Mercury Prize
2022 Mercury Prize Ceremony Postponed Following Queen Elizabeth II’s Death
The 2022 Mercury Prize ceremony has been postponed following the announcement that Queen Elizabeth II died on Thursday (Sept. 8). The event had been scheduled to take place tonight at London’s Eventim Apollo in Hammersmith. “In light of the sad news of the passing of Her Majesty the Queen, we are so sorry to announce that we will not be proceeding with this evening’s event as planned,” Mercury Prize shared in a statement. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news “Mercury Prize will be communicating with guests and audience members over the coming days,” they added. “We thank you for your understanding at this difficult and sad time.” The Mercury Prize celebrates the best of British and Irish music across a range of contemporary music genres. Last year, ...
Arlo Parks’ ‘Collapsed in Sunbeams’ Is Energized After Mercury Prize Win
Based on midweek data, the album vaults to No. 26. The soulful British singer is enjoying a bright start to her career. In 2020, she won the AIM Independent Music Award for One to Watch, was longlisted for the BBC Sound Of… 2020 and won BBC Introducing Artist of the Year. Collapsed In Sunbeams opened at No. 3 on the Official U.K. Albums Chart in February, and, in May, she was declared the breakthrough artist winner at the 2021 Brit Awards, on a night when she delivered an inspiring performance of her song “Hope.” Accepting the Mercury Prize, Parks said “it took a lot of sacrifice and hard work to get here and there were moments where I wasn’t sure whether I would make it through — but I am here today so thank you very much.” The award was established as the Mercury Music Prize in 199...
Rina Sawayama Reveals Mercury Prize and BRIT Awards Nationality Requirements Have Changed
Last July, Japanese-British singer Rina Sawayama revealed she was ineligible to win a Mercury Prize or BRIT Award for her critically acclaimed album, SAWAYAMA, due to an archaic nationality requirement. She’d lived in the UK since she was a toddler, but because she lacked a British passport, she wasn’t up for awards consideration. Today, our former Artist of the Month revealed the eligibility rules have changed. “I’m over the moon to share the news that following a number of conversations the BPI [British Phonographic Industry] has decided to change the rules of eligibility for all nominees for the BRIT awards and Mercury Prize,” she wrote on Twitter. “Starting this year, artists (like me) will be eligible for nomination even without British citizenship. The rules have broadened to include...
Rina Sawayama Ineligible For Mercury Prize and BRIT Awards Due To “Problematic” Nationality Requirement
Back in April, the Japanese-British pop star Rina Sawayama released her debut album SAWAYAMA. The record immediately garnered widespread praise; Consequence of Sound named it one of 2020’s best release so far, while review aggregator site Metacritic places SAWAYAMA as the top British album of the year. Despite these accolades, the artist is ineligible to win a Mercury Prize or BRIT Award — and it’s all because of an archaic nationality requirement. In a new interview with VICE, the 29-year-old Sawayama explained that despite having lived in London since she was a toddler, the Mercury Prize and BRIT Awards don’t consider her legally British because she lacks a British passport. “I rarely get upset to the level where I cry,” our former Artist of the Month said. “And I cried.” Sawayama h...
