Arctic Monkeys win Mercury Music Prize!

September 6, 2006

“The Nationwide Mercury prize judges sprung a surprise last night by anointing the runaway favourites as winners.

Arctic Monkeys capped a year in which they released the fastest selling debut ever, reinvigorated the music industry and lost a founder member, by winning the annual prize which is designed to reward the best release of the year regardless of genre or sales.

The Sheffield four-piece, whose mixture of classic guitar melodies and acutely observed lyrics garnered critical and commercial acclaim, won the prize for Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not….

….Turner, whose witty lyrics have been compared to Pulp‘s Jarvis Cocker and Mike Skinner of The Streets, said fellow Sheffield artist Richard Hawley should have won. ‘Someone call 999, Richard Hawley’s been robbed,’ he quipped on taking the stage to collect the £20,000 prize..” [Guardian]