BRIT Awards to move music ceremony out of London for the first time in 46 YEARS: Iconic night held in another major UK city in 2026

By Pune Media On Jun 8, 2025

The BRIT Awards will be moving away from London for the first time in the ceremony’s 46-year history.

MailOnline can reveal the annual showpiece, regarded as the biggest night in British music, will be held in Manchester next year and is likely to move around the UK in different locations for the foreseeable future.

The change will be officially framed around the desire to reach new audiences in other regions, while also banishing its ‘London-centric’ reputation.

But music insiders have told MailOnline ‘cost-cutting’ is also a major factor, as ‘everything is more expensive in the capital.’

The BRITs, which has provided iconic moments in music history including Spice Girl Geri Horner’s Union Jack dress and Madonna’s infamous 2015 stage fall, has been held at London’s O2 Arena since 2011.

Past venues include Earl’s Court, the London Arena, Alexandra Palace, Hammersmith Apollo, the Dominion Theatre, the Royal Albert Hall, the Grosvenor Hotel and its original location, Wembley Conference Centre.

The BRIT Awards will be moving away from London for the first time in the ceremony’s 46-year history (Geri Horner pictured 1997)

The BRITs, which has provided iconic moments in music history including Spice Girl Geri Horner’s Union Jack dress, has been held at London’s O2 Arena since 2011 (Dua Lipa pictured 2024)

But the move away from the capital signals another new era in the ceremony’s history, arguably the most seismic.

A source told MailOnline: ‘It’s officially the end of an era. The BRIT Awards has been hosted in London since the ceremony first took place in 1977 and now for the first time ever, it will be held outside of the capital.

‘Obviously, it’s going to come as sad news to artists and talent who are London-based but there’s a feeling within the music industry that these shows don’t always need to be held at the same venues, year after year.

‘The BRITs is the biggest night in the British music calendar and now it will be shared with a new audience, as fans from Manchester and the surrounding areas are more likely to attend.

‘In recent years, there has been a general appetite for the ceremony to move, as with the The Mercury Prize and The MOBO Awards and now for the first time the music scene won’t be as London-centric, both for the nominees and fans.’

Manchester’s new Co-op Live indoor arena is the likely destination of the first non-London ceremony, which will no doubt spark rumours Oasis, newly reformed ahead of their highly-publicised comeback, could mark the move to their native city with a live performance.

According to insiders, bosses hope relocating the awards outside of London may free up more cash to spend on A-list artists to play at the ceremony.

However, there are concerns many London-based acts and record company execs may turn their noses up, due to many of the big labels being based down south.

DJ Brandon Block confronted Rolling Stones legend Ronnie Wood on stage in 2000, who promptly threw a drink over him and summoned football hard man Vinnie Jones over to confront the intruder

In 1989, Page 3 legend Samantha Fox and Mick Fleetwood hosted the ceremony, which was marred with technical issues so bad the show was televised twice, the second time with the shambolic errors edited out (pictured 1989)

The Spice Girls, the recipients of five BRIT Awards, made history at the ceremony with their 1997 performance at London’s Earl’s Court

An insider said: ‘It’s very gutting for artists who are in London, travelling to Manchester will triple the costs for people having to pay for travel and accommodation, which will no doubt go up in price.

‘There’s also the fear that record labels such as Sony Music, Warner, and Universal will be less inclined to host glamorous afterparties for the nominees and winners, and that the ceremony as a whole could potentially be poorly attended.

‘It’s not what anyone wants to hear and from many people’s perspective it’s purely to cut costs when London is the rightful home of the BRITs.’

The BRIT Awards is not only famous for its superstar performers, glamorous guests and famous hosts, it’s also provided outrageous moments watched by millions at home.

Madonna’s stage fall, in which the iconic singer was accidentally pulled down some stairs by a backing dancer grabbing onto her cloak, is just one of many unpredictable incidents which became synonymous with the BRITs.

In 2015, Madonna fell off stage during her performance of Living for Love after she tripped on her Armani cape, creating a viral sensation

Adele, the owner of 12 BRIT Awards, gave the middle finger to host James Corden after he cut her off mid-speech to end the show back in 2012

Chumbawabe pouring a bucket of ice water over then deputy Prime Minister John Prescott at the 1998 was a stand out moment, as was DJ Brandon Block confronting Rolling Stones legend Ronnie Wood on stage in 2000, who promptly threw a drink over him and summoned football hard man Vinnie Jones over to confront the intruder.

Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker ‘mooning’ Michael Jackson’s performance of Earth song in 1996 sparked huge controversy, as did Adele giving the middle finger after host James Corden cut her off mid-speech to end the show back in 2012.

Notable presenters, aside from Corden, down the years have included Jack Whitehall, Chris Evans, Ben Elton, Kylie Minogue and Peter Kay, who famously branded Liam Gallagher a ‘knobhead’ for throwing his award into the crowd.

But the most notorious were arguably the worst, the iconic 1989 pairing of Page 3 legend Samantha Fox and Mick Fleetwood whose stint as hosts was marred with technical issues so bad the show was televised twice, the second time with the shambolic errors edited out.

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