The BRIT Awards 2015 with MasterCard Broadcast exclusively on ITV

Ed Sheeran and Sam Smith take home the most awards with both winning two trophies each

Ed bags the big award of the night: MasterCard British Album Of The Year plus British Male Solo Artist

Sam takes home British Breakthrough Act and BRITs Global Success award First BRIT wins for Taylor Swift, Paloma Faith and Pharrell Williams

Rock music rules as Royal Blood win British Group and Foo Fighters named International Group

Show streamed live across the globe via YouTube and continues huge success of real time Social Vote for British Artist Video Award

A spectacular opening sequence kicked off the The BRIT Awards 2015 with MasterCard at The O2 tonight. The excitement and anticipation was built with an opening sketch where Awards Hosts Ant & Dec were seen ‘chivvying’ the waiters and chefs, and Tinie Tempah and Paloma Faith helping to prep for the evening. Over 100 dancers including BRIT School students suddenly exploded onto the stage to the resounding beats of this year’s most successful tracks.

This was swiftly followed by Taylor Swift, who delivered an elegant performance of ‘Blank Space’ supported by a troupe of dancers in white tuxedo jackets, marking her third BRITs performance to date. Taylor was back on stage soon after her performance to collect her first ever BRIT Award for International Female Solo Artist from guest presenters Lewis Hamilton and Ellie Goulding.

Kanye West was in the house with an epic performance of ‘All Day’, and the show closed with a spectacular grand finale by Queen of Pop Madonna, her matador-style act complimented by horned dancers, performing ‘Living For Love’ from her new album ‘Rebel Heart’.

Russell Crowe presented the MasterCard British Album of the Year to Ed Sheeran for ‘X’, last year’s biggest selling UK album, as well as the first to exceed 1 million UK sales since 2012. Ed was also awarded British Male Solo Artist, collecting his trophy from Orlando Bloom and Rita Ora - taking his total BRITs tally up to four (having won the same award in 2012 as well as British Break- through Act). Ed also premiered his new single ‘Bloodstream’ on the show.

Sam Smith - who performed a show-stopping rendition of ‘Lay Me Down’ along with an orchestra all in white - scored a double by winning British Breakthrough Act, presented by Charli XCX and Radio 1’s Fearne Cotton, plus the BRITs Global Success award, marking Sam’s incredible global

achievements since winning the BRITs Critics’ Choice award last year. This award is presented to a British act for albums and singles released in 2014 and is based on international sales success.

It was third time lucky for Paloma Faith who picked up her first BRIT for British Female Solo Artist. She was presented with the trophy by Mark Ronson, who himself embargoed victorious later in the show by walking away with Best Single for ‘Uptown Funk’ ft Bruno Mars. Paloma performed a sul- try version of ‘Only Love Can Hurt Like This’ in a glamorous black gown with rain falling down around her.

Riffs galore reverberated around the arena with Brighton rock duo picking up the award for British Group, presented by guitar legend Jimmy Page, and Best International Group going to Foo Fight- ers. Royal Blood followed their win with a blistering performance of ‘Figure It Out’.

Pharrell Williams ‘got lucky’ with his first BRIT for International Male Solo Artist, presented by Cara Delevigne. British Artist Video of the Year was once again determined by a live Twitter social vote, with One Direction crowned winners during the show.

The BRIT Awards 2015 with MasterCard, broadcast exclusively on ITV and hosted by the kings of British entertainment TV Ant and Dec, also saw live performances from Take That, who brought the summer vibes early with ‘Let In The Sun’ and George Ezra with ‘Budapest’. This year marked the 35th BRIT Awards and the fifth year at The O2.

The show was streamed on YouTube across the world (excluding the UK and Ireland) for the sec- ond consecutive year and performances will be exclusively available on Google Play Music free of charge shortly after the show. Google Play will be making a donation to War Child and The BRIT Trust for every song downloaded or streamed.

And The Winners Are....

Best British Male Solo Artist – Ed Sheeran (presented by Orlando Bloom and Rita Ora)
British Group – Royal Blood (presented by Jimmy Page)
International Female Solo Artist – Taylor Swift (presented by Lewis Hamilton and Ellie Goulding) Best British Female Artist - Paloma Faith (Presented by Mark Ronson)

BRITs Global Success Award – Sam Smith (Presented by Kim Kardashian-West)
International Male Solo Artist – Pharrell Williams (presented by Cara Delevigne)
British Single – Mark Ronson ft Bruno Mars ‘Uptown Funk’ (presented by Lisa Snowdon and Lionel Richie) International Group – Foo Fighters (presented by John Bishop)
British Breakthrough Act – Sam Smith (presented Fearne Cotton and Charli XCX)
British Artist Video Award - One Direction (Presented by Frank Lampard and Karlie Kloss)
MasterCard British Album of The Year – Ed Sheeran ‘X’ (presented by Russell Crowe)
Critics Choice – James Bay (Already presented at BRITs launch)
British Producer Of The Year – Paul Epworth (presented previously at Producers Guild)