Harry Styles thanks One Direction bandmates in Brits awards speech: ‘I wouldn’t be here without you’

Singer thanked his former bandmates by name

Harry Styles has thanked his One Direction bandmates in his acceptance speech at the Brits.

The 2023 Brit award ceremony took place on Saturday (11 February) at the O2.

Comedian Mo Gilligan hosted the event for the second year in a row, having taken over presenting duties from Jack Whitehall in 2022.

Accepting the award for Artist of the Year – his second award of the night – Styles thanked his family, singling out his mum for entering him to compete on The X Factor without telling him.

The “As It Was” singer, 29, went on to also thank his former One Direction bandmates by name: Niall Horan, Liam Payne, Louis Tomlinson, and Zayn Malik.

“Because I wouldn’t be here without you either,” said Styles. “Thank you so much.”

Elsewhere in his speech, Styles said he is “very aware of my privilege”.

The Artist of the Year category was not without controversy this year. Many fans criticised the Brits for having all-male nominees in the gender-neutral category.

(EPA)

It is the second year after the Brits scrapped male and female categories to make the annual ceremony as “inclusive and relevant as possible”.

It was the Styles’s second award of the night, having previously won the fan-voted category Pop/R&B.

He beat out Cat Burns, Charli XCX, Dua Lipa, and Sam Smith.

Find a full list of the winners as they are announced in real-time.

Follow along with live updates from the night here…