Full list of North East Brit Award nominees as Sam Fender and Jade lead local names
A handful of North East artists have been nominated for the 2026 Brit Awards.
The full list of nominees was announced on the evening of Wednesday, January 21.
South Tyneside’s Jade and North Shields local Sam Fender received the most awards across the local artists.
Jade, who released her debut album ‘That’s Showbiz, Baby’ last year and saw a lot of praise from pop fans. After performing at the 2025 awards as well as winning Best Pop Act, she will return to the event this year as a nominee again.
The former little Mix star, who was raised in South Tyneside, is nominated for Artist Of The Year as well as Best Pop Act.
Meanwhile, Sam Fender, fresh from his Mercury Prize win for his third studio album ‘People Watching’, is also nominated for a series of awards.
He is up against Jade for Artist Of The Year, in addition to Best Alternative/Rock Act. His album ‘People Watching’ is also nominated for Album Of The Year while his song ‘Reign Me’ In with Olivia Dean is shortlisted for Song Of The Year.
A third nominated artist with links to the North East is Sammy Virji. The London-born DJ studied at Newcastle University, where he dropped out to persue music full time in the region. He is a well known name on the local dance scene and is nominated for the Best Dance Act category.
Olivia Dean and Lola Young lead the nominations with five each.
The Brit Awards will take place on Saturday, February 28 in Manchester.