Brit Awards 2021: Elton John and Olly Alexander hailed for 'It's A Sin' duet

Watch: Olly Alexander discusses performing with Elton John at the Brits

Sir Elton John and Olly Alexander's duet at the Brit Awards is being hailed as one of the best ever performances in the show's history.

The 73-year-old musician and the 30-year-old star of hit Channel 4 drama It's A Sin have teamed up to release a charity cover of the Pet Shop Boys song of the same name, which they debuted at the 2021 Brits ceremony.

Alexander, the lead singer of Years & Years, danced and postured on top of Sir Elton's grand piano wearing black lace flares and a matching crop top, before being joined on stage by a chorus of backing dancers.

Sir Elton proudly announced on social media: "So happy to share this very special new version of ‘It’s A Sin’ with myself and @ollyyears of @yearsandyears in support of the Elton John AIDS Foundation."

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Alexander wrote on his Instagram stories: "This was crazy guys omg [sic]. This really happened!!!"

Their performance was introduced by Sir Elton's husband David Furnish.

He told the 4,000-strong live audience at London's O2 Arena: "By fighting together, we’ve changed the world. Today, HIV is no longer a death sentence.

"The fight goes on until we can banish stigma, ignorance, fear, and the virus itself forever.”

Alexander played Ritchie Tozer in Russell T Davies' ratings record-breaking drama It's A Sin, which follows the story of three young men in London in 1981 at the beginning of the HIV epidemic.

Young aspiring actor Ritchie is in denial about the HIV epidemic as he lives it up in the big city, before eventually being diagnosed with AIDS and battling through chemotherapy treatment.

Fans on Twitter described the duet as "spine-tinglingly good", "amazing" and "powerful", with one viewer saying it left her "floored".

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Nick Levine tweeted: "Olly and Elton serving the primetime ITV audience the LGBTQ agenda on a big sparkly plate: amazing. #brits2021"

Jerry Daykin said: "Wow it’s good to have live music back and WOW… Elton and Olly Alexander at the @BRITs is quite the return. Powerful message about the HIV pandemic that the country wasn’t so quick to unite behind solving."

Matthew Todd commented: "That performance of Its A Sin with @eltonofficial and @alexander_olly was insanely good. Elton is one of the greatest piano players of all time. Spine tinglingly good. Never knew that song could make me cry #EndAids #UequalsU."

And singer Mae Muller tweeted: "elton and olly really said let’s make the brits as gay as possible and i am here for it #brits2021"

Sir Elton and Alexander's cover of It's A Sin is being released as a charity single in support of the Elton John AIDS Foundation, which funds frontline partners to prevent infections, fight stigma and provide treatment for the disease around the world.

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