The Brit Award for British Dance Act is an award given by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), an organisation which represents record companies and artists in the United Kingdom. The accolade was presented at the Brit Awards, an annual celebration of British and international music. The winners and nominees were determined by the Brit Awards voting academy with over one-thousand members comprising record labels, publishers, managers, agents, media, and previous winners and nominees.
The inaugural recipients of the award are M People, who won consecutively in 1994 and 1995. Fatboy Slim was the first solo act to win the category in 1999 and is one of five acts to have won the award twice, alongside M People, The Prodigy, Basement Jaxx and Becky Hill. Jamiroquai hold the record for most nominations without a win, with six. The current holders of the award are Fred Again, Skepta and American rapper PlaqueBoyMax, the first non-British nominee, who won in 2026.
History The award was first presented in 1994. British Dance Act has been won by M People, The Prodigy, Fatboy Slim, Basement Jaxx and Becky Hill the most times, with two wins each.
In 2021, it was announced that the category had been revived following the removal of gendered awards and was first presented at the 42nd Brit Awards. This new iteration is voted for by the public on TikTok alongside the three other genre categories (Pop/R&B Act, Rock/Alternative Act and Hip Hop/Grime/Rap Act) In 2026, two of the five nominations were jointly held by multiple acts: Calvin Harris and Clementine Douglas, as well as eventual winners Fred Again, Skepta, and American rapper PlaqueBoyMax, with the latter becoming the first non-British nominee.
Winners and nominees Original category (1994-2004)
YearRecipientNominees 1994 M People Apache Indian Jamiroquai The Shamen Stereo MCs 1995 M People The Brand New Heavies Eternal Massive Attack The Prodigy 1996 Massive Attack Eternal Leftfield M People Tricky 1997 The Prodigy The Chemical Brothers Jamiroquai Mark Morrison Underworld 1998 The Prodigy The Brand New Heavies The Chemical Brothers Eternal Jamiroquai 1999 Fatboy Slim All Saints Faithless Jamiroquai Massive Attack 2000 The Chemical Brothers Basement Jaxx Fatboy Slim Jamiroquai Leftfield 2001 Fatboy Slim Artful Dodger Craig David Moloko Sonique 2002 Basement Jaxx Craig David Faithless Fatboy Slim Gorillaz 2003 Sugababes The Chemical Brothers Groove Armada Jamiroquai Kosheen 2004 Basement Jaxx Goldfrapp Groove Armada Kosheen Girls Aloud
Revived category (2022-present) YearRecipientNominees 2022 Becky Hill Calvin Harris Fred Again Joel Corry Raye 2023 Becky Hill Bonobo Calvin Harris Eliza Rose Fred Again 2024Calvin Harris Barry Can't Swim Becky Hill Fred Again Romy 2025 Charli XCX Becky Hill Chase & Status Fred Again Nia Archives2026 Fred Again, Skepta, & PlaqueBoyMax Calvin Harris & Clementine Douglas FKA Twigs PinkPantheress Sammy Virji
Multiple nominations and awards
+ Artists that received multiple nominationsNominationsArtist6Jamiroquai5Fred Again4Becky HillThe Chemical BrothersFatboy SlimCalvin Harris3Basement JaxxEternalMassive AttackM PeopleThe Prodigy2The Brand New HeaviesCraig DavidFaithlessGroove ArmadaKosheenLeftfield
+ Artists that received multiple awardsAwardsArtist2Basement JaxxBecky HillFatboy SlimM PeopleThe Prodigy
References