The BRIT Awards 2018 with Mastercard Confirm all star British line-up as first live acts for the UK’s biggest night in music

The BRIT Awards 2018 with Mastercard announce some of the biggest success stories of 2017 as the first live acts to perform at this year’s ceremony: Ed Sheeran, Sam Smith, Stormzy and Dua Lipa. This all star line-up of British artists are the first four acts of the highly sort after performance slots on the main show, which will take place on Wednesday 21st February at The O2, London, hosted by Jack Whitehall.

BRITs Chairman and Chairman & CEO of Sony Music UK & Ireland, Jason Iley said: “I’m very excited to confirm such a strong British line-up as our first four live acts for the main show in 2018: Ed Sheeran has had an exceptional year, across the world and we are thrilled to have him back on the show. Then we have previous Critics’ Choice winner Sam Smith returning to our stage following the incredible success of yet another No.1 album this year. Stormzy has had a phenomenal 2017, putting grime firmly on the map with his No. 1 album ‘Gang Signs and Prayer’ and Dua Lipa has been the biggest British female breakthrough story of the year.”

Ed Sheeran’s history-making third album album ‘÷’ (pronounced “divide”) is the fastest-selling album by a male artist, ever, in the UK. Selling over 10 million copies worldwide to date, ‘÷’officially became the 3rd fastest-selling album of all time and has landed 12x Platinum and 8x Gold certifications around the world. Upon release, the album dominated the UK singles chart with all 16 tracks charting in the UK Top 20. With an upcoming UK stadium tour confirmed for next year, which will see Ed play to over one million people in the UK alone, Ed scored his fourth UK Number 1 last week with ‘Perfect’. Ed has won three BRIT Awards to date for British Breakthrough Act, British Male Solo Artist and MasterCard British Album of the Year.

Multiple BRIT, GRAMMY and Oscar winner Sam Smith released his latest album, ‘The Thrill Of It All’ earlier this year which topped the US and UK Album Chart in its first week of release. This followed the worldwide success of his debut 'In The Lonely Hour’ which sold 15 million copies. He will be returning to the BRIT Awards stage for the first time since 2015 when he won ‘British Breakthrough Artist’ and the ‘Global Success' Award, he also won a BRIT for 'Critics' Choice' in 2014.

Stormzy made history this year when his debut album 'Gang Signs & Prayer’ became the first grime album to reach Number 1 in the UK. He is also the fourth act ever to have every single track from his album enter the Top 100 UK Singles Chart simultaneously, including seven songs in the Top 40. This will be his first solo performance on the BRITs stage after his surprise appearance with Ed Sheeran at last year’s ceremony.

This summer Dua Lipa’s latest single ‘New Rules’ helped her to become the first female solo artist to top the charts since Adele with ‘Hello’ in 2015 as well as selling over 8.5 million singles and 1.2 million albums worldwide. Her self-titled debut album has achieved gold status (OCC) in the UK, earning her the title of ‘most-streamed’ woman of 2017. Next year will see her embark on a nationwide arena tour culminating in a final sold out show at London's Alexandra Palace. 

2018 BRIT nominations will be announced on Saturday 13th January live on a primetime ITV Saturday evening slot featuring special performances from Paloma Faith, Clean Bandit, J Hus, Liam Payne and BRITs Critics Choice Winner Jorja Smith. Categories including ‘British Single’ and ‘British Group’ will be revealed alongside the contenders for the BRITs biggest award of the night, the ‘Mastercard British Album of the Year’.

The 38th BRIT Awards will be broadcast live on ITV and take place for the eighth year in a row at The O2, London.

Mastercard holders can buy tickets to The BRIT Awards 2018 during an exclusive priority booking period between 15th – 27th December at www.priceless.com/London

Mastercard is celebrating its 20th year as headline sponsor of the BRIT Awards, and continues its sponsorship of the much sought-after Mastercard Album of the Year Award.

Apple Music is the official music streaming and download partner for The BRIT Awards 2018. Visit The BRIT Awards 2018 on Apple Music here: The BRIT Awards