About The Brits

It all started in 1977 when the first Brit Awards took place, in honour of The Queen's Silver Jubilee and to celebrate music from the last 25 years.

Boy band Fine Young Cannibals stirred controversy when they returned their awards for Best British Group and Best British Album in 1990. The double winners were reacting in protest to Margaret Thatcher's appearance via video, when she announced that her favourite pop song was How Much Is That Doggy In The Window?

The BRIT School in Croydon has an outstanding alumni of Brit Award nominees and winners including Adele, Jessie J, Amy Winehouse, Leona Lewis, Rizzle Kicks, Kate Nash and The Kooks. Jointly funded by The BRIT Trust and The Department for Children, School and Families, it is the only non-fee paying performing arts school in the UK.

Robbie Williams has received the most nominations and wins in the Brits' history, 30 and 17 respectively. The Candy singer won 13 awards solo and four with Take That, and gained 23 nominations solo and seven with the band.

The 2000 awards go down in history for not only being the awards when Robbie Williams challenged Liam Gallagher to a live boxing match, with the winner getting £100,000, but also for Brandon Block drunkenly taking the stage to collect an award his friends had told him he won. He squared up to Ronnie Wood, who was presenting an award, they traded insults, and Ronnie threw a drink in Brandon's face before being escorted away by bouncers.

Russell Brand's controversial turn at hosting the awards in 2007 led to ITV receiving hundreds of complaints after he made jokes about the "friendly-fire" death of a British soldier in Iraq and The Queen's "naughty bits."