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.
Eddie Izzard, also known as Suzy Izzard, is a British stand-up comedian, actor and activist. Her comedic style takes the form of what appears to the audience as rambling whimsical monologues and self-referential pantomime.
Gomez are an English indie rock band from Southport, Merseyside, comprising Ian Ball, Paul "Blackie" Blackburn (bass), Tom Gray, Ben Ottewell and Olly Peacock. The band has three singers and four songwriters, employing traditional and electronic instruments. Their music covers the genres of blues, indie, alternative, rock, folk, psychedelic and experimental.
Elbow are an English rock band formed in Bury, Greater Manchester, in 1990. The band consists of Guy Garvey, Craig Potter, Mark Potter and Pete Turner. They have played together since 1990, adopting the name Elbow in 1997. Drummer Alex Reeves replaced Richard Jupp in 2016 as a touring and session musician at first, before becoming a full member in 2024.
Fraser Thorneycroft-Smith, known professionally as Fraser T. Smith, is an English record producer, songwriter and musician. Some of the singles he collaborated on include Adele's "Set Fire to the Rain", James Morrison's "Broken Strings", Tinchy Stryder's "Number 1" and Taio Cruz's "Break Your Heart". In 2016, Smith teamed up with Stormzy to produce his debut album Gang Signs & Prayer, which won Best Album at the 2018 Brit Awards. Earlier that year he produced seven tracks on Kano's Made in the Manor album and co-produced the debut EP from South London rapper Dave. Smith has also worked with Sam Smith.
The Ivors Academy is one of the largest professional associations for music writers in Europe. The academy works to protect and support and also campaigns the interests of songwriters, lyricists, and composers. It represents the music writers of all genres and has approximately 2000 members.
TMS are an English songwriting and record production team composed of Tom 'Froe' Barnes, Benjamin Kohn and Pete 'Merf' Kelleher. The trio have co-written records for a host of artists including Lewis Capaldi, Dua Lipa, John Legend, Maroon 5, G-Eazy and Bebe Rexha. They have collectively had twenty top 10 singles, sold over 15 million records, accumulated over 5 billion streams and have contributed to over fifty top 40 albums. They co-wrote and produced Lewis Capaldi's "Someone You Loved" which spent seven consecutive weeks at number one and was the best selling single of 2019 in the UK. The song was nominated for Song of the Year at the 63rd annual Grammy Awards and won Song of the Year at the 2020 Brit Awards.
Laura Mvula is a British singer. A native of Birmingham, England, Mvula has gained experience as a young member or leader of a cappella, jazz/neo-soul and gospel groups and choirs. She was classically trained. In 2012, she signed with RCA Records and released an extended play, She, to critical acclaim.
Wolf Alice are an English rock band from London, England. Formed in 2010 as an acoustic duo comprising singer Ellie Rowsell and guitarist Joff Oddie, Wolf Alice have also featured bassist Theo Ellis and drummer Joel Amey since 2012.
This is a summary of the year 2014 in British music.
James Michael Bay is an English singer-songwriter and guitarist. In 2014, he released his single "Hold Back the River", which was certified platinum, before releasing his debut studio album Chaos and the Calm (2015). The album went to number one in the UK and number 15 in the US. In February 2015, Bay received the Brit Awards "Critics' Choice" award. At the 2016 Brit Awards he received the award for Best British Male Solo Artist. Bay also received three nominations at the 2016 Grammy Awards, for Best New Artist, Best Rock Album, and Best Rock Song. In May 2018, he released his second studio album, Electric Light.
Rory Charles Graham, known professionally as Rag'n'Bone Man, is an English singer. He is known for his deep baritone voice. His first hit single, "Human", was released in 2016, and his first album Human was released in 2017. The album became the fastest selling debut album by a male for the decade and has since achieved 4× Platinum certification. At the 2017 Brit Awards, he was named British Breakthrough Act and received the Critics' Choice Award and went on to receive a further Brit Award for Best British Single with the title track in 2018.
David Orobosa Michael Omoregie, known professionally as Dave or Santan Dave, is a British rapper and actor. He is known for his socially conscious lyricism and wordplay.
Olga Fitzroy is a German-born British Labour Party politician who has represented St Martin's ward on Lambeth London Borough Council since 2022. She is also a sound engineer at Associated Independent Recording (AIR) studios and a noted campaigner for shared parental leave and fair pay.
Gianluca Buccellati, also known as Luca and Bien et Toi, is a Grammy-nominated and Mercury Prize winning American musician, record producer, songwriter, mixing engineer, audio engineer, and multi-instrumentalist. He has worked alongside artists including Lana Del Rey, Declan McKenna, Arlo Parks, Paris Texas, Tei Shi, Overcoats, Biig Piig, sophie meiers, The Marias, Cailin Russo and Hazel English. Buccellati largely wrote and produced Arlo Park's critically acclaimed debut album Collapsed in Sunbeams, which peaked at No. 3 on the UK Albums Chart, won the 2021 Mercury Prize and was nominated for Best Alternative Music Album at the 64th Annual Grammy Awards as well as for the Album of the Year at the 41st Brit Awards.
The Broken Record campaign is a campaign expressing music creators’ discontent with the streaming business model and asking for fairer remuneration. The campaign was created by Tom Gray, a musician and part of the rock band, Gomez, in April 2020.
