Brit Awards 2013: Emeli Sandé rules Britannia
A double win, too, for newcomer Ben Howard, while Adele's Skyfall is named best single and Tom Odell is the critics' choice
Two awards including the prestigious album of the year, plus two live performances, made Emeli Sandé queen of the Brits at the ceremony at London's O2 Arena last night.
Sandé's Our Version of Events scooped the coveted British album of the year award, while she was also named best female solo artist.
The wins crown a successful 12 months for the singer/songwriter which saw her album become the biggest selling of 2012 and featured performances at both the opening and closing ceremonies of the London Olympics.
Sandé called herself "a very unlikely pop star" and said the process of her writing her album had been therapeutic.
"This is an album I wrote because I didn't have the confidence to say these things in person," she told the audience.
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"For me, that so many people have connected with this album and found strength in these words makes me feel incredible and it doesn't make me feel as lonely."
Newcomer Ben Howard also took home two statuettes, for breakthrough act and best male solo artist, and seemed stunned by the wins.
"That's bizarre isn't it? I didn't really expect to..." said Howard trailing off. "I was quite stoked to come to the awards to be honest, so to come away with two of these things is amazing, so thank you all very much."
Adele's Bond theme Skyfall was named best single with the singer sharing her thanks via a recorded video message from Los Angeles where she was rehearsing for the upcoming Oscars.
She made reference to last year's ceremony which saw her best album acceptance speech cut short by producers keen to wind the televised show up.
"I won't keep you too long because I don't want to interrupt the best album speech at the end of the night," said the singer. "But I love you all."
Just ten days after their Grammys triumph, folk rockers Mumford and Sons were named best British band, while Coldplay claimed their eighth Brit for best live band.
One Direction, who peformed their Comic Relief single - a mash-up of Blondie's One Way or Another and The Undertones' Teenage Kicks - were handed the global success award.
Tom Odell scooped the critics' choice award while international plaudits went to band The Black Keys, female artist Lana Del Rey and male artist Frank Ocean.
See a full list of the winners and nominees here.
