Brit Awards 2021: Full list of winners as female artists including Dua Lipa, Little Mix, Billie Eilish and Taylor Swift steal the show

She said Dame Elizabeth has said there is a “massive disparity between gratitude and respect for frontline workers”.

Lipa added: “It’s very good to clap for them, but we need to pay them.

“I think what we should do is we should all give a massive, massive round of applause and give Boris (Johnson) a message that we all support a fair pay rise for our front line.”

Lipa also celebrated the progress made with female representation at the awards.

“Last time I was up here accepting this award in 2018 I said that I wanted to see more women on these stages,” she said.

“And I feel so proud that three years later, we are seeing that happen and it really is such an honour to be part of this wave of women in music.”

Little Mix, Arlo Parks, US rockers Haim and Billie Eilish were also among the acts who took home gongs at the London venue on Tuesday night.

The event, which featured an audience of 4,000 people, took place as part of the Government’s live events pilot scheme and 2,500 tickets were gifted to key workers from the Greater London area, many of whom wore blue.

The Brits’ voting academy underwent a major overhaul in 2017 to make it more gender balanced and diverse, with hundreds of new members invited to join the pool.

Little Mix made history as the first female group to win the best British group prize.

Taylor Swift, who appeared in person, was presented with the global icon award, the first woman to be awarded the prize, and delivered a speech to the budding artists in the room.

Speaking about the pressures of the music industry, she said: “You can’t let that crush you, you have to let it fuel you because we live in a world where anyone has the right to say anything that they want about you at any time but just please remember that you have the right to prove them wrong.”

The ceremony, hosted by comedian Jack Whitehall, featured performances by artists including Sir Elton John, Headie One, Olivia Rodrigo and Griff.

Here is the full list of winners:

Female solo artist – Dua Lipa

Male solo artist – J Hus

British group – Little Mix

Breakthrough artist – Arlo Parks

British single – Harry Styles, Watermelon Sugar

Album of the year – Dua Lipa, Future Nostalgia

International female solo artist – Billie Eilish

International male solo artist – The Weeknd

International group – Haim

Rising star award – Griff

Global icon award – Taylor Swift

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