Lizzo joins Harry Styles in Brits performer line-up as gender category row rumbles on

Lizzo has joined the line-up of performers for the 2023 Brit Awards, organisers have confirmed.

The American singer and flutist is the latest star to be revealed, along with David Guetta, Becky Hill and Ella Henderson who will also take to the stage next month.

They will share the bill with Harry Styles, Cat Burns, Sam Smith & Kim Petras and Wet Leg, who have been previously announced.

There has already been controversy around the recently revealed nominations, with an all-male best artist of the year list leading many to question the newly introduced gender-neutral categories.

Defending the nomination choices, the awards said that while the lack of female nominees was “disappointing”, it was down to 2022 seeing “fewer high-profile women artists in cycle with major releases” than in 2021.

The Brit Awards‘ organisers reportedly plan to evaluate their decision to adopt gender-neutral prizes as part of their annual review after the upcoming ceremony.

This year will be Lizzo’s second performance at the event. She’s nominated for international artist of the year and international song of the year for her hit About Damn Time, which reached number one in the US and number three in the UK.

The three times Grammy winner has over five billion global streams to her name and had a platinum selling debut album. Her fourth studio album Special was released to critical acclaim last year, reaching number two on the Billboard 200 chart and the UK Top Ten.

She performed a medley of songs at the 2020 Brit Awards, and delighted fans at one point in the evening by cosying up to pal Harry Styles and downing a drink from his table.

David Guetta is also nominated for international song of the year for I’m Good (Blue) with Bebe Rexha, which is his seventh number one UK record.

It’s the latest in a string of successful collaborations for Guetta, including Black Eyed Peas, Shakira, and Becky Hill along with Ella Henderson. A two-time Grammy winner, Guetta has achieved 14 billion global streams and 50 billion record sales worldwide to date.

Electric music pioneer Becky Hill is nominated for best dance act and is the current holder of the award, having won it last year. It will be her first Brit performance.

Nominations for the 2023 Brit Awards were announced earlier this month, with former-boybander Harry Styles and Isle of Wight duo Wet Leg leading the nods.

Other artists nominated for multiple awards include Aitch, Arctic Monkeys, Beyoncé, Cat Burns, Dave, Ed Sheeran, Eliza Rose, Lizzo, Nova Twins, Sam Smith, Stormzy and Taylor Swift.

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This year four genre categories will be decided by the public via a vote on TikTok – those are alternative rock act, hip hop/rap/grime act, dance act and pop/R&B act.

R&B girl group Flo were previously announced as the winners of the Rising Star award.

The Brit Awards 2023 will take place on Saturday 11 February and will be broadcast live on ITV1 and ITVX from London’s O2 arena, hosted by Mo Gilligan.

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