Heavily tipped favourites Arctic Monkeys win the ever-so-prestigious Mercury Music Prize.
The UK's annual music award for best album, the Nationwide Mercury Music Prize, has been won by sensations Arctic Monkeys' debut album 'Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not'. After last year's surprise win to Antony & The Johnsons, the judging panel went with a critical and commercial smash in 2006.The £20,000 prize was awarded last night in a ceremony at London's Grosvenor House hotel. According to NME, Arctic Monkeys frontman Alex Turner quipped, "Somebody call 999, Richard Hawley's been robbed!" Hawley, a fellow Sheffield boy, was nominated for his album 'Coles Corner'. The Arctic Monkeys also beat out albums by Editors, Thom Yorke, Hot Chip, Muse and the also highly favoured Guillemots.
NME reported that Turner also noted, "Normally it (the award) doesn't go to a band that's sold so many records, to be blunt." Truly Arctic Monkeys shot through to massive mainstream success and sales. But we might have to excuse Turner for being too young to remember multi-platinum selling 2004 winner Franz Ferdinand.
