We’ve celebrated the best of the business in television, movies and video games and today as part of The Female First Awards 2020, we’re turning to the world of music! Just who has been impressing us over the past 12 months with their contributions to the industry?
Here are our five nominees and winner of Artist of the Year…
Dua Lipa
It’s hard to believe it was all the way back in March 2020 that Dua Lipa dropped her year-saving album, Future Nostalgia. The record came off the back of the success of lead single Don’t Start Now which peaked at number two on both the UK Singles Chart and the US Billboard Hot 100.
Following its release, it’s been hard to keep up with the superstardom Dua has enjoyed! The LP was released once more as a remix package worked on by The Blessed Madonna and Mark Ronson, featuring collaborations with the likes of Gwen Stefani, Madonna and Missy Elliott.
Dua also featured on another member of this list’s recent album release, but we’ll speak a little more about that later!
Lady Gaga
Whether it was with her Chromatica lead single Stupid Love or Ariana Grande collaboration Rain On Me, Lady Gaga has had us all dancing throughout the past few months, lifting our spirits at a time in the world where it was sorely needed.
As her sixth studio album, there were high expectations from one of pop’s leading ladies. What she delivered was above and beyond anything we could have ever anticipated.
The record garnered her an incredible five gongs at the 2020 MTV Video Music awards, which included the inaugural Tricon Award, recognising artists who excel in a variety of different areas of the entertainment industry.
Cardi B
It’s hard to remember a time when a song was discussed as much as Cardi B’s WAP collaboration this year with Megan Thee Stallion. Whilst some dismissed it as crude and distasteful, many praised the rapper for her sex-positive track that broke the record for the biggest 24-hour debut for an all-female collab on YouTube.
For the third time running, Cardi B went on to win the Billboard Music Award for Top Female Artist, before also being named the first female rapper ever as Billboard's Woman of the Year.
Seeing her excel against all the odds is an incredible thing to witness; exactly where she goes next will be even more exciting!
Miley Cyrus
Following on from the release of her incredible single Midnight Sky, it became clear that Miley Cyrus was moving more into the rock genre of music than she had ever done before. That was only solidified with the release of a new, collaborative remix of Midnight Sky, which featured vocals from Stevie Nicks and parts of the rock icon’s song Edge of Seventeen.
As if that wasn’t enough, Miley then gifted the world with her new studio album Plastic Hearts. Both Billy Idol and Joan Jett featured on the record, which instantly became a huge success, beloved by critics and her adoring fanbase alike.
The album even featured a collaboration with a woman we featured a little earlier on in our list: Dua Lipa!
Ariana Grande
Rounding out our nominees for 2020 is the one and only Ariana Grande. She went back to her smooth RnB beats on sixth studio album Positions, much to the delight of her fans who were already on cloud nine following the release of the titular track as her lead single.
It’s been one of the best years of Grande’s career, as she’s enjoying sitting at the top of the charts worldwide both because of her talents as a solo artist, and her brilliance when it comes to collaborating with some of the industry’s biggest names.
And the winner is…
Dua Lipa!
We’ve not seen raw British talent like Dua for some time; she’s going to be one to watch in the years to come! Something tells us she’s just getting started…
MORE: Here are our nominees for Video Game of the Year…
Tagged in Miley Cyrus Lady GaGa Ariana Grande Dua Lipa Cardi B