DANCE music producer Calvin Harris and soft rock band The 1975 were the biggest winners at the 2019 Brit Awards, on a night in which no single act truly dominated but Beyoncé and Jay-Z made headlines with an emphatic statement about Meghan Markle.

Harris may be the highest-paid DJ in the world, with a reported 37 million pounds (US$48 million) in earnings last year and collaborations with Katy Perry, Ariana Grande, Rihanna and Pharrell Williams, but Brit Award success had eluded him until now.

Following 14 unsuccessful nominations, he finally triumphed with both British producer and British single for “One Kiss,” his U.K. No. 1 with Dua Lipa. During the ceremony at London’s O2 Arena, he was anointed with the night’s cornerstone performance, a medley featuring a trio of previous Brits winners: Lipa, Sam Smith and Rag’n’Bone Man. Lipa’s recognition for “One Kiss” follows her success at the 2018 Brits, which named her British Female and Breakthrough Artist.

Harris, 35, has had 31 solo Top 40 hits, eight of them reaching No. 1, including two in 2018: “One Kiss,” and Sam Smith collaboration “Promises.” Although he is the winner of the producer prize, he is also a songwriter and performer in his own right, playing lucrative DJ sets and occasionally singing on his own tracks.

The 1975 took home the night’s most prestigious award for British Album of the Year, for “A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships,” a glossy, ambitious record that took stock of topics including Donald Trump, heroin addiction and 21st-century sex. They also won British Group, having previously won in 2017, preventing Arctic Monkeys from winning the award for a fourth time, a tally that only Coldplay has achieved.

Beyoncé and Jay-Z threatened to steal their thunder, though, with a much-discussed statement as they accepted the Best International Group Award for their collaborative project “The Carters.” They posed in front of a portrait of Meghan Markle styled as Queen Victoria, an emphatic show of support for the duchess amid sustained press scrutiny.

(SD-Agencies)