On 22 November 2021, the BPI announced that it would re-align the categories for the 42nd Brit Awards to be
gender-neutral; it was stated that the change was intended to "[recognise] artists solely for their music and work, rather than how they choose to identify or as others may see them, as part of the Brits' commitment to evolving the show to be as inclusive and as relevant as possible." This resulted in the merger of the
Female Solo Artist and
Male Solo Artist into a new
Artist of the Year category, and the merger of
International Female Solo Artist and
International Male Solo Artist into a revived
International Artist of the Year category (originally presented between 1986 and 1993). To compensate for the removal of categories, four genre-based awards—
Alternative/Rock Act,
Dance Act,
Hip Hop/Rap/Grime Act, and
Pop/R&B Act—were reinstated. These awards were voted on via
TikTok. and the winner was announced on 9 December 2021.{{Cite news|url=https://www.brits.co.uk/news/holly-humberstone-announced-as-winner-of-brits-rising-star-award|title=Holly Humberstone announced as winner of BRITs Rising Star Award ==References==