{"id":264477,"date":"2026-02-02T21:55:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-02T21:55:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/264477\/"},"modified":"2026-02-02T21:55:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-02T21:55:07","slug":"they-are-not-manufactured-how-brit-school-stars-took-over-the-grammys-music","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/264477\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018They are not manufactured\u2019: how Brit school stars took over the Grammys | Music"},"content":{"rendered":"

As the Grammy winners took to the stage in Los Angeles on Sunday night, one common thread emerged: many had once walked the halls of a comprehensive school in Croydon, south London<\/a>.<\/p>\n

British performers Olivia Dean<\/a>, who won the prestigious gong for best new artist; Lola Young, who took home best pop solo performance for Messy; and FKA twigs, who won best dance\/electronic album for Eusexua, all attended the Brit school in Selhurst. As did Raye, who earlier in the week received the Harry Belafonte best song for social change award for Ice Cream Man.<\/p>\n

Lola Young accepts her award for best pop solo performance at the 68th Grammy awards. Photograph: Daniel Cole\/Reuters<\/p>\n

Since it opened in the 90s with a focus on the performing and creative arts, the Brit school has become Britain\u2019s most potent launchpad for global stardom. The list of alumni reads like a who\u2019s who of British talent: Adele, Amy Winehouse, Jessie J, Tom Holland, Leona Lewis, and Loyle Carner are among those who honed their craft within its classrooms.<\/p>\n

Even artists who never attended the institution have referenced it, such as Ed Sheeran, who in his breakthrough track You Need Me, I Don\u2019t Need You, cheekily rapped: \u201cI will blast and I didn\u2019t go to Brit school.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Stuart Worden, a teacher at the school since 1994 and its principal since 2012, this year\u2019s Grammys<\/a> were \u201ca brilliant celebration\u201d of free arts education. \u201cThose women are fantastic role models of what\u2019s achievable if you give young people access to the arts,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

While FKA twigs<\/a> was only briefly at the school, Worden keenly remembers Dean, Young and Raye (real name Rachel Keen) who all joined as 14-year-olds. \u201cThey started in year 10, all pretty close together,\u201d he said. \u201cLola and Olivia stayed for sixth form, Raye left after her GCSEs because she was already on her way and making money from her music.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dean, who blends soul, jazz and pop styles, is the first British performer to win best new act at the Grammys since Dua Lipa in 2019, and multiple singles from her sophomore album The Art of Loving entered the UK Top 10 simultaneously. Young\u2019s breakthrough hit Messy topped global charts, while Raye<\/a> is already a seven-time Brit award winner.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat stood out about all of them was their great work ethic,\u201d Worden said. \u201cNone of these artists are overnight successes. They\u2019ve played small venues, they\u2019ve worked on records for years.\u201d<\/p>\n

FKA twigs, who briefly attended the Brit school, picked up an award for her album Eusexua. Photograph: Mike Blake\/Reuters<\/p>\n

Is it obvious when a student is going to become a huge star? \u201cI don\u2019t think so,\u201d he said. \u201cWhat Olivia, Raye and Lola have in common is that they all, from quite an early age, wanted to write about the things that matter to them.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Brit school, he added, aimed to nurture young people to find their own voice. \u201cWhat do you care about? The next bit is up to them. Raye won a Grammy for Ice Cream Man, which is an unflinching look at harassment. Lola\u2019s song has connected with people because she\u2019s being really honest about the challenges of life, smiling with passion about being \u2018messy\u2019. Olivia writes about the complexities of love. They are not manufactured, they are themselves and that\u2019s powerful.\u201d<\/p>\n

Though there are no classes on how to be a megastar, students are instilled with professional standards and values such as kindness. \u201cIf you allow people to be kind and open to emotion, that creates possibilities,\u201d Worden said.<\/p>\n

All three women are still in contact and work with the school. \u201cI can remember Raye, when she was 14, saying, \u2018I\u2019m going to do this, sir\u2019,\u201d Worden said. \u201cAnd weirdly, she still calls me \u2018sir\u2019. We were chatting the other day because she wants some of our students to come and see her new show.\u201d He said alumni felt attached to the school because of the spirit of collaboration it fostered. \u201cOlivia met her bass player Finn [Zeferino-Birchall] in the canteen, Adele met her guitarist here when they were 16.\u201d<\/p>\n

Former Brit school students have sold almost 300m albums, have racked up more than 70bn streams across online platforms, and won dozens of high-profile awards such as Grammys, Baftas, Oscars, Oliviers and Brits. Students study core subjects alongside their art specialism, with more than 200 shows or events each year.<\/p>\n

The school prides itself on diversity: 40% of 1,450 students are of global majority heritage, 50% from income-deprived backgrounds, and a third have a SEN diagnosis.<\/p>\n

Worden said: \u201cWe as a country need many different voices in the arts. Giving access to those from low-income or neurodiverse backgrounds creates opportunities that might not otherwise exist.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As the Grammy winners took to the stage in Los Angeles on Sunday night, one common thread emerged:…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":264478,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[156,157,111,139,69],"class_list":{"0":"post-264477","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-music","10":"tag-new-zealand","11":"tag-newzealand","12":"tag-nz"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264477","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=264477"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264477\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/264478"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=264477"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=264477"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=264477"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}