35-680: The Mercury Prize , formerly called the Mercury Music Prize , is an annual music prize awarded for the best album released by a musical act from the United Kingdom or Ireland . It was created by Jon Webster and Robert Chandler in association with the British Phonographic Industry and British Association of Record Dealers in 1992 as an alternative to the Brit Awards . Any album released by
70-423: A British or Irish artist, or by a band where over 50% of the members are British or Irish, may be submitted for consideration by their record label. There is a fee for submission. Twelve submitted albums are shortlisted for the prize, chosen based solely on their musical merit and irrespective of how popular or successful an album or act that has been submitted may have been in the previous calendar year. The shortlist
105-679: A cartoon band, something that would be a comment on that." The band originally identified themselves as "Gorilla" and the first song they recorded was "Ghost Train" which was later released as a B-side on their single " Rock the House " and the B-side compilation G-Sides . The musicians behind Gorillaz' first incarnation included Albarn, Del the Funky Homosapien , Dan the Automator and Kid Koala , who had previously worked together on
140-417: A cheque; in 2017, the prize money was £25,000. The winner also receives an additional winner's trophy. The prize was originally sponsored by Mercury Communications , a brand owned by Cable & Wireless , from which the prize gets its name. It was later sponsored by Technics (1998 to 2001), Panasonic (2002 and 2003), Nationwide Building Society (2004 to 2008) and Barclaycard (2009–14). The 2015 prize
175-530: A considerable effect on sales for those artists who are shortlisted. Elbow saw a 700% sales increase of their album The Seldom Seen Kid after winning the Prize in 2008. In their winner's speech, Elbow's frontman Guy Garvey said that winning the Mercury Prize was "quite literally the best thing that has ever happened to us". Similarly, sales of The xx 's winning album rose by 450% the day after they won
210-510: A fan of Hewlett's work, asked him to interview Blur , a band Albarn and Coxon had recently formed. The interview was published in Deadline magazine, home of Hewlett's comic strip, Tank Girl . Hewlett initially thought Albarn was "arsey, a wanker"; despite becoming acquaintances with the band, they often did not get on, especially after Hewlett began seeing Coxon's ex-girlfriend Jane Olliver. Despite this, Albarn and Hewlett started sharing
245-471: A flat on Westbourne Grove in London in 1997. Hewlett had recently broken up with Olliver and Albarn was at the end of his highly publicised relationship with Justine Frischmann of Elastica . The idea to create Gorillaz came about when Albarn and Hewlett were watching MTV . Hewlett said, "If you watch MTV for too long, it's a bit like hell – there's nothing of substance there. So we got this idea for
280-480: A look-in, not even on the official entry information form: 'The Prize is open to all types of music, including pop, rock, folk, hip-hop, R'n'B, dance, soul, jazz, blues, electronica, classical…'" The only metal record that has ever been nominated for the Mercury Prize is Troublegum by Therapy? in 1994. In 2011, Mercury chair of judges Frith said "[Metal] is a niche that a lot of people don't listen to." In 2011, The Guardian music critic Alexis Petridis agreed that
315-462: A short movie which opens the user's Internet browser to a special section of the Gorillaz website, which gives the user full access to Murdoc's Winnebago . Del the Funky Homosapien collaborated on two songs on the album, " Clint Eastwood " and " Rock the House ", both of which became singles and videos and achieved chart success. Del was not originally slated to collaborate on these songs. By
350-454: A shortlisted classical album since 2002. The Mercury Prize also has a reputation for being awarded to outside chances rather than the favourites. The 1994 award winner was Elegant Slumming by the pop act M People , which some felt was a controversial decision considering the shortlist included popular albums from Britpop figureheads Paul Weller , Blur and Pulp , and electronica band The Prodigy . Other music journalists critical of
385-601: A soloist and group member (e.g. Robbie Williams for his Life thru a Lens and Take That 's Everything Changes , or Beth Gibbons for her Lives Outgrown and Portishead 's Dummy ). General Music award A music award is an award or prize given to honour skill or distinction in music . There are different awards in different countries, and awards may focus on or exclude certain music; for example, some awards are only for classical music and not focused on popular music . Some awards are academic, while others are commercial and created by
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#1732776437288420-502: Is chosen by an independent panel of musicians, music presenters, music producers, music journalists, festival organisers, and other figures in the music industry in the UK and Ireland. The prize is open to all types of music, including pop, rock, folk, urban, grime, dance, jazz, blues, electronica and classical. Presentation of the awards usually takes place at an Awards Show in October, after
455-627: The PlayStation 2 game MTV Music Generator 2 rather than on G-Sides or the album itself. Other tracks include "Gor Beaten", which was another track that didn't make the album; however, elements of the track's instrumental were once available on one of the Gorillaz member's computers in Kong Studios. Gorillaz received generally positive reviews from critics. It was ranked sixth in both Spin 's and Kludge 's end-of-year lists, 48 on NME's 2001 year-end list and Q ranked it among
490-1125: The music industry . The Big Four major music awards given each season are the American Music Awards (held in the Fall), the Grammy Award (held in the Winter), the Billboard Music Awards (held in the Spring), and the MTV Video Music Awards (held in the Summer). A fourth major award, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony , is held in the Fall and actually kicks off the Music Awards Season, and currently honors artists who have been in
525-415: The 2000s and Gigwise included it in its 2013 best self-titled albums of all time. The album was given an entry in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die . All songs are written by Damon Albarn and performed by Gorillaz, except where noted. Produced by Dan the Automator / Gorillaz with the exception of Track 13 produced by Tom Girling & Jason Cox Source: Credits adapted from
560-424: The 2010 Mercury Prize and 2013 winner James Blake saw a 2,500% sales increase on Amazon after he was announced as the winner of the 2013 Mercury Prize. 2011 winner PJ Harvey's album Let England Shake jumped from number 181 to 24 in the UK official charts the week after the 2011 Awards Show. Despite being regarded by many as highly prestigious, it has been suggested that having an album nominated for or winning
595-406: The 50 best albums of the year. The album was nominated for the 2001 Mercury Music Prize ( Gorillaz was bookmakers' favourite before the nomination was withdrawn at the band's request). The album made some retrospective "best of" lists. Slant Magazine ranked the album no. 96 in its best of the 2000s, Complex , Consequence Of Sound and Rhapsody ranked it among the top 100 albums of
630-502: The Ghost Rapper", who was said to be a spirit that was hiding from death within the band's drummer, Russel Hobbs . Del later commented in an interview on the success of "Clint Eastwood" by saying that he actually wrote his rap for the song using the book How to Write a Hit Song , a book that he bought with a coupon his mother gave him. After the song went platinum he gave the plaque to his mother. As part of Russel Hobbs' back-story,
665-408: The Mercury Prize could be a curse on a career in music. In 2001, the band Gorillaz requested that their eponymous debut album be withdrawn from the shortlist, with cartoon bassist Murdoc Niccals saying that winning the award would be "like carrying a dead albatross round your neck for eternity". All genres of music are eligible for entry, and it is stated that all are treated equally, with only
700-407: The Mercury Prize underrepresented heavy metal, but argued that this actually benefitted the genre because "At least part of metal's appeal is its outsider status." [REDACTED] [REDACTED] Totals listed are for bands or artists nominated more than once under the same name. It does not include appearances on compilations (e.g. Artists for War Child ) or individuals nominated separately as
735-618: The UK and number fourteen in the US, later being certified platinum in the US and triple-platinum in the UK. Gorillaz has sold over seven million copies worldwide. The album's success earned the group an entry in the Guinness Book of World Records as the "Most Successful Virtual Band", and spawned the singles " Clint Eastwood ", " 19-2000 ", " Rock the House ", and " Tomorrow Comes Today ". Musician Damon Albarn and comic book creator Jamie Hewlett met in 1990 when guitarist Graham Coxon ,
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#1732776437288770-556: The album was eligible due to Campbell's British citizenship, while Guillemots , whose album was also shortlisted in 2006, contained band members from Brazil and Canada, although the majority were from the United Kingdom. Current eligibility criteria state that all albums must be available to buy as a digital release in the UK. In September 2013, My Bloody Valentine vocalist and guitarist Kevin Shields expressed concerns about
805-431: The award in an interview with The Guardian , accusing the Mercury Prize's organisers of "banning" the band's self-released album, m b v , from the shortlist nominations and addressing the nomination criteria, which he claimed branded the album "virtually illegal". It has also been noted that heavy metal has been overlooked by the prize. A 2013 article by Vice on the Mercury Prize said "Metal certainly never gets
840-583: The awards stated that the 2005 award should not have been given to Antony and the Johnsons for their album I Am a Bird Now as, although they are British-born and therefore eligible for the Prize, the band was based in the United States. In 2006, Isobel Campbell 's collaboration with Mark Lanegan , Ballad of the Broken Seas , was included in the shortlist, despite Lanegan being American, as
875-569: The boxset, which was exclusive to the band's webstore, was released on 10 December 2021. The boxset includes previously released material, including the original album, the B-sides compilation album G-Sides , and the remix album Laika Come Home (which received its first reissue since its initial press) and previously unreleased material, including live performances from the 2001 London Forum concert and five demos. Additionally, it also includes notes and early sketches by Jamie Hewlett during
910-544: The business at least 25 years since their first hit record. Among other mini-major music awards are the Glenn Gould Prize , and Pulitzer Prize for Music . Gorillaz (album) Gorillaz is the debut studio album by English virtual band Gorillaz , released on 26 March 2001 in the United Kingdom by Parlophone and June 19, 2001 in the United States by Virgin Records . The album reached number three in
945-400: The character of Del was one of Russel's friends that was gunned down in a drive-by shooting, whose ghost possessed Russel. In 2004, the album was packaged with 2002's Laika Come Home in a limited edition box set as part of EMI 's "2CD Originals" collection. Other saw a release such as the reggae-dub "Dub Dumb", which features British-Jamaican artist Sweetie Irie ; it is available on
980-492: The making of the album. Critics have described the album as alternative rock , lo-fi , dub , hip hop , trip hop , and art pop , with elements of punk rock , rap rock , art rock , Britpop , Latin , and bubblegum pop . The album's first single "Clint Eastwood", is named after the famous movie actor . A interpolation of the “Rock 1” preset from the Omnichord OM-300 can be heard throughout
1015-608: The music on the album being taken into account. Simon Frith , chair of the Mercury Prize judging panel, has said that albums are chosen because they are the "strongest" each year, rather than according to genre. However, the presence of classical, folk and jazz recordings has been cited by some as anomalous, arguing that comparisons with the other nominees can be invidious. Classical acts to have an album nominated have included John Tavener , Peter Maxwell Davies , Gavin Bryars and Nicholas Maw . None has ever won, and there has not been
1050-704: The shortlist is announced at the Album of the Year Launch in September. It is often observed that bands whose albums are shortlisted, or win the prize, experience a large increase in album sales, particularly for lesser known acts. Each shortlisted artist receives a specially commissioned 'Albums of the Year' trophy at the Awards Show. Unlike some other music awards, the overall winner of the Mercury Prize also receives
1085-610: The song. Years after the release of this album, it was revealed that the track "Starshine" has an alternative version, which features Luton -based rap group Phi Life Cypher . This version is not available on any releases, but it is available on the Phi Life Cypher SoundCloud channel and also on the video-sharing website YouTube . All editions of the Gorillaz album feature an enhanced section that included screen savers, wallpaper and an autoplay , featuring
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1120-424: The time Del came onto the project, the album was already finished, and Phi Life Cypher had recorded verses for " Clint Eastwood "; but when Del finished making Deltron 3030 with Dan the Automator , Automator asked if he could stay in the studio a little longer to record new verses for the Gorillaz songs. For the purposes of the music videos and the Gorillaz storyline canon, Del performed as Gorillaz character "Del
1155-419: The track "Time Keeps on Slipping" for Deltron 3030 's eponymous debut album . Although not released under the Gorillaz name, Albarn has said that "one of the first ever Gorillaz tunes" was Blur 's 1997 single " On Your Own ", which was released for their fifth studio album Blur . In March 2021, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the album's release, a vinyl box set was announced. The first edition of
1190-452: Was also the first female solo artist to receive the award. Alex Turner has received six nominations, five as a member of Arctic Monkeys and one with The Last Shadow Puppets , winning once. Thom Yorke has six nominations, five with Radiohead and one for The Eraser , but has never won. The awards ceremony was postponed for the first, and so far only, time in 2022 following the death of Queen Elizabeth II . The Mercury Prize can have
1225-505: Was sponsored by the BBC, while in 2016 it was announced that a three-year deal had been struck with Hyundai to sponsor the event. It was sponsored by Free Now , as part of a multi-year deal that began in 2022. In 2024, the award lost their deal with Freenow, prompting the cancellation of the ceremony and live performances for that year. To date, PJ Harvey is the only artist to have won the award on more than one occasion (in 2001 and 2011). She
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