One Direction, Justin Timberlake, Mumford & Sons playing the Brit Awards

One Direction

Credit: AP Photo

LONDON (AP) — One Direction, Justin Timberlake and Mumford & Sons are getting ready to perform Wednesday at Britain's leading music awards, where nominees include the late soul diva Amy Winehouse.

Mumford & Sons, Emeli Sande and Alt-J lead the nominations for the Brit Awards, with three each.

Winehouse — who died in July 2011 from accidental alcohol poisoning — is up for best British female artist. She is eligible thanks to her posthumous "Lioness: Hidden Treasures" album.

Other nominees include the Rolling Stones, up for best live act against Coldplay, Mumford & Sons, Muse and The Vaccines.

Among the international nominees are Alicia Keys, Rihanna, the Black Keys, Bruce Springsteen and indie-pop band, fun.

Contenders for the biggest award of the night, best album, include Sande's "Our Version Of Events," Alt-J's "An Awesome Wave," Mumford & Sons' "Babel," Plan B's "Ill Manors" and Paloma Faith's "Fall To Grace."

Long derided as dull, the Brits have become a lively celebration of "Cool Britannia" music and style. This year's awards, hosted by actor-comedian James Corden, come with British music riding high around the world.

This year sees the introduction of a new category recognizing global success, with nominees including tween favorites One Direction, Grammy winning folk rockers Mumford & Sons and soulful songstress Adele.

Organizers have promised to make amends to Adele, who was cut off mid-speech last year after winning two prizes. She is nominated this year for her single "Skyfall."

"How can you take an artist who has made the biggest cultural impact musically this country has seen globally for some time and cut her off in the middle of her speech?" Brits chairman David Joseph told The Guardian.

"I very much to this day question what was happening in that control booth. I can hint something is going to happen this year to rewrite that wrong."

Most of the awards are chosen by more than 1,000 musicians, critics and record industry figures, with several decided by public vote.

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