Brit Award for International Breakthrough Act

Brit Award for International Breakthrough Act
2012 Winner Lana Del Rey
Awarded for	Achievement in Excellent International Breakthrough Act
Country	United Kingdom (UK)
Presented by	British Phonographic Industry (BPI)
First award	1988
Final award	2012
Currently held by	Lana Del Rey (2012)
Website	www.brits.co.uk

The Brit Award for International Breakthrough Act was an award given by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), an organisation which represents record companies and artists in the United Kingdom. ^[1] The accolade used to be presented at the Brit Awards, an annual celebration of British and international music. ^[2] The winners and nominees are determined by the Brit Awards voting academy with over one-thousand members, which comprises record labels, publishers, managers, agents, media, and previous winners and nominees. ^[3]

History

The award was first presented in 1988 as awards as "International Newcomer" which was won by Terence Trent D'Arby. In 2003 the award was renamed to "International Breakthrough Act". The accolade was not handed out at the 2008 and 2009 ceremonies and has been defunct as of 2013.

Winners and nominees

Year	Recipient	Nominees
1988 (8th)	Terence Trent D'Arby	Beastie Boys LL Cool J Los Lobos Bruce Willis
1989 (9th)	Tracy Chapman	Belinda Carlisle Enya Salt-N-Pepa Michelle Shocked
1990 (10th)	Neneh Cherry	Paula Abdul Bobby Brown De La Soul Guns N' Roses
1991 (11th)	MC Hammer	Mariah Carey Deee-Lite Wilson Phillips Maria McKee
1992 (12th)	P.M. Dawn	Color Me Badd Extreme Harry Connick Jr. Chris Isaak Jellyfish
1993 (13th)	Nirvana	Tori Amos Arrested Development Boyz II Men Curtis Stigers
1994 (14th)	Björk	4 Non Blondes Rage Against the Machine Spin Doctors SWV
1995 (15th)	Lisa Loeb	Carleen Anderson Counting Crows Marcella Detroit Warren G
1996 (16th)	Alanis Morissette	Tina Arena Boyzone Foo Fighters Garbage
1997 (17th)	Robert Miles	Fun Lovin' Criminals Joan Osborne The Presidents of the United States of America Tony Rich
1998 (18th)	Eels	Erykah Badu Daft Punk Hanson No Doubt
1999 (19th)	Natalie Imbruglia	Air B*Witched Eagle-Eye Cherry Savage Garden
2000 (20th)	Macy Gray	Eminem Jennifer Lopez Semisonic Britney Spears
2001 (21st)	Kelis	Lene Marlin Pink Jill Scott Westlife
2002 (22nd)	The Strokes	Anastacia The Avalanches Nelly Furtado Linkin Park
2003 (23rd)	Norah Jones	Avril Lavigne Nickelback Shakira The White Stripes
2004 (24th)	50 Cent	Evanescence Kings of Leon Sean Paul The Thrills
2005 (25th)	Scissor Sisters	Jet The Killers Maroon 5 Kanye West
2006 (26th)	Jack Johnson	Arcade Fire John Legend Daniel Powter The Pussycat Dolls
2007 (27th)	Orson	Gnarls Barkley Ray LaMontagne The Raconteurs Wolfmother
2008 (28th)	Not Awarded
2009 (29th)
2010 (30th)	Lady Gaga	Animal Collective Empire of the Sun Daniel Merriweather Taylor Swift
2011 (31st)	Justin Bieber	Glee Cast Bruno Mars The National The Temper Trap
2012 (32nd)	Lana Del Rey	Aloe Blacc Bon Iver Foster the People Nicki Minaj

• Winners of the Brit Award for International Breakthrough Act
• 
  1989 winner, Tracy Chapman
• 
  1994 winner, Björk
• 
  1999 winner, Natalie Imbruglia
• 
  2000 winner, Macy Gray
• 
  2005 winner, Scissor Sisters
• 
  2010 winner, Lady Gaga
• 
  2011 winner, Justin Bieber
• 
  2012 winner, Lana Del Rey

Countries by nominations

Only six non-American artists won the award; Swedish singer Neneh Cherry in 1990, Icelandic singer Björk in 1994, Canadian singer Alanis Morissette in 1996 (prior to acquiring American citizenship in 2005 ^[4] ), Italian composer Robert Miles in 1997, Australian singer Natalie Imbruglia in 1999, and Canadian singer Justin Bieber in 2011. The only other Swedish nominee was Cherry's half-brother, Eagle-Eye Cherry.

Country	Nominations	First nomination	Last nomination	Artist/s
United States	85	1988	2012	Majority of nominees
Australia	9	1996	2011	Tina Arena, Natalie Imbruglia, Savage Garden, The Avalanches, Jet, Wolfmother, Empire of the Sun, Daniel Merriweather, The Temper Trap
Canada	7			Alanis Morissette, Nelly Furtado, Avril Lavigne, Nickelback, Arcade Fire, Daniel Powter, Justin Bieber
Ireland	5	1989	2004	Enya, Boyzone, B*Witched, Westlife, The Thrills
France	2	1998	1999	Daft Punk, Air
Sweden		1990		Neneh Cherry, Eagle-Eye Cherry
Colombia	1	2003		Shakira
Iceland		1994		Björk
Italy		1997		Robert Miles
Jamaica		2004		Sean Paul
Norway		2001		Lene Marlin
Trinidad and Tobago		2012		Nicki Minaj

Notes

• Tracy Chapman (1989), Björk (1994, 1996, 1998, 2016), Natalie Imbruglia (1999), Macy Gray (2000), Lady Gaga (2010), Lana Del Rey (2013) also won Brit Award for International Female Solo Artist
• Neneh Cherry (1990) also won Brit Award for International Solo Artist
• Scissor Sisters (2005) also won Brit Award for International Group
• Justin Bieber (2016) also won Brit Award for International Male Solo Artist

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 9 March 2014. Retrieved 22 February 2014.
3. "And the nominees are..." Brits.co.uk. British Phonographic Industry (BPI). Retrieved 22 February 2014.
4. The Associated Press (17 February 2005). "Alanis Morissette becomes U.S. citizen". Today . Retrieved 21 December 2025.