Brit Awards 2015 Nominations Announced: Sam Smith, George Ezra And Royal Blood Are Major Contenders
The 2015 Brit Award nominations have finally been announced with, it seems, a few surprises alongside the obvious candidates. There's no prizes for guessing who's come out on top for this year's list of award-winning possibles.
Awards season rears its ominous head for another year, with some major ceremonies - in both film and music - having already taken place. We've seen prizes sent out for 2014's films; I.e. Golden Globes, the Critics' Choice Awards, People's Choice Awards, AFI Honours; and now it's time for music, with the BBC Sound of 2015 having already taken place and now The Brits and the Grammys have unveiled their candidates.
More: Brits Critics' Choice Awards winner talks about being a soloist
The biggest name in this year's Brit Awards is, of course, the ever humble Sam Smith. He faces accolades for British Male Solo Artist, British Breakthrough Act, British Single for his number one hit 'Stay With Me', British Album Of The Year for his Platinum debut 'In The Lonely Hour' and British Artist Video Of The Year for 'Stay With Me' which featured a church choir. But closely following him is yet again pop favourite Ed Sheeran who is also up for the same awards (apart from Breakthrough Act) for his Rick Rubin produced album 'X' and single 'Thinking Out Loud'.
More: Watch the video for Sam Smith's 'Stay With Me'
We're also happy to see George Ezra high up in the competition, his single 'Budapest' and album 'Wanted On Voyage' landing him nominations to go alongside his British Male Solo Artist and British Breakthrough Act nods. Behind him we were surprised to see Brighton rockers Royal Blood stand out, despite the success of their number one self-titled debut album. They're looking at awards for British Group, British Breakthrough Act and British album of the year.
More: Read our 5/5 review of Royal Blood's debut album
Other artists being recognised for their achievements include Ella Henderson, FKA Twigs, Alt-J, Clean Bandit and One Direction, with songs from Calvin Harris, Duke Dumont, Mark Ronson, Route 94 and Sigma also having two nominations apiece this year.
They may be named The Brits for a reason but our musical counterparts from the other side of the pond get their own nominations as usual; the likes of Hozier and 5 Seconds of Summer are among the recognised newcomers, alongside John Legend, Beck, Sia, Taylor Swift and Foo Fighters to name but a few.
Of course, the Brits had already begun their award distribution, having awarded singer-songwriter James Bay with the Brits Critics' Choice Award beating George The Poet and Years & Years, the latter of whom became the BBC Sound of 2015 poll winners. There's still time to vote for your favourite in the British Video and British Breakthrough Act categories, but don't miss the award ceremony broadcast on February 25th 2015.
Next page: See the full list of nominations
Here's the full list of the 2015 Brit Award nominations:
British Male Solo Artist:
Damon Albarn
Ed Sheeran
George Ezra
Paolo Nutini
Sam Smith
British Female Solo Artist:
Ella Henderson
FKA Twigs
Jessie Ware
Lily Allen
Paloma Faith
British Group:
Alt-J
Clean Bandit
Coldplay
One Direction
Royal Blood
British Breakthrough Act:
Chvrches
FKA Twigs
George Ezra
Royal Blood
Sam Smith
British Single:
Calvin Harris - Summer
Clean Bandit ft Jess Glynne - Rather Be
Duke Dumont ft Jax Jones - I Got U
Ed Sheeran - Thinking Out Loud
Ella Henderson - Ghost
George Ezra - Budapest
Mark Ronson ft Bruno Mars - Uptown Funk
Route 94 ft Jess Glynne - My Love
Sam Smith - Stay With Me
Sigma - Nobody to Love
British Album Of The Year:
Alt-J - This Is All Yours
Ed Sheeran - X
George Ezra - Wanted On Voyage
Royal Blood - Royal Blood
Sam Smith - In The Lonely Hour
British Producer Of The Year:
Alison Goldfrapp & Will Gregory
Flood
Jake Gosling
Paul Epworth
British Artist Video Of The Year:
Calvin Harris - Summer
Charli XCX - Boom Clap
Duke Dumont ft Jax Jones - I Got U
Ed Sheeran - Thinking Out Loud
Mark Ronson ft Bruno Mars - Uptown Funk
One Direction - You and I
Rita Ora - I Will Never Let You Down
Route 94 ft Jess Glynne - My Love
Sam Smith - Stay With Me
Sigma - Nobody to Love
International Male Solo Artist:
Beck
Hozier
Jack White
John Legend
Pharrell Williams
International Female Solo Artist:
Beyonce
Lana Del Rey
Sia
St Vincent
Taylor Swift
International Group:
5 Seconds of Summer
The Black Keys
First Aid Kit
Foo Fighters
The War On Drugs