Adele has made history at this year's Brit Awards by becoming the most successful artist in any one year since Blur in 1995.

The singer picked up four awards at the ceremony in the O2 Arena in London, making her the most successful solo act in any one year. She was named best British solo artist and won the Brits global success award, while Hello won best single and 25 best album.

Major Tim Peake made a surprise appearance at the awards from space via video to present the award for global success. She had to be bleeped out as she swore on live TV during her acceptance speech. “Thank you, I can’t work out if I’m crying because of the video or because Tim Peake did it. My kid is going to think I’m so cool,” she said.

“That was really amazing. You’re getting f****** bored of me. I honestly can’t tell you, I said it earlier, to come back, I got really lost for a while and I didn’t know if I’d ever come back and for you all to be so kind to me,” she said. “Not bad for a girl from Tottenham that don’t like flying, getting global success. And Tim Peake, I love you, I hope you’re okay and not too hungry. Bye.”

Adele used her first win to announce she was supporting singer Kesha, who has been embroiled in a lawsuit with her mentor-producer Dr Luke, and a court recently denied a preliminary injunction that would haved allowed her to record music outside her record label contract.

Coldplay also sealed their place in Brits history after winning best British group, making them the most successful group in that category, with four wins in total.

James Bay was named best British male solo artist, with Justin Bieber winning in the international category. Catfish and the Bottlemen were best British breakthrough act. Bjork was best international female solo artist while Tame Impala were named best international group. One Direction won the award for best video by a British artist.

David Bowie, who died last month, was honoured with a posthumous “Icon” award.

PA