Taylor Swift, Lana Del Rey, The 1975, The Cure, FKA twigs, Courtney Love, Robyn, Little Simz, AJ Tracey and Glastonbury Festival Win Big at NME Awards 2020

Credit: NME

THE 1975, FKA TWIGS, AJ TRACEY, MURA MASA & SLOWTHAI, BEABADOOBEE AND YUNGBLUD PERFORM STUNNING LIVE SETS AT NME AWARDS, AT O2 ACADEMY BRIXTON, LONDON, TONIGHT

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The biggest stars in music and pop culture tonight congregated in the O2 Academy Brixton, London for the most rock ’n’ roll night in the annual music calendar, the NME Awards. 

Global superstar Taylor Swift made a surprise appearance to collect the coveted Best Solo Act In The World award, while The 1975 took two awards (Best British Band and the Innovation Award) before closing the night with an exclusive and epic five-song set of songs old and new.

Earlier in the evening FKA Twigs stunned the room with a beautiful live rendition of ‘Cellophane’ before picking up the award for Best British Solo Act, while  Little Simz was visibly overcome to win Best British Album for her acclaimed LP, GREY Area. Swedish pop icon Robyn received the Songwriter Of The Decade, and was presented the award by two of the brightest pop stars of the moment, Christine and the Queens and Charli XCX, both of whom praised her invaluable contribution to and influence on today’s pop landscape with a beautiful speech in which Charli called her “nothing less than a living legend.” Chris praised her in achieving “something almost impossible with every song she ever wrote: intimacy. Pure intimacy, in a landscape where it is often about being smoothed out, ready to be digested, quickly forgotten.”

The legendary Glastonbury Festival was the night’s big winner, taking both Best British Festival and Best Festival In The World, while the festival’s co-organiser Emily Eavis was presented with the final award of the night, Godlike Genius, by this year’s Glastonbury headliner and surprise guest Taylor Swift and festival stalwart Billy Bragg. The ever-humble festival founder and organiser accepted the award, thanking the festival goers for helping make Glastonbury “probably the best event in the world.” Emily Eavis became the first non-performer to win the Godlike Genius accolade in almost 20 years, celebrating her outstanding contribution to the festival in its 50th year.

Rock royalty was in the building in the form of Courtney Love, the deserved recipient of the Icon Award, and The Cure, the latter of whom were crowned Best Festival Headliner after playing a massive 35 festivals across five different continents in 2019 alone. A trio of the world’s biggest acts – Slipknot, Lana Del Rey and Billie Eilish – received awards and sent heartfelt video messages of acceptance. Lana Del Rey said of NME: “You’ve supported me since 2011, put me on my first cover in London… honestly, I was thinking about it, and without you guys I don’t even know how much music I’d be making.”

UK rap star AJ Tracey had the entire crowd on its feet for a jaw-dropping live rendition of his Platinum-selling single ‘Ladbroke Grove’, which was named Best British Song. Rising star Yungblud nearly took the roof off with a performance fit for a stadium, and picked up the award for Best Music Video before dashing off across town via tube to a gig in Camden.

Newcomer Beabadoobee took the special NME Radar award, and showed her future-headliner potential as she headbanged through a killer rendition of ‘She Plays Bass’, taken from her breakthrough Space Cadet EP. She was presented the award by label boss Matty Healy of The 1975, who said: “This young lady happens to be the most exciting thing I’ve seen in modern music”.

BTS’ Wembley Stadium show was named Music Moment in a category voted for by NME readers. Foals were named Best Live Act, Clairo the Best New Act In The World and Easy Life Best New British Act. Foals frontman Yannis Philippakis said: “Thank you so much to the NME. They are so fucking great and have this award ceremony back on track.” 

Blue Story won Best Film, Peaky Blinders was named Best TV Series with actor Harry Kirton, who plays Finn Shelby in the series, picking up the award alongside Anna Calvi, who wrote the musical score for the fifth season of Peaky Blinders. Micheal Ward was named Best Film Actor and Best TV Actor was Jessica Barden. A long-time friend of the awards, Liam Gallagher took home the award for Best Music Film for his 2019 documentary As It Was, and in an acceptance speech video, which featured Manchester United legend Eric Cantona, thanked the NME Awards.

Mura Masa and Slowthai opened the ceremony in rambunctious style, performing their song, the Best Collaboration-winning ‘Deal Wiv It’, together for the first time live in the UK. Slowthai also collected the fan-voted Hero award. During his acceptance speech for the people’s choice award, Slowthai directly engaged with members of the audience. Following a verbal exchange and objects being thrown, he jumped into the crowd before security intervened and Slowthai was escorted from the stage.

Katherine Ryan and Julie Adenuga were tasked with hosting the most raucous night in music, and they did not disappoint, alternately having the audience wide-eyed in shock, moist-eyed with emotion and rolling in the aisles with laughter.

The party continued long into the night, with revellers spilling out onto the streets of London and heading to the official afterparty at Phonox or any number of planned and impromptu unofficial events. 

See below for the full rundown of winners.

Credit: Andy Hughes / NME

This year’s NME Awards charity partner is Nordoff Robbins, the UK’s largest independent music therapy charity, chosen for their excellent work in supporting people affected by life limiting illness, isolation or disability through musical engagement.

NME Awards 2020 Nominations:

GODLIKE GENIUS

WINNER: Emily Eavis 

SONGWRITER OF THE DECADE

WINNER: Robyn

ICON AWARD

WINNER: Courtney Love

INNOVATION AWARD

WINNER: The 1975

BEST BRITISH ALBUM

WINNER: Little Simz – ‘GREY Area’

FKA twigs – ‘Magdalene’

Foals – ‘Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost, Pt. 1’

Michael Kiwanuka – ‘Kiwanuka’

Slowthai – ‘Nothing Great About Britain’

BEST ALBUM IN THE WORLD

WINNER: Lana Del Rey – ‘Norman Fucking Rockwell’

Billie Eilish – ‘When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?’

FKA twigs – ‘Magdalene’

Foals – ‘Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost, Pt. 1’

Little Simz – ‘GREY Area’

Michael Kiwanuka – ‘Kiwanuka’

Slipknot – ‘We Are Not Your Kind’

Slowthai – ‘Nothing Great About Britain’

Stella Donnelly – ‘Beware Of The Dogs’

Tyler, the Creator – ‘IGOR’

BEST BRITISH SONG: SUPPORTED BY PIPER-HEIDSIECK

WINNER: AJ Tracey – ‘Ladbroke Grove’

Dua Lipa – ‘Don’t Start Now’

Georgia – ‘About Work The Dancefloor’

Mura Masa ft Slowthai – ‘Deal Wiv It’

The 1975 – ‘People’

BEST SONG IN THE WORLD

WINNER: Billie Eilish – ‘Bad Guy’

AJ Tracey – ‘Ladbroke Grove’

Clairo – ‘Bags’

Dua Lipa – ‘Don’t Start Now’

Georgia – ‘About Work The Dancefloor’

Lil Nas X – ‘Old Town Road (remix)’

Lizzo – ‘Juice’

Mura Masa ft Slowthai – ‘Deal Wiv It’

Post Malone – ‘Circles’

The 1975 – ‘People’

BEST BRITISH SOLO ACT

WINNER: FKA twigs

AJ Tracey

Charli XCX

Slowthai

Yungblud

BEST SOLO ACT IN THE WORLD

WINNER: Taylor Swift

AJ Tracey

Beck

Billie Eilish

Charli XCX

FKA twigs

Lana Del Rey

Lizzo

Slowthai

Yungblud

BEST BRITISH BAND: SUPPORTED BY PIZZA EXPRESS

WINNER: The 1975

Bring Me The Horizon

IDLES

Krept & Konan

The Big Moon

BEST BAND IN THE WORLD

WINNER: Slipknot

Bring Me The Horizon

Brockhampton

BTS

HAIM

IDLES

Krept & Konan

Tame Impala

The 1975

The Big Moon

BEST NEW BRITISH ACT: SUPPORTED BY NORDOFF ROBBINS

WINNER: Easy Life

Celeste

D-Block Europe

Jade Bird

Sam Fender

BEST NEW ACT IN THE WORLD

WINNER: Clairo

Celeste

D-Block Europe

DaBaby

Dominic Fike

Easy Life

Fontaines DC

Girl In Red

Jade Bird

Sam Fender

BEST LIVE ACT: SUPPORTED BY COPPER DOG

WINNER: Foals

Amyl + The Sniffers

Iggy Pop

Lizzo

Slowthai

NME RADAR AWARD

WINNER: Beabadoobee

BEST COLLABORATION: SUPPORTED BY BRIXTON BREWERY

WINNER: Mura Masa + Slowthai

BTS + Halsey

Charli XCX + Christine And The Queens

Megan Thee Stallion + DaBaby

Yungblud + Dan Reynolds

BEST MUSIC VIDEO

WINNER: Yungblud – ‘Original Me’

Brockhampton – ‘I’ve Been Born Again’

Easy Life – ‘Nice Guys’

Normani – ‘Motivation’

Stormzy – ‘Vossi Bop’

BEST BRITISH FESTIVAL

WINNER: Glastonbury

All Points East

Parklife

Reading & Leeds

Wireless

BEST SMALL FESTIVAL: SUPPORTED BY CANO WATER

WINNER: End Of The Road

Bluedot

Iceland Airwaves

Kendal Calling

Øya

BEST FESTIVAL IN THE WORLD

WINNER: Glastonbury

All Points East

Coachella

Fuji Rock

Mad Cool

Parklife

Reading & Leeds

Rock In Rio

Sziget

Wireless

BEST FESTIVAL HEADLINER

WINNER: The Cure

Cardi B

Lana Del Rey

Stormzy

The 1975

BEST FILM

WINNER: Blue Story

Hustlers

Joker

Midsommar

Once Upon A Time In Hollywood

BEST FILM ACTOR

WINNER: Micheal Ward for Blue Story

Taron Egerton

Florence Pugh

Joaquin Phoenix

Lupita Nyong’o

BEST TV SERIES: SUPPORTED BY 19 CRIMES

WINNER: Peaky Blinders

End Of The Fucking World

Fleabag

Stranger Things

Top Boy

BEST TV ACTOR

WINNER: Jessica Barden

Asa Butterfield

Jodie Comer

Kano

Zendaya

BEST MUSIC FILM: SUPPORTED BY DIDSBURY GIN

WINNER: Liam Gallagher: As It Was

Beyonce: Homecoming

BTS: Bring The Soul

Michael Hutchence: Mystify

Rocketman

BEST MUSIC BOOK

WINNER: Elton John – ‘Me’

Brett Anderson – ‘Afternoons With The Blinds Drawn’

Debbie Harry – ‘Face It: A Memoir’

Prince – ‘The Beautiful Ones’

Tegan & Sara – ‘High School’

BEST REISSUE

WINNER: Muse – ‘Origin Of Muse’

Aretha Franklin – ‘Amazing Grace’

Prince – ‘1999’

R.E.M. – ‘Monster 25’

The Beatles – ‘Abbey Road’

BEST PODCAST: SUPPORTED BY DAX

WINNER: Have You Heard George’s Podcast?

My Dad Wrote A Porno

Sex Power Money

Stay Free: The Story Of The Clash

The Missing Cryptoqueen

BEST GAME

WINNER: Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order

Death Stranding

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

The Outer Worlds

HERO OF THE YEAR (VOTED BY THE PUBLIC)

WINNER: Slowthai

VILLAIN OF THE YEAR (VOTED BY THE PUBLIC)

WINNER: Piers Morgan

MUSIC MOMENT OF THE YEAR (VOTED BY THE PUBLIC)

WINNER: BTS – Wembley Stadium

BEST AUSTRALIAN ALBUM

WINNER: Stella Donnelly – Beware Of The Dogs

Amyl & The Sniffers – Amyl & The Sniffers

King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard – Fishing For Fishies

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Ghosteen

Sampa The Great – The Return

BEST AUSTRALIAN BAND

WINNER: Tame Impala

Amyl & The Sniffers

Confidence Man

King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard

Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever

BEST AUSTRALIAN FESTIVAL

WINNER: St. Jerome’s Laneway Festival

Groovin The Moo

Party in the Paddock

Spilt Milk

Splendour In The Grass

BEST AUSTRALIAN SOLO ACT

WINNER: Mallrat

Courtney Barnett

Flume

Hatchie

Stella Donnelly

BEST AUSTRALIAN SONG

WINNER: Tame Impala – Borderline

Amyl & The Sniffers – Gacked On Anger

Confidence Man – Does It Make You Feel Good

Mallrat – Charlie

Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever – In The Capital

Tones & I – Dance Monkey

BEST NEW AUSTRALIAN ACT

WINNER: Tones & I

Baker Boy

G Flip

Mallrat

Stella Donnelly

For the latest on the NME Awards 2020 head to NME.com/awards

About NME:

NME is the world’s defining voice in music and pop culture. They’ve been breaking what’s new and what’s next since 1952. The NME create and curate content, products and experiences essential to the fans of music and popular culture today. Get the latest news at nme.com.

About BandLab Technologies:

BandLab Technologies is a collective of music brands with a vision to connect the world of music. The company integrates the physical, digital and social supply chain, to enable better experiences, opportunities, and connections for all music lovers. Established in 2016, the BandLab Technologies portfolio of brands continues to rapidly expand and diversify. The growing media division currently includes the popular titles NME, Uncut, Guitar.com and MusicTech. For more information visit https://bandlabtechnologies.com

About Nordoff Robbins:

Nordoff Robbins is the largest independent music therapy charity in the UK, dedicated to enriching the lives of people affected by life limiting illness, isolation or disability. They recieve no direct government funding, which means they rely on the generosity of their supporters. The charity provide a range of different sessions for children and adults of all ages in their  centres in London, Manchester, Newcastle and Scotland – from specialised one-to-one music therapy to shared sessions for groups of different sizes and formats.​ Nordoff Robbins also work in partnership with over 200 organisations to bring music therapy to as many vulnerable people who could benefit from it as possible. These include schools, care homes, hospices, hospitals, mental health services, and brain injury units.

Press contact:

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nmeawards@insideout.agency
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