As It Was singer and former One Direction star Harry Styles took to the stage to open the Brit Awards 2026 live from Manchester on Saturday, with fans admitting they were ‘shaking’
As It Was singer and former One Direction star Harry Styles took to the stage to open the Brit Awards 2026(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
It’s safe to say Harry Styles impressed fans with his performance at the Brit Awards.
The As It Was and Sign of the Times singer, and former One Direction star, opened the live ceremony on ITV1 and ITVX on Saturday night. He performed his new track Aperture after recently announcing the release of his fourth album would be very soon.
Marking his return to music, the singer took to the stage to kick things off, the performance no doubt gave fans a peak of what to expect with his upcoming world tour. Amid a backlash from many viewers about the prices of his tour tickets, Harry won over viewers with his vocals and choreography.
In fact, fans claimed they were “shaking” and “going to be sick” after watching it live. Taking to social media, one fan said: “Wish I could be normal but unfortunately I’m literally shaking over Harry Styles performing at the Brits.” Another said: “I AM SHAKING,” as a third added: “I’M GONNA BE SICK.”
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A fourth fan said: “HE IS A PERFORMER,” as a fifth said: “HARRY IS SO BACK THAT WAS INSANE.” A further post read: “Harry sounds GOOD. Aperture live is such a vibe.”
Another fan commented: “OMG DID HE HAVE TEARS IN HIS EYES!?? HARRY STYLES IS SO BACK.” A final tweet read: “Ok Harry actually ate that choreo.”
It was revealed the awards would take place in a new home on Saturday night, at the Co-op Live in Manchester. Artists revealed to be performing included Olivia Dean, Wolf Alice, EJAE, Audrey Nuna and REI AMI, the singing voices of HUNTR/X (filmed in advance of The BRIT Awards).
Alex Warren, Mark Ronson, ROSALÍA, SOMBR and RAYE were also confirmed. Mark was also revealed to be receiving an award for his outstanding contribution to music, while Noel Gallagher was said to be receiving a songwriting award.
Speaking of honours, it had also been revealed that tributes would be made to some of the lost music acts who have recently passed away. Ozzy Osbourne is set to be honoured with Robbie Williams fronting a super group paying tribute to the star. It comes seven months after the Black Sabbath frontman died aged 76.
The performance will be a special arrangement of ‘No More Tears’ – the title track from Ozzy’s multi-million selling 1991 album of the same name. It was curated by Ozzy’s wife, Sharon Osbourne, and will boast a phenomenal line up of British and international musical talent.
It will feature musicians that played as part of Ozzy’s band over the years, including Adam Wakeman, Robert Trujillo , Tommy Clufetos and Zakk Wylde. The makeshift group will be fronted by Robbie, who was invited personally by Sharon to be part of this special moment.
BRIT Awards bosses are also set to honour Stone Roses bassist Mani at Saturday night’s show – led by Charlatans legend Tim Burgess. Gary ‘Mani’ Mounfield died suddenly aged 63 last November, and close pal Tim will be on hand to deliver an emotional speech.
A source said: “Tim is set to present the In Memoriam section, but before he does so, he is primed to talk about Mani who was both a dear friend and mentor. The fact that Mani was from Manchester too – and the awards is being held there for the first time – means it will be a really special moment. Mani will then feature heavily in the section, as will other greats we have lost including Ozzy Osbourne.”
Ahead of the ceremony, three acts had received the most nominations. They were Olivia Dean and Lola Young with five nominations apiece, and Sam Fender trailing closely on four nominations following his Mercury Prize success.
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