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Brits 2026: Wolf Alice highlight importance of grassroots venues during acceptance speech

Sun 1 March 2026 9:17, UK

Wolf Alice used their acceptance speech at the Brits to highlight the importance of grassroots venues across the United Kingdom.

In addition to taking to the stage at the Co-op Live to perform ‘The Sofa’, Wolf Alice were also victorious in the ‘Group of the Year’ category.

It marked the second time they have won the accolade in their career, beating The Last Dinner Party, Sleep Token, Wet Leg, and Pulp to the award.

Upon accepting the award, lead vocalist Ellie Rowsell thanked the people and places that made Wolf Alice’s ascent to the top of the British music industry. Rowsell’s speech began, “We want to dedicate this award to all the people that helped us out in the early years of Wolf Alice.”

She added, “Starting the band can be the hardest part and we couldn’t have done this without all the people who lent us money, drove us around the country, let us sleep on their floors, bought tickets to our early shows and even bought a piece of our atrocious merch – although I don’t think anyone actually did that.”

Rowsell then paid homage to the venues, many of which no longer exist, where Wolf Alice honed their craft during the band’s early days and made an important statement in regards to ensuring their futures are secured.

The singer said, “We’d like to also thank all of the pubs and clubs and grassroots venues across the country where we quite literally learned to play our instruments and write our songs. Thank you for opening your doors to us and thank you to those who continue the fight to keep them open.”

The ‘Bloom Baby Bloom’ singer powerfully added, “It’s worth mentioning that despite the billions of pounds the live sector contributes to our economy, last year 30 independent venues closed down, 6,000 jobs were lost and over half the small venues reported making no profit at all.”

The figures that Rowsell cited come from a survey from the Music Venue Trust that was published in January, which also found 6,000 jobs (close to 22 per cent of the total workforce) have been lost in the sector due to business rates and a hike in national insurance contributions.

Her speech continued, “It shouldn’t be a battle to survive for bands and artists, we shouldn’t be reliant on favours or anyone funding schemes in order to do things at a level we feel proud of. It shouldn’t feel like a golden ticket, but a viable career decision for anyone from any background.”

Rowsell’s rallying cry concluded, “Because you only have to look around us today and see how proud we are of Britain’s musical contribution and how important it is to nurture and protect the UK’s amazing music scene.”

See the speech and Wolf Alice’s performance at the Brits below.