night, blaming Covid-19 and “delivery delays”.
The Brits said they did away with gendered categories to celebrate “artists solely for their music and work, rather than how they choose to identify or as others may see them.”