The Brit Awards are scrapping male and female categories to make the annual ceremony as "inclusive and relevant as possible".

From 2022, there will be awards for Artist of the Year and International Artist of the Year, instead of Best Male and Best Female Solo Artist and Best International Male and Female Solo Artist, The Telegraph reports.

Dua Lipa and J Hus - who scooped up awards earlier this year - will be the last winners of the gendered awards.

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In a statement announcing the change, the Brits said the move came as they wanted to celebrate "artists solely for their music and work, rather than how they choose to identify or as others may see them".

Musicians such as Sam Smith and Will Young have previously called for the change, saying that it excludes non-binary musicians.

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Smith, who is non-binary, did not submit their most recent album for last year's Brits - Love Goes - due to it not fitting into any of the gender-based categories.

At 2021's ceremony, the singer said: "I look forward to a time where awards shows can be reflective of the society we live in. Let’s celebrate everybody, regardless of gender, race, age, ability, sexuality, and class."

The awards have been given along gender lines since the very first Brit Awards back in 1977, per The Telegraph.

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The organizers of the awards promised a review of the prizes in 2019 but are only changing the process now. The Brits are also reintroducing genre-based prizes for the first time since 2006.

The 42nd Brit Awards will take place on 8 February 2022 in London and be hosted by comedian Mo Gilligan.

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Next year's ceremony will also welcome four new categories - alternative/rock act, hip hop/grime/rap act, dance act, and pop/R'n'B act - which will all be decided by a public vote.

The rest of the categories will be decided by the voting academy, which is made up of around 1,200 music industry experts across media, artists, labels, publishers, promoters, retailers, and more.

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The song of the year prize will also recognize featured artists, rather than just the lead artists and named collaborators.

Comedian Mo Gilligan will present the 2022 show, replacing Jack Whitehall, who has been at the helm in recent years.

"It's an absolute privilege to host the 2022 Brit Awards. I'm truly honored to be asked," Gilligan said. "We're already in the extensive planning stages and all I can say is, I promise we're going to give it all we've got to create an incredible night for music fans everywhere. Let's go!"

Featured image credit: LMK MEDIA LTD / Alamy

Brit Awards goes gender-neutral as it drops Best Male and Best Female categories in push for inclusivity