Brit Award for British Rock/Alternative Act

Brit Award for British Alternative/Rock Act
2025 winner Sam Fender
Awarded for	Achievement in Excellence: British Rock Act
Country	United Kingdom (UK)
Presented by	British Phonographic Industry (BPI)
First award	2004
Currently held by	Sam Fender (2025)
Most awards	Sam Fender (2)
Most nominations	Franz Ferdinand Kasabian Muse Sam Fender Tom Grennan (2 each)
Website	www.brits.co.uk

The Brit Award for British Alternative/Rock Act (previously known as the Brit Award for British Rock Act) is an award given by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), an organisation which represents record companies and artists in the United Kingdom. ^[1] The accolade was presented at the Brit Awards, an annual celebration of British and international music. ^[2] The winners and nominees were determined by the Brit Awards voting academy with over one-thousand members comprising record labels, publishers, managers, agents, media, and previous winners and nominees. ^[3]

The inaugural recipients of the award are The Darkness, who won in 2004. The category only featured bands as nominees until it was revived in 2022. Muse, Kasabian and Tom Grennan hold the record for most nominations without a win, with two. Sam Fender is the first solo artist to win the category, and is the current holder after winning for a second time in 2025.

History

The Brit Award for British Rock Act was first presented at the 2004 Brit Awards and last presented in 2006.

In 2021, it was announced that the category had been revived and renamed British Rock/Alternative Act following the removal of gendered categories. This new iteration of the award was first presented at the 42nd Brit Awards and is voted for by the public on TikTok alongside the three other genre categories (Pop/R&B Act, Dance Act and Hip Hop/Grime/Rap Act). ^[4]

Winners and nominees

British Rock Act (2004–2006)

2004 winners The Darkness

2005 winners Franz Ferdinand

Year	Recipient	Nominees
2004 [5]	The Darkness	Feeder Muse Primal Scream Stereophonics
2005 [6]	Franz Ferdinand	Kasabian The Libertines Muse Snow Patrol
2006 [7]	Kaiser Chiefs [8]	Franz Ferdinand Hard-Fi Kasabian Oasis

British Rock/Alternative Act (2022–present)

Sam Fender was the inaugural winner of the 2022 revived category

Year	Recipient	Nominees
2022 [9]	Sam Fender	Coldplay Glass Animals Tom Grennan Wolf Alice
2023 [10]	The 1975	Arctic Monkeys Nova Twins Tom Grennan Wet Leg
2024	Bring Me The Horizon	Blur The Rolling Stones Young Fathers Yussef Dayes
2025	Sam Fender	Beabadoobee The Cure Ezra Collective The Last Dinner Party

Multiple nominations and awards

Nominations	Artist
2	Franz Ferdinand
	Kasabian
	Muse
	Sam Fender
	Tom Grennan

References

1. "About the BPI". British Phonographic Industry (BPI). Archived from the original on 6 December 2015. Retrieved 22 February 2014.
2. "BRIT Awards". British Phonographic Industry (BPI). Archived from the original on 6 September 2018. Retrieved 22 February 2014.
3. "And the nominees are..." Brits.co.uk. British Phonographic Industry (BPI). Retrieved 22 February 2014.
4. "Brit Awards scrap male and female categories". BBC News. 22 November 2021.
5. "Brits 2004: The nominations". BBC News. 12 January 2004. Retrieved 19 December 2018.
6. "BRITs 2005 Nominees Announced - MTV UK". MTV.co.uk. Retrieved 19 December 2018.
7. Dury, Louise (11 January 2006). "Brit award nominations hail the Kaiser Chiefs". The Independent . Retrieved 19 December 2018.
8. "Brit awards winners list 2013: every winner since 1977". The Guardian . 21 February 2013. Retrieved 19 December 2018.
9. Copsey, Rob (18 December 2021). "BRIT Awards 2022 nominations in full". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 19 December 2021.
10. Daly, Rhian (2023-02-11). "Here are all the winners from the BRIT Awards 2023 – rolling list". NME. Retrieved 2023-02-11.