Wolf Alice won Best British Group at the 2026 BRITs and frontwoman Ellie Rowsell used her speech to call for support for grassroots music venues.
The awards ceremony went down tonight (February 28) at Manchester’s Co-op Live Arena and the North London band were the winners of the Best British Group prize, which they also won back in 2022.
After accepting the trophy from the Happy Mondays’ Shaun Ryder and Bez, Rowsell thanked everyone who had supported them early in their career, including fans who bought piece of their “atrocious merch” in their early days.
She went on to address one of the most existential threats to the UK music scene – the ongoing plight of small and grassroots music venues, which a report in January revealed had seen 30 venues close in the 12 months up to July 2025, and a further 48 cease operating as gig spaces.
Rowsell said: “We’d like to also thank all of the pubs and clubs and grassroots venues across the country where we quite literally learned to play our instruments and write our songs. Thank you for opening your doors to us and thank you to those who continue the fight to keep them open.”
