Liam Payne snubbed in Brits nominations as Harry Styles soars

Liam Payne has been snubbed for a Brit Award nod, while his former One Direction bandmate Harry Styles is nominated in two categories.

Styles is nominated in the male solo artist and best album categories, following the release of his critically and commercially successful sophomore record, Fine Line.

Released in December, Payne’s debut album LP1 was mauled by critics and failed to make much of a dent on the UK album charts.

Despite missing out on a nod, the 26-year-old, who shares a child with singer Cheryl, performed during a special ITV broadcast, called The Brits Are Coming, during which the nominations were announced.

During their time together, One Direction were nominated a total of 12 times, winning seven Brits.

Elsewhere, neither Liam nor Noel Gallagher appear on any of the shortlists.

Former Oasis rocker Liam had an especially successful 2019, with Why Me? Why Not. debuting at number one and becoming the biggest selling vinyl of the year.

Liam responded, describing the situation as “Biblical”.

He said on Twitter: “No Brit award nomination BIBLICAL c’mon you know LG.”

The rocker was last nominated in 2018 in the best male solo category.

A number of grime and UK hip hop artists feature on this year’s list.

However, Little Simz is another to be snubbed despite having a bumper year in which she starred in the Netflix revival of Top Boy and released her third Mercury Prize-nominated album Grey Area.

In the international categories, pop superstar Taylor Swift is absent following a year in which she returned to the spotlight with the album Lover.

Swift’s nemesis, Kanye West, also does not make the international categories despite releasing two albums of gospel-influenced music in 2019.

The international group gong was axed this year, making it impossible for influential K-pop acts such as BTS and Blackpink to be recognised.

However, no Korean solo artists feature on either the international male or female lists despite the genre’s booming popularity.

Slowthai, Hot Chip, Solange and grime star Kano are also notably absent.