Charli XCX: the latest General in the British Invasion.

Charli XCX is set to begin her massive US arena tour in April, for her platinum album Brat. She’s playing ten dates across the country, already selling out multiple shows at Brooklyn’s 19,000 seat venue, The Barclays Centre. Brat summer is over, but the movement continues. The musician from Essex is the latest Brit to invade America. 

When The Stones got their kicks on Route 66, and The Beatles got back from Tuscan Arizona, the American press called it ‘The British Invasion’. I Want to Hold Your Hand, the 1964 Beatles hit debuted at number 1 on Billboard, and for the first time, bands from The UK were popular in The States. The music was huge, but the cultural impact was bigger. The youth on both sides of the Atlantic followed the same philosophy of fun and freedom. It was more than music; it was a movement. 

History repeats itself in 2024. Although classic blues rock and modern synth pop couldn’t be more different, the commercial success and critical acclaim is the same. Brat’s philosophy of confident vulnerability, reflected in the audacious and eccentric music, is bigger than the album itself. In an election year, you’d expect a map of the US to be a mix of red and blue. But when Brat summer took over The States, it became a landslide of neon green. 

Music historians say the British Invasion ended in the 70s, but this can’t be true when Queen and David Bowie dominated that decade. And when Radiohead and Adele were bigger in The US than they ever were at home. Especially in 2025, now that Charli XCX, The Beatles, and The Rolling Stones all won Grammys in the same evening.