Yes, that’s right – for the first time in its illustrious 48-year history, British music’s most prestigious awards show will be leaving the capital London and heading up to the capital of the North, as ITV has confirmed that the BRITs will be staged in Manchester for the next two years.
The iconic celebration of UK music is set to electrify Manchester’s newest – and Europe’s biggest – live entertainment arena, Co-op Live, as part of a two-year deal that’s being described as a ‘bold new chapter’ for the legendary event.
After nearly five decades in London, The BRIT Awards 2026 will take place on Saturday 28 February, broadcast exclusively on ITV1, ITVX, STV, and STV Player.
The 2027 BRIT Awards will also take place at Co-op Live.
ITV says Manchester has been chosen as the new home for the BRITs thanks to its ‘deep and rich roots in music‘, having produced scores of iconic and contemporary artists over several decades, as well as also creating dozens of cultural music moments.
Nowadays, Manchester also has a thriving independent music scene to support emerging and new talent, and this makes The BRIT Awards ‘a welcome addition to Manchester’s music legacy’, according to ITV.
The 2026 BRITs will also be the first of three years under the stewardship of Sony Music UK – who have supposedly ‘spearheaded’ the move to Manchester.
The BRIT Awards is moving to Manchester for the first time in its 48-year history / Credit: BRITs (via Press Centre)
Speaking one the announcement of The BRITs move to Manchester, Jason Iley MBE – who is the Chairman and CEO of Sony Music UK & Ireland – commented: “This is a very exciting time for The BRIT Awards. Moving to Manchester, the home of some of the most iconic and defining artists of our lifetime, will invigorate the show and build on the BRITs legacy of celebrating and reinvesting in world-class music.
“Hosting the show in Manchester, with its vibrant cultural history, perfectly captures the spirit and energy of the BRIT Awards, and I can’t wait to see the show at the amazing state-of-the art Co-op Live venue.”
Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham added: “For The BRIT Awards to move out of London is a massive coup for Greater Manchester. After 48 years, it is great that this prestigious global event is about to arrive in the UK capital of music and culture.”
“We thank our friends at the BPI for choosing Manchester, and we will pull out all the stops to show they made the right decision,” Andy Burnham concluded.
The BRIT Awards 2026 will take place at Co-op Live on Saturday 28 February.
Featured Image – ITV / BRITs / Co-op Live
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My Chemical Romance fans are losing it as emo favourites appear to tease UK tour
Danny Jones
American alt-rock and emo favourites My Chemical Romance aren’t just back for one last Black Parade; it looks like they might be heading to the UK for more tour dates.
Not just a phase, never was.
My Chemical Romance (an entirely different kind of MCR) made yet another mighty return to the fore earlier this year, nearly two whole decades on from the release of the seminal album, which dropped in 2006 and has now been toured live again by the New Jersey band.
Playing the album IN FULL for the first time in years, they’ve been busy in North America delighting die-hard crowds, but now a recent teaser has got My Chem fans gearing up for UK and Ireland shows.
As you can see, MCR released the somewhat cryptic comedy sketch above, in which they seem to spoof a gameshow centred around a robot named ‘Quizzo’.
The host of this fictional programme goes on to explain that the result will determine “who will be the next lucky country to win the grand prize of one nuclear winter.”
It might only last for a few seconds, but the main takeaway is that the ‘who’ selected as the recipient of this upcoming prize is none other than the United Kingdom.
Combine that with a simple caption that reads, “Let’s show them what they’ve won”, it’d be hard not to jump to the conclusion that we Brits are about to pretend we’re ‘Teenagers’ again and chant ‘Na Na Na’ until our lungs give out.
In the time since the post went live, fans on this side of the pond have understandably started getting very excited…
My Chemical Romance are coming back to the UK… For the 1st time since 2022 when we all thought it would be the last hurrah…#MCRpic.twitter.com/vHWO5mK89j
At first, some were wondering whether this year’s revival might have also seen the resurrection of their much-mythologised but ultimately scrapped 2019 record, The Paper Kingdom, but it seems pretty much nailed on that their transatlantic followers are about to get some gigs.
It remains unclear whether these still TBC dates will be an extension of the current ‘Long Live The Black Parade‘ tour, which began on 11 July, or something new entirely.
Either way, with this current run of shows due to end in September and hints at a ‘nuclear winter’, it’s a fair assumption to guess that My Chemical Romance will be coming to the UK either later this year or early 2026 – and you bank on a big Manchester booking to be thrown in there too.
Featured Images — NBSTwo (via Flickr)/Reprise Records
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Adidas drop Liam and Noel Gallagher SPZL trainers
Daisy Jackson
Liam and Noel Gallagher have teamed up with adidas once again to create their very own SPZL trainers.
The sportswear giant has today dropped the designs for the adidas LG Achille SPZL and the adidas NG Marathon SPZL.
The sure-to-sell-out trainers will officially hit shelves in the new Manchester adidas store, and other stockists, next weekend.
The footwear drop coincides with the ongoing Oasis reunion tour, which attracted hundreds of thousands of people to the city when they played five nights in Heaton Park.
Liam and Noel themselves have maintained a close relationship with Gary Aspden, curator of the adidas SPZL range, for more than two decades.
They’re often seen sporting the iconic trainers and creating product collaborations, and now they’re back with a new Three Stripes partnership and their very own new adidas SPZL trainers.
Up first is Liam Gallaghers’s adidas SPZL, with the Oasis frontman asking to bring back a revised version of an archival runner, the adidas Achille.
The LG Achille SPZL features a khaki mesh base, chocolate brown stripes, a beige suede T-toe overlay, and a sand outside, with a motif of Liam on the tongue of the shoe.
Noel Gallagher’s NG Marathon SPZLs are his first collaborations with the brand since his immediate sell-out shoes back in 2017.
His are a new hybrid inspired by the adidas Marathon 85 silhouette, keeping the suede upper and rubber outsole of the Marathon 85 but with a deep navy/sky blue palette with a reworked toe box and midsole, as well as details like the Eco-Tex tongue and tonal eyelets.
Both shoes feature a portrait of their namesakes on the tongue, as well as spare laces, co-branded sock liners, and commemorative packaging.
The adidas LG Achille SPZL and the adidas NG Marathon SPZL are set to launch via adidas SPZL stockists and the adidas Carnaby and MCR retail stores on 16 August.
Emily Sergeant -
9th June 2025 
