Early in 2021, Years & Years — now officially an Olly Alexander solo project — released a cover of Pet Shop Boys’ queer anthem “It’s A Sin.” The cover was recorded in conjunction with Alexander’s starring role in It’s A Sin, the Channel 4/HBO series about the impact of the AIDS crisis on a community of young gay men in London in the 1980s. “It’s A Sin” was such a good fit for Years & Years that our own Tom Breihan had invoked the song when reviewing the project’s Palo Alto album three years earlier, long before they started covering it.

The BRIT Awards, the UK’s equivalent to the Grammys, went down tonight at the O2 Arena in London. During the ceremony, Alexander performed his cover of “It’s A Sin” as a duet with none other than Elton John, one of the most famous gay pop stars in history. Naturally, it was quite the theatrical performance, beginning as a humble piano ballad before expanding into buoyant club music and an Alexander dance routine. They’ve also released a studio version of the cover, with proceeds benefitting the Elton John AIDS Foundation.

Watch the BRITs performance and hear the studio recording below.

Big winners at the BRITs included Dua Lipa (who won Best British Female as well as Album Of The Year for Future Nostalgia), J Hus, Taylor Swift, and Harry Styles. The event, the first major awards ceremony in Britain since the pandemic, was held in front of a 4,000-person audience with no masks and no social distancing.