The Mercury Prize, formerly called the Mercury Music Prize, is an annual music prize awarded for the best album released in the United Kingdom by a British or Irish act. 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. 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, Panasonic, Nationwide Building Society and Barclaycard (2009–14). The 2015 prize 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.
Yazoo were an English synth-pop duo from Basildon, Essex, consisting of former Depeche Mode member Vince Clarke (keyboards) and Alison Moyet (vocals). The duo formed in late 1981 after Clarke responded to an advertisement Moyet placed in a British music magazine, although the pair had known each other since their schooldays.
Dylan Kwabena Mills, better known by his stage name Dizzee Rascal, is an English MC, rapper, songwriter and record producer. A pioneer of grime music, his work has also incorporated elements of UK garage, bassline, British hip hop, and R&B.
Goldfrapp are an English electronic music duo from London, formed in 1999. The duo consists of Alison Goldfrapp and Will Gregory (synthesiser).
Elbow are an English rock band formed in Bury, Greater Manchester, in 1997. 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.
Richard Willis Hawley is an English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer. After his first band Treebound Story broke up, Hawley found success as a member of Britpop band Longpigs in the 1990s. After that group broke up in 2000, he later joined the band Pulp, led by his friend Jarvis Cocker, for a short time. As a solo musician, Hawley has released eight studio albums. He has been nominated for a Mercury prize twice and once for a Brit Award. He has collaborated with Lisa Marie Presley, Shakespears Sister, Arctic Monkeys, Manic Street Preachers, Elbow, Duane Eddy, and Paul Weller.
Biffy Clyro are a Scottish rock band that formed in Kilmarnock, East Ayrshire, composed of Simon Neil, James Johnston, and Ben Johnston. Currently signed to 14th Floor Records, they have released nine studio albums, five of which reached the top five in the UK Albums Chart, with their sixth studio album, Opposites claiming their first UK No. 1 album. The latest three consecutive studio albums have all peaked at number one in the UK official albums chart. After their first three albums, the band expanded their following significantly in 2007 with the release of their fourth album, Puzzle, creating more mainstream songs with simpler rhythms and distancing themselves from the more unusual dissonant style present in their previous three albums. Puzzle peaked at No. 2 on the UK Albums Chart on 16 June 2007. The album went platinum in the UK in 2012, having sold over 300,000 copies.
Timothy Allan Burgess is an English musician, singer-songwriter and record label owner, best known as the lead singer of the alternative rock band The Charlatans.
Myths of the Near Future is a collection of science fiction short stories by British writer J. G. Ballard, first published in 1982.
The Rakes were an English post-punk band formed in London in 2003. Their first album Capture/Release released in 2005, received a nine out of ten review in the NME and was rated 13th best album of the year in the same paper. The band cited in their influences the Specials, Siouxsie and the Banshees and Pulp.
The Violets were an English post punk/indie/pop band from the New Cross area of London, England. Formed initially as a bassless garage punk trio, The Violets early gigs saw them playing stark, spiky and minimalist punk that evoked early art-school punk bands such as Delta 5, Prag Vec, and Siouxsie and the Banshees, as well as more contemporary acts such as Yeah Yeah Yeahs.
Klaxons were an English band, based in London. Following the release of several 7-inch singles on different independent record labels, as well as the success of previous singles "Magick" and "Golden Skans", the band released their debut album, Myths of the Near Future on 29 January 2007. The album won the 2007 Nationwide Mercury Prize. After playing festivals and headlining tours worldwide during late 2006–07, the band started working on their follow-up album in July 2007. Klaxons' second album, Surfing the Void, was released on 23 August 2010. Their third album, Love Frequency, was released on 16 June 2014.
Natasha Khan, known professionally as Bat for Lashes, is a Pakistani British singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. She has released five studio albums: Fur and Gold (2006), Two Suns (2009), The Haunted Man (2012), The Bride (2016), and Lost Girls (2019). She has received three Mercury Prize nominations. Khan is also the vocalist for Sexwitch, a collaboration with the rock band Toy and producer Dan Carey.
Myths of the Near Future is the debut album by English band Klaxons. It was released on 29 January 2007 through Polydor Records. Myths of the Near Future contains re-recorded versions of "Gravity's Rainbow", "Atlantis to Interzone" and "Four Horsemen of 2012", along with the singles "Magick", "Golden Skans" and, most recently, "It's Not Over Yet". It is named after Myths of the Near Future, a collection of short stories by British writer J. G. Ballard. It was recorded in Battle, East Sussex.
James Nicholas Righton is a British musician. As well as singing, he was the keyboard-player of the London-based new rave band Klaxons, which disbanded in 2015. In March 2016, Righton announced his new project Shock Machine with a video directed by Saam Farahmand. Righton released his first solo album The Performer on Soulwax's Deewee label in March 2020.
James Kenneth Chapman, known professionally as Maps, is an English record producer, songwriter and remixer.
James Ford is an English record producer, songwriter and musician, known for being a member of Simian Mobile Disco and the Last Shadow Puppets as well as his production work with the Arctic Monkeys, Foals, Florence and the Machine, Depeche Mode, Haim, Gorillaz, Klaxons, Jessie Ware and Kylie Minogue.
Everything Everything are an English art rock band from Manchester that formed in late 2007. The band have released five albums to date – 2010's Man Alive, 2013's Arc, 2015's Get to Heaven, 2017's A Fever Dream and 2020's Re-Animator – and have been widely critically acclaimed. Their work has twice been shortlisted for the Mercury Music Prize and has received five nominations for Ivor Novello Awards.
Surfing the Void is the second studio album by British indie rock band Klaxons, released on 23 August 2010 through Polydor Records. The album was produced by Ross Robinson, and was recorded in Los Angeles, California. The album was preceded by lead single "Echoes" on 16 August.
The discography of British indie rock band Klaxons consists of three studio albums, one compilation album, one extended play (EP), and nine singles. Klaxons were formed in October 2005 in New Cross, London by Jamie Reynolds, James Righton and Simon Taylor-Davis. Steffan Halperin joined as an official member in February 2007.
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