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Cast your mind back to early 1999. Tony Blair was living it large at Number 10. The euro had just become a thing and scientists were warning us about the dangers of genetically modified foods. Elsewhere, Denise van Outen left The Big Breakfast and was replaced by Kelly Brook, the first episode of Holby City hit BBC One and people were already losing their shit over the bloody millennium.
It was a big year, only made bigger by the Brit Awards. Why? Because we have a feeling that this, the biggest annual music awards show in the country, might have peaked 20 years ago. Hear me out. These were the Top Of The Pops years. Live music was celebrated TV territory and there was none of this 'I'll just watch the best bits on YouTube and follow the rest on Twitter' malarkey. We were way more invested in our celebrities because we didn't really see or hear that much from them (social media, we're blaming you). So when events like the Brits came around, it always felt rather special to hear about a group of the world's biggest stars being popped in a room and given a load of free booze – you'll see how that worked out for Robbie Williams in a minute.
It was in this year that Whitney Houston popped across the pond to sing in the Brit arena. It was the year Stevie Wonder shared the stage with Annie Lennox, and pop heavyweights B*Witched, Billie Piper, Cleopatra and Steps got together to do a very strange ABBA tribute. It was everything. Don't believe me? See for yourself. Click through to experience the spectacle that was the 1999 Brit Awards – featuring the few '90s outfits we're not nostalgic for, one of the most underrated girl groups in history, and a few low-key celebrities you had definitely forgotten about. Enjoy.
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