For better or worse, the BRITs offer a time capsule of a moment – and this was certainly true throughout the 90s. Relive the 20th century’s final hoorah via inflatable legs, fist fights and one dead sheep.
The 90s were a decade of cultural renaissance and contradictions – while girl group superstars and Britpop bands reshaped mainstream pop culture in their image, it was also a time of innovation and rebellion, where grunge, rave and underground artists thrived alongside anti-establishment thought and New Labour politics. Counterculture flourished through music, but so did obscenity, subversive glamour and a new standard of celebrity.
The BRIT Awards, in its own most glamorously chaotic era, saw it all. Here are seven moments that tell the story of a decade of excess.
The KLF vs Extreme Noise Terror
1992The success of The KLF, by some measures the world’s best-selling singles act of 1991, makes their BRITs industry-mic-drop all the more staggering – backed by influential crust-punks Extreme Noise Terror and firing blanks into the audience from a vintage machine gun and dumping a dead sheep outside the Lancaster Hotel for the afterparty. Their broadside against the music industry and its backslapping protagonists went down as well as can be expected. Piers Morgan called them “pop’s biggest wallies” and they left the building before they could accept Best British Group… a title they had to share with Simply Red.
Björk and PJ Harvey's '(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction' duet
1994By 1994, Britpop was in full swing. While some artists were earnestly referencing British culture and aesthetics, Björk and PJ Harvey took a British rock classic, chewed it up and spat it back out again. Standing side by side in all black on an empty stage, with only a guitar and a synthesiser, the pair delivered the cover with devilish smiles on their faces, injecting the ubiquitous track with Björk’s distinctive growls and Harvey’s deep drawl. In putting their own stamp on the Rolling Stones’ (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction, Björk and Harvey eschewed Britpop’s Union Jack-plastered patriotism with an unapologetic statement about doing things on your own terms.
Prince’s Best International Male Solo Artist acceptance speech
1995In 1995, Prince’s dispute with Warner Bros. shed light on a previously-unspoken tension between artists and labels. With his name now an unsayable symbol and the word ‘SLAVE’ handwritten across his cheek, The Artist FKA delivered an acceptance speech with precise, near-rhythmic delivery. “In concert. Perfectly free. On record. Slave.” Three decades later and a generation of artists are following his blueprint in conversations about ownership and control.
David Bowie and Pet Shop Boys perform 'Hallo Spaceboy'
1996As the 90s wore on, the once diverse Britpop scene began to ossify into a boorish laddishness that settled over culture as a whole. This live performance of David Bowie’s Hallo Spaceboy in the Pets’ remix guise was a welcome corrective. Poised but anguished, and dripping with subversive glamour – a very pre-millennial combination – the performance gifted us one of Bowie’s last great pop moments (his high-heels were spoofed on kids’ Saturday morning show Live & Kicking – surely unthinkable now?)
Spice Girls claim Cool Britannia
1997The Spice Girls had only released their first single seven months earlier, but by the time they played the BRIT Awards, they were well on their way to world domination. The 1997 performance represented the group at their peak; playful, camp and infectiously fun. It was also the night the image of Geri Halliwell in that Union Jack dress was seared into our brains, and moodboards, for decades to come. The dress had its humble origins as a tea towel before being sewn onto a plain black mini-dress and it quickly became the defining symbol of Cool Britannia. The band might have broken up a year later, but this performance lives on forever.
Robbie Wiliams challenges Liam Gallagher to a fight
2000While picking up the Best British Single award for She’s The One in 2000, Robbie Williams dedicated his acceptance speech to challenging Liam Gallagher to a fist fight. “You can all watch it on TV!” He shouted. “What do you think about that?” Awards shows were still rowdy and unpredictable in 2000, sure, but the crowd’s feral screams felt like the boiling point for a new age of celebrity culture at the end of the 90s. This was an era of obscenity and shock factor, where laddish behaviour was glorified to new heights, pop stars competed for front-page headlines, and petty rivalries played out live on telly.
Geri Halliwell’s giant inflatable legs
2000Geri Halliwell returned to the BRIT Awards solo in 2000 with a debut album on the way, a new single to lip-sync to, tabloids to court and everything to prove. With big shoes to fill on stage (literally), she brought back the Union Jack motif she’d made history with three years prior – but this time between a giant inflatable model of her legs. “Suffice to say, she likes to make surprise exits,” Davina McCall said introducing the performance. “But she’s even better at grand entrances.”
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