Arctic Monkeys help to make it a night to remember at the awards
ONE OF the region’s most famous exports, Sheffield band Arctic Monkeys, Lily Allen and Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds were among the artists hoping to win the prestigious Mercury Prize last night.
This year’s winner was announced at a ceremony at the Hammersmith Apollo in London, hosted by Radio One DJ Annie Mac with the coveted award going to Wolf Alice for the album Visions Of A Life.
The event saw live performances from some of the 12 shortlisted acts, including Florence and The Machine, Jorja Smith and Nadine Shah.
Also in the running for the award were Everything Everything, Everything Is Recorded, King Krule, Novelist and Sons of Kemet.
The shortlist, which aims to celebrate and promote the best of UK music and recognise artistic achievement across an eclectic range of contemporary music genres, was chosen by an independent panel of judges.
Arctic Monkeys were the only previous winners in this year’s field with Tranquility Base Hotel and Casino, their sixth number one album in the UK.
The Sheffield rock band, fronted by principal songwriter Alex Turner, picked up the prize
in 2006 for their debut album Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not.
Former Oasis guitarist Noel Gallagher said last night his 2018 Mercury Prize nomination as a solo artist has not vindicated his decision to leave the band. The album Who Built The
Moon? was among the 12 albums up for the prestigious prize.
He said: “The three records that I’ve made were the best records I could have made at that point. This is just another sign post.
“Award ceremonies are great. Being nominated for this that and the other is fantastic.
“You don’t want to do them down because they do mean something.
“But if I don’t win, and I probably won’t, the album is still great because I say it is.