Mercury Prize: Celebs Rumors

Roots Manuva has had his Mercury Prize trophy returned after moving house and accidentally leaving it behind.Manuva – whose real name is Rodney Hylton Smith – took home the award at the 2002 Mercury Prize for his album ‘Run Come Save Me’.Shared in August 2001, the LP marked his second studio album, following on from his 1999 breakthrough debut, ‘Brand New Second Hand’.

Mae Muller has spoken to NME about leaving her record label to become an independent artist, feeling “at peace” with Eurovision and headlining this week’s Club NME event.The 26-year-old singer-songwriter will take to the stage at London’s Scala on Friday (April 12) for a live headline set. She’ll be joined on the night by Self Esteem and special guest Raven Mandella – both of whom will be hitting the decks to DJ into the early hours.The legendary Club NME series returned last September with Courteeners playing in London before Blossoms delivered a special show in Manchester earlier this year.

The Zutons‘ Dave McCabe has recounted how Amy Winehouse telling him to “fuck off” led to her iconic cover of their song ‘Valerie’.In NME‘s latest series of Does Rock ‘N’ Roll Kill Braincells?!, in which we quiz musicians on their own career to see how much they can remember, the Zutons frontman opened up about how the cover came to be.“I met Amy three times in my life,” he recalled. “Once at the Mercury Prize, once in the Camden boozer The Hawley Arms, and once when I was hanging around with this Brummie lad called Boo, who was a tit.“He spent all night comparing me to her, saying: ‘If you’re a 1, she’s a 10’. I thought: ‘OK, I get it, she’s good’.

Mercury Prize winner Speech Debelle, following the musician losing an employment tribunal after bringing forward claims of racial discrimination.The singer rose to prominence in 2009 after she unexpectedly won the Mercury Prize award that year for her album ‘Speech Therapy’ – beating off competition from the likes of Florence + The Machines, The Horrors and Kasabian.Following the win, Debelle – real name Corynne Elliot – went on to work with ACE as a relationship manager for three years. She left the job in September 2021, and brought a tribunal forward against the organisation last year, citing discrimination.According to the claims brought forward (via The Guardian), the musician accused the company of microaggressions, bullying and harassment during her time there, and stated that the work-related stress was what led to her departure.

Ghetts has teamed up with London rapper Skrapz on his latest single ‘Twin Sisters’ from his forthcoming LP ‘On Purpose, With Purpose‘.Produced by frequent Ghetts-collaborator TenBillion Dreams, the track opens up with a cheeky and explicit verse with the rapper saying: “One night I stayed round / Now I know my way round / Used to wonder what the pillow saw when you’re faced down / I’ve been fucking twin sisters / they don’t make the same sound”.The song also comes with a head-spinning visual by Dutch director Geerten Harmens (A$AP Rocky, Lil Wayne, Gunna). The video sees Ghetts sitting on an invisible chair in a puffer jacket in a white room.It features trippy camera movements as the rapper walks around and is surrounded by other things, such as a couple dressed in what appears to be Victorian garb, a butler holding a plate of spaghetti bolognese and more.‘Twin Sisters’ follows Ghetts’ previous release, ‘Laps’ featuring the South African singer Moonchild Sanelly, which marked his first new single in two years.

Tricky has announced a run of 2024 European tour dates. Find ticket details below.The announcement of the new shows comes following the release of ‘Maxinquaye Reincarnated’ back in October – a re-recorded version of his iconic debut album ‘Maxinquaye’.Originally released in 1995, the track was named as NME’s album of the year and it also was nominated for a Mercury Prize, although lost out to Portishead’s ‘Dummy’.

Joy Crookes has announced plans to play a charity show in London to raise money for the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. The R&B singer will perform at Hackney Church in the capital on December 5, with the money raised going towards the non-governmental organisation Choose Love, who work closely with refugees and are involved on the ground in Gaza. Tickets for the show went on sale on Wednesday (November 22), and have already sold out.

Jessie Ware has been on our radar for years.The 39 year old musician first came to attention way back in 2012 when she released her debut album, Devotion.The record received critical acclaim and was even nominated for that year's Mercury Prize. Following her early success, Jessie then went on to release a string of other albums and singles, all of which have been incredibly well received - most recently, 2023's That! Feels Good! which produced the feel good single, 'Free Yourself'.Thanks to these musical talents, Jessie has also been nominated for six Brit Awards over the years.

Tricky has spoken to NME about the new reissue of his debut album ‘Maxinquaye’, as well as sharing his memories of The Specials‘ Terry Hall, and shooting down rumours of an alleged fight with Portishead.The Bristol-born artist (real name Adrian Thaws) is known for co-founding Massive Attack, who spear-headed the ‘trip-hop’ scene along with Portishead and Tricky himself. He released his debut solo album ‘Maxinquaye’ in 1995, which featured Tricky on production and singing with his then-partner, Martina Topley Bird.

Ghetts has announced a 2024 UK ‘On Purpose, With Purpose‘ tour in support of his fourth album of the same name. Find ticket details below.The tour will see the grime star make his way through the UK in March next year. Kicking off on March 22 at the O2 Institute in Birmingham, Ghetts will then make his way to Manchester March 24 to play the New Century.

Ghetts has announced details of his fourth album ‘On Purpose, With Purpose’.The album serves as a follow-up to his 2021 major label debut ‘Conflict Of Interest‘, which featured Wretch 32, Skepta, Stormzy and more. His third album went on to be nominated for a Mercury Prize, an NME award for Best British Album and a BRIT award for Best Hip-Hop/Rap/Grime.Today (October 16), Ghetts teased his new album via an Instagram video, captioned: “ON PURPOSE WITH PURPOSE.

Hard-Fi’s Richard Archer has spoken to NME about the ‘00s rock band’s first tour in over a decade, new material in the works and getting kicked off David Walliams’ table at the Mercury Prize in 2005.The band, who reunited last year following a 10 year hiatus, have played sporadic shows including a sold-out gig at the Kentish Town Forum last October. But their first full tour since 2012 kicks off tonight (October 5) at the Cambridge Junction, culminating at London’s Troxy on October 21.At their peak, the Staines indie rockers sold over a million copies of 2005 debut ‘Stars Of CCTV’ and were nominated for the Mercury Prize, reportedly missing out by just one panel vote to ANOHNI’s ‘I Am a Bird Now’.

Ezra Collective have been experiencing a nearly 900 per cent increase in album sales and streams since winning the 2023 Mercury Prize.The London-based jazz group – consisting of drummer and bandleader Femi Koleoso, bassist TJ Koleoso, keyboardist Joe Armon-Jones, trumpeter Ife Ogunjobi, and tenor saxophonist James Mollison – won the award with their second LP ‘Where I’m Meant To Be’, beating Loyle Carner, Olivia Dean, RAYE, Shygirl, Jockstrap and more.As The Line of Best Fit reports, according to BPI analysis of Official Charts Company data, ‘Where I’m Meant To Be’ has seen 859 per cent increase in its combined sales and streams. The jump occurred between September 8 -10.A post shared by Ezra Collective (@ezracollective)Physical album sales and downloads also saw an impressive jump with 6,012 per cent hike compared to the same three day period the week before and audio streams seeing a 1,960 per cent increase.Following the band’s win, Koleoso gave a passionate speech while accepting the award.“Most importantly, Ezra Collective represents something really special because we met in a youth club.

Loyle Carner has opened up about the importance of using his live shows to speak out against toxic masculinity, and recalled how he has grown since his debut album. Check out the full interview above.The British hip-hop singer and songwriter caught up with NME on the red carpet for this year’s Mercury Prize, and looked back on his huge set at Reading & Leeds earlier this year.Here, the shortlisted artist reflected on his performance on the main stage last month, and revealed why he devoted a large portion of the set towards counteracting harmful attitudes.“It’s magic, man,” he began, explaining what it felt like to generate such a positive response from his live set.

Ezra Collective won the 2023 Mercury Prize for their album ‘Where I’m Meant To Be’ last night (September 7) – read their full acceptance speech below.The jazz collective were outsiders to clinch the prize going into tonight’s (September 7) ceremony beating off favourites Jockstap, Loyle Carner and Young Fathers at London’s Eventim Apollo.After the band were announced as winners by Jamz Supernova, bandleader and drummer Femi Koleoso then thanked their manager, fans and more, before extending thanks to the musical education instutitions around the UK that helped the members of the band, and thousands of others, begin a career in music.Watch and read the speech in full below.“First of all, let me thank god because, if a jazz band winning the Mercury Prize doesn’t make you believe in God, I don’t know what will. Secondly, there’s five of us represented right now, but Ezra Collective represents an entire family.“We need to make some noise for our super mum, our manager, Amy. I’m talking about Marco, Jeremy, Temi, the whole live crew. Big up every single mum and dad represented across the band.“Most importantly, Ezra Collective represents something really special because we met in a youth club. This moment that we’re celebrating right here is testimony to good, special people putting time and effort into [helping] young people to play music.“Right now, this is not just a result for Ezra Collective – this is not just a result for UK jazz – but this is a special moment for every single organisation across the country ploughing their efforts and time into young people playing music.“Big up Tomorrow’s Warriors, big up Kinetika Bloco, big up the BRIT School, big up ELAM (East London Arts and Music), big up Jubilee Youth, big up

Ezra Collective have spoken to NME about 2023 Mercury Prize and their impact on the jazz scene. Watch the full video interview above.Before they picked up the coveted prize for their second album ‘Where I’m Meant to Be’, the band caught up with NME and revealed the inspiration behind the record, and their unconventional plans to celebrate.The five-piece spoke with NME on the Mercury Prize red carpet yesterday (September 7), just before they took to the stage to perform their track ‘Victory Dance’ at London’s Eventim Apollo and be named as the winners of album of the year – beating off competition from the likes of Loyle Carner, Raye, Young Fathers, Arctic Monkeys, Lankum, Shygirl, Jockstrap and Jessie Ware.Here, drummer Femi Koleoso explained what it means for Ezra Collective to be representing the jazz community at the prestigious award ceremony, and how the members were caught off-guard by the widespread support they have received in light of their latest record.“I feel like it’s just wonderful to be a part of something so big and so special.

Ezra Collective‘s 2023 Mercury Prize victory for their album ‘Where I’m Meant To Be’.The jazz group were declared the overall winner of the prestigious award earlier tonight (September 7) after beating off competition from fellow favourites Jockstap, Loyle Carner and Young Fathers at a live ceremony at the Eventim Apollo in Hammersmith.Jazz FM were one of the first to congratulate the band as were Rough Trade who wrote: “Where you’re meant to be. Big up @EzraCollective, @MercuryPrize 2023 champions.

Ezra Collective have won the 2023 Mercury Prize for their album ‘Where I’m Meant To Be’.The jazz collective were outsiders to clinch the prize going into tonight’s (September 7) ceremony beating off favourites Jockstap, Loyle Carner and Young Fathers at London’s Eventim Apollo.Jamz Supernova presented the collective with the prize and they were greeted with red confetti as they reached the stage.Accepting the trophy, Femi Koleoso, said: “Wow first of all let me thank God because if a jazz band winning the Mercury Prize doesn’t make you believe in God I don’t know what will.”He went on to thank the band’s manager and his mum and dad before adding: “Ezra Collective represents something very special because we met in a youth club. What we’re celebrating right is testimony to good special people, for putting in effort for young people to play music.“This is not just a result for Ezra Collective, for UK jazz but it’s a special moment for every organisation across the country ploughing their efforts and time into young people that play music.”The collective earlier played their track ‘Victory Dance’ and got up to perform the track for a second time after after accepting the award.All of the artists performed live on the night apart from Fred Again..

Mercury Prize ahead of this week’s ceremony have been released, with Loyle Carner, Young Fathers and Jockstrap among the favourites.The 12 albums that have been shortlisted for the Album Of The Year award were announced earlier this summer.Loyle Carner’s album ‘Hugo’ is currently favourite to clinch the prize on aggregate bookies website Oddschecker, with odds of 4-1.He is followed by Young Fathers’ ‘Heavy Heavy’ on 5-1, Jockstrap’s debut LP ‘I Love You Jennifer B’ on 6-1 and Fred Again.. for ‘Actual Life 3 (January 1 – September 9 2022)’, who has odds of 8-1.Irish folk band Lankum‘s fourth LP ‘False Lankum’ has odds of 10-1 while RAYE‘s ‘My 21st Century Blues’ comes in at 12-1.

Royal Blood have hinted that they’ll celebrate the 10th anniversary of their self-titled debut album next year.The rock duo released ‘Royal Blood’ in August 2014. It debuted at Number One on the UK albums chart and was nominated for the Mercury Prize.Now, the band have teased to NME in a In Conversion video chat about their new album, ‘Back To The Water Below‘, that they’ll mark the record’s milestone birthday.

RAYE has spoken to NME about her music industry battle to be shortlisted for the Mercury 2023, as well as her recent collab with Stormzy and hopes for longevity. Watch our interview above.The London singer-songwriter was speaking at the launch of the Mercury Prize 2023, where her 2023 debut ‘My 21st Century Blues‘ was shortlisted alongside albums by the likes of Arctic Monkeys, J Hus, Jessie Ware, Olivia Dean, Fred Again.., Young Fathers and Shygirl.“To be recognised for a body of work is something that I’ve really wanted for a really long time,” she told NME.

Shygirl and Tinashe are going on tour together. Their co-headline tour of North America will take place in October and November, with tickets going on sale at 10 a.m.

Jockstrap have spoken to NME about supporting Blur, being shortlisted for the Mercury Prize, and what to expect from their upcoming shows at The Barbican. Watch our interview above.The London art-pop duo – consisting of Georgia Ellery and Taylor Skye – were speaking at the launch of the Mercury Prize 2023, where their highly-acclaimed debut album ‘I Love You Jennifer B‘ was shortlisted alongside albums by the likes of Arctic Monkeys, J Hus, RAYE, Young Fathers and Shygirl.Of their competition, the pair said that were banking on the “awesome” Fred Again..

Lankum have spoken to NME about the loss of Sinéad O’Connor – as well as trying to capture the “broader spectrum of the human experience” on their Mercury-shortlisted album. Watch our interview above.The Dublin folk band – with Cormac MacDiarmada with Daragh and Ian Lynch from the quartet in attendance – were speaking at the launch of the Mercury Prize 2023, where their highly-acclaimed fourth album ‘False Lankum’ latest was shortlisted alongside albums by the likes of Arctic Monkeys, J Hus, RAYE, Jockstrap, Young Fathers, Shygirl, Fred Again..

Jessie Ware has spoken to NME about the “freedom” of her 2023 Mercury Prize shortlisted album ‘That! Feels Good‘, working with Kylie Minogue, and her bucketlist collaborations and podcast guests. Watch our interview above.The London singer-songwriter was speaking at the launch of the Mercury Prize 2023, where her latest was shortlisted alongside albums by the likes of Arctic Monkeys, J Hus, RAYE, Jockstrap, Young Fathers, Shygirl, Fred Again..

Young Fathers have spoken to NME about their 2023 Mercury Prize shortlisted album ‘Heavy Heavy‘, playing with Depeche Mode and the “abundance” of ideas they have for their next album. Watch our interview with the band above.Having already won the Mercury Prize back in 2014 for their debut album ‘Dead’, the Scottish trio of Kayus Bankole, Alloysious Massaquoi and Graham G Hastings find themselves nominated again for their 2023 fourth album ‘Heavy Heavy’ – a record they told NME was driven by “sense of togetherness”.“When we were making the songs, we recorded a lot of music, and the thread that held all the songs together was this communal aspect,” said Hastings at the launch of the prize yesterday (Thursday July 27). “Strangely we recorded this in a studio in a basement with no windows, just the three of us.

Thania Garcia Arctic Monkeys, Fred Again, Raye and numerous other British and Irish acts are behind some of the top albums shortlisted for the U.K.’s esteemed Mercury Prize. The annual ceremony is set to take place on Sept. 7 at the Eventim Apollo in Hammersmith, London and will feature live performances from many of the highlighted artists.

Jessie Ware has dropped a remix of her song "Freak Me Now" featuring Róisín Murphy. The original version of the song, minus Murphy, appears on Ware's latest album That! Feels Good!.

Mercury Prize nominations were announced this morning (July 27), fans online have been having their say.On the shortlist for this year were the likes of Arctic Monkeys, J Hus and RAYE alongside Loyle Carner, Jockstrap, Young Fathers (‘Heavy Heavy’), Fred again.. and more.With the nominations now out there, fans, bands and more have been sharing their reactions and wishes for the September 7 ceremony.Many have shared their hopes for the winner of the ceremony, with others highlighting albums they wish had been nominated.See a range of reactions to the shortlist – which is completed by Jessie Ware, Olivia Dean, Ezra Collective and Lankum – below.Jockstrap absolutely must win the Mercury prize— Phil Jones (@PhilRDJones) July 27, 2023It's going to be really dull when Fred again..

Mercury Prize have been revealed, with Arctic Monkeys, J Hus and RAYE among the list.The winner of the prize will be announced at a live ceremony at London’s Eventim Apollo on September 7, and were judged by a panel including Anna Calvi, Jamie Cullum, Mistajam and more.Others on the list of nominees include Loyle Carner (for his ‘Hugo’ album), Jockstrap (for debut LP ‘I Love You Jennifer B’), Young Fathers (‘Heavy Heavy’), Fred again.. (‘Actual Life 3 (January 1 – September 9 2022’) and Jessie Ware (‘That! Feels Good!’).The list is completed by Olivia Dean‘s debut album ‘Messy’, Shygirl‘s ‘Nymph’, Ezra Collective‘s ‘Where I’m Meant To Be’ and Irish folk band Lankum’s fourth LP ‘False Lankum’.See the full list of nominees below.Arctic Monkeys – ‘The Car’Ezra Collective – ‘Where I’m Meant to Be’Fred again.. – ‘Actual Life 3 (January 1 – September 9 2022)’J Hus – ‘Beautiful And Brutal Yard’Jessie Ware – ‘That! Feels Good!’Jockstrap – ‘I Love You Jennifer B’Lankum – ‘False Lankum’Loyle Carner – ‘hugo’ Olivia Dean – ‘Messy’RAYE – ‘My 21st Century Blues’Shygirl – ‘Nymph’Young Fathers – ‘Heavy Heavy’In 2022, Little Simz won the Mercury Prize for her album ‘Sometimes I Might Be Introvert’.

APPOINTMENTSCamden’s Roundhouse venue has announced Rowan Kitching as its new Venue Director. “I am THRILLED to be joining the team at the Roundhouse, at an exciting time for such an iconic music and arts venue”, he says. ”The uniqueness and heritage of the space excites me, but most importantly the support to our vital creative youth programme.

J Hus and Drake have debuted atop the Official Trending Chart today with their new collaboration, Who Told You.

J Hus is on track to debut at Number 1 on the Official Singles Chart with Drake collab Who Told You. It would be the Stratford star’s first-ever Number 1, while it would help Drake land his landmark seventh chart-topper.  

APPOINTMENTSMusic publishing and rights management company AMR Songs has appointed filmmaker and music supervisor Jonathan McHugh to the role of Senior Advisor Creative And Sync. He will also sit on the company’ board.

Mark Sutherland Lauren Laverne is buzzing with excitement. She woke up to the news that Lizzo had given her a shout-out from the stage at London’s O2 Arena. “Lauren Laverne played my record on Radio 6 and just like that, I was flying to England every other weekend,” declared the singer, who had her first major radio exposure on Laverne’s BBC 6 Music show back in 2013. “What an utter queen,” laughs Laverne, who has been helming the station’s flagship breakfast show since 2019. “For everybody at 6, it’s a dream come true to have a world-changing, game-changing artist standing up on stage and describing what we do. We’re this little greenhouse; we plant these seeds and what grows out of them, who knows?”

Nova Twins have explained how their remix of Sam Smith and Kim Petras‘ ‘Unholy’ came about. Watch our video interview with the duo above.Speaking to NME on the red carpet of The BRIT Awards 2023 – where they were nominated for Best Group and Alternative/Rock Act – the duo discussed their rocked up version of the track which was released last December.“We got the chance to submit a remix, but when they actually said they loved it we were like ,’No way!’, because you never know if it’ll even fly,” bassist Georgia South explained.Singer and guitarist Amy Love continued: “And we love the song as well, the song is so sexy,”“As soon as we heard it, we were like: ‘This sounds like it needs a heavy riff on it'”, South finished.When asked which of the other attendees they’d like to hop on a remix with, they shouted out BRITS Rising Star Award winners FLO.