LONDON  –  Olivia Dean was crowned as the UK’s new queen of pop, winning four awards as the Brits swapped London for Manchester for the first time in its nearly 50-year history. Dean beat the likes of breakthrough act winner Lola Young, best rap act Dave and best rock act Sam Fender in the hotly contested category for best British artist. She also won best album for her transatlantic hit, The Art of Loving, as well as song of the year for her current number one collaboration with Fender, Rein Me In.

“This album is just about love and loving each other in a world that feels loveless,” said the star holding back tears of joy.  “I don’t know if I ever really thought I’d get one [a Brit award], but I did” she declared after jumping for joy on an earlier visit to the winner’s podium. The 26-year-old Londoner, who also won best pop act, performed an elegant rendition of her song Man I Need during the event, which also saw performances from Harry Styles, best group winners Wolf Alice, pop star Raye and Alex Warren, who was joined on piano by a velveted James Blunt. Robbie Williams closed the show with a full-throated tribute to Ozzy Osbourne, alongside some of the late star’s former bandmates. And genre-bending Catalan star Rosalía made history by becoming the first ever Brit winner to be recognised for music sung in a foreign language (the award is usually won by a US artist, in other words). “Let’s keep celebrating the otherness,” she said during her acceptance speech. “Let’s keep celebrating different music, different cultures, different languages.”  She was joined by Björk for a showstopping performance of her recent single Berghain, which host Jack Whitehall noted started like the “Last Night of the Proms” and ended like an Ibiza club rave. Elsewhere, Rosé also wrote herself into Brits history by becoming the first K-Pop act to win an award, international song of the year, for her duet with Bruno Mars, APT. Dean’s quadruple win re-affirms her position as Britain’s biggest new star, following her success at the Grammys last month in Los Angeles, where she won best new artist. Her pillowy, jazz-toned second album is brimming with memorable songs about the jeopardies and joys of falling in love – including Man I Need, Nice to Each Other and So Easy (To Fall in Love), all of which hit the top 10 last year. Ahead of the ceremony, the Brit School alumni warmed Manchester up with a radiant, candlelit charity gig at the city’s Albert Hall venue on Thursday. Manchester’s Deansgate train station was even renamed Olivia Deansgate for the week in her honour. Hopefully she will find the tram she needs to get home on Sunday.