Ahead of the second Rolling Stone UK Awards this month, we’re delighted to announce the nominees for The Play Next Award. #RSUKawards
See the full list of nominations: https://t.co/C818XjPWax pic.twitter.com/XUdlicVgrc

— Rolling Stone UK (@RollingStoneUK) November 13, 2024

This is the second edition of the Awards Ceremony, with last year’s seeing performances from artists such as Ozzy Osbourne, Louis Tomlinson, Kenya Grace and The Last Dinner Party. The event will be attended by VIP guests and selected medias, with performances set to entertain the night and a list of nominees from all over the world.

Last year’s winner list included The Last Dinner Party for Rising Star’s Award, Maisie Peters for Breakthrough Award, Ozzy Osbourne for the Icon Award, The Chemical Brothers with “That Beautiful Feeling” for Album of the Year Award and PinkPantheress with “Boy’s a Liar Pt. 2” for Song of the Year Award.

The awards categories announced so far include: Album of The Year, Group of the Year, Best Group, Best New Artist, Best Song, Live Act and Best Festival.

From records that defined the word of the year and Mercury-prize winners, the Album of The Year nominations are:

Charli XCX – Brat

English Teacher – This Could Be Texas

Ezra Collective – Dance Like No One’s Watching

Fontaines D.C – Romance

Ghetts – On Purpose, With Purpose

The Last Dinner Party – Prelude to Ecstasy

Nia Archives – Silence is Loud

Wunderhorse – Midas

Charli XCX’s album is, no doubt, the one that attracted more streams and approval worldwide, but The Last Dinner party peaked at number one on UK charts.

It was also a great year of UK groups and Rolling Stone UK recognizes eight acts who have significantly marked 2024 in the United Kingdom. Here are the nominees for the Best Group Award:

Blossoms

Fontaines D.C

Ezra Collective

English Teacher

D-Block Europe

Lankum

NewDad

Sleep Token

These groups have toured significantly around the UK over the past year and some have released top-charting songs and albums. After releasing their album, which peaked at number eight on UK charts English Teacher have been touring around the UK; NewDad is currently touring the US after playing various festivals in Europe over the summer. Ezra Collective, on the other hand, is set to play two nights at Wembley’s OVO Arena. All nominated groups have had big years this 2024!

Rolling Stones UK also awards the best rising star of the year, title won last year by The Last Dinner Party who are competing for best album on this edition of the UK awards. This category highlights groups and artists who have achieved success in 2024 and are expected to become bigger and bigger in the upcoming years. The category is dubbed by Rolling Stone as “The Play Next Award”; the nominations are:

Brooke Combe

Elmiene

Master Peace

MRCY

Nia Smith

Nieve Ella

The next category nominates the songs that have played as the soundtrack of the UK’s 2024. Here are the nominations for Best Song:

Casso, D Block Europe and RAYE – Prada

Charli XCX and Billie Eilish – Guess

Chase & Status and Stormzy – Backbone

Dua Lipa – Training Season

Fontaines D.C – Starbuster

Hozier – Too Sweet

Jade – Angel of My Dreams

Dua Lipa’s single, as well as Prada, peaked at two on UK charts , while Charli XCX’s feature with Billie Eilish peaked at number one and so did Chase & Status and Stormzy’s single as well as Hozier’s.

Rolling Stone UK has also revealed the shortlist for their Live Act Award, which recognizes performers (and their performances) that have left their mark in 2024. The nominations are:

Barry Can’t Swim

Confidence Man

Dua Lipa

High Vis

Sugababes

Little Simz

The predicted winner is, of course, London’s very own Dua Lipa who has captivated the entire world with her performances and over 2024 has toured various parts of the globe, mostly Asia, and has a big US and Europe tour set to take place in 2025.

Finally, Rolling Stone has revealed the nominations for best festival award:

2000trees

Download Festival

End of The Road

Reading and Leeds

Wide Awake Festival

The winners will be announced live at the Roundhouse in London on November 28.

International artists like Kendrick Lamar, Doja Cat and Paramore, are also represented for the international awards with multiple nominations, displaying how music videos are still important to the art of music for major artists, not just in the UK, but across the world.

Newer artists like New York artist, METTE and rapper Andrey Nuna are also represented across a plethora of awards as the awards put themselves at the forefront of cutting edge ideas in the realm of music videos.

Live videos also get a representation at the awards with artists like The 1975 being nominated for their Being Funny In A Foreign Language live video as well as live videos from Young Fathers and Jeshi.

The winners of the UK Music Video Awards will be announced at an award ceremony on October 26^th at the Magazine, a venue in North Greenwich, near the 02 Arena. Tickets can be found here.

Here is a selection of nominations for the awards:

Best Pop Video

Raye feat 070 Shake – ‘Escapism’

Lewis Capaldi – ‘Forget Me’

Sam Smith - ‘I’m Not Here To Make Friends’

Labrinth – ‘Kill For Your Love’

Harry Styles – ‘Music For A Sushi Restaurant’

Harry Styles – ‘Satellite’

Best R&B / Soul Video – UK

Joesef – ‘Just Come Home With Me Tonight’

Ezra Collective feat Kojey Radical – ‘No Confusion’

Grace Carter – ‘Pick Your Tears Up’

Ama Lou – ‘Silence’

Stormzy feat Raye – ‘The Weekend’

Jorja Smith – ‘Try Me’

Best Rock Video – UK

Shame – ‘Fingers of Steel’

Bring Me The Horizon – ‘LosT’

Elephant Kind – ‘Love As’

Royal Blood – ‘Pull Me Through’

Squid – ‘Swing (In a Dream)’

Squid – ‘The Blades’

Best Hip Hop / Grime / Rap Video – UK

Little Simz – ‘Gorilla’

J Hus – ‘It’s Crazy’

Stormzy – ‘Mel Made Me Do it’

Jords – ‘Mobay / Stay Close’

Loyle Carner – ‘Nobody Knows (Ladas Road)’

AntsLive – ‘Number One Candidate’

Best Pop Video – International

Priya Ragu – ‘Adalam Va’

Christina Aguilera – ‘Beautiful (2022 Version)’

Tove Lo – ‘Borderline’

Mette – ‘Mama’s Eyes’

Jung Kook feat Latto – ‘Seven’

Mette - ‘Van Gogh’

Best Rock Video – International

Grian Chatten – ‘All of the People’

The Hives - ‘Bogus Operandi’

Stolen Nova – ‘Glue’

Cari Cari – ‘My Grandma Says We Have No Future’

Paramore – ‘Running Out of Time’

Falling In Reverse – ‘Watch The World Burn’

Best Hip Hop / Grime / Rap Video – International

Doja Cat – ‘Attention’

Kendrick Lamar – ‘Count Me Out’

Benjamin Earl Turner- ‘Headspace’

Audrey Nuna – ‘Locket’

Travis Scott – ‘Sirens’

Biji – ‘Zigidi’

The ceremony, which takes place on Thursday, 17 September, will honour the best British or Irish album released in the past year and provide the usual musical spectacle with live performances from many of the nominated artists and bands.

The first name on the 2023 shortlist is Arctic Monkeys, who claim a fifth nomination for their latest LP The Car – making them the joint most-nominated act in Mercury history alongside Radiohead. While Alex Turner and co. previously landed the award for their breakout album Whatever People Say I am, That’s What I’m Not in 2007, Radiohead have never won.

Listen to “There’d Better Be A Mirrorball” from The Car:

The Sheffield band’s rivals this year include four second-time nominees: Loyle Carner, J Hus, Young Fathers and Jessie Ware – the latter of whom received her first Mercury recognition in 2012. Ware’s fifth studio album That! Feels! Good! was met with universal acclaim, impressing critics and earning her a second top-three entry on the UK Albums Chart.

Listen to “Free Yourself” from That! Feels! Good!:

Meanwhile, Shygirl, Olivia Dean, Raye and experimental pop duo Jockstrap – whose latest studio effort I Love You Jennifer B claimed a top-ten position on both BrooklynVegan and Clash’s end of year lists – make their Mercury debut.

Other nominations include Fred Again.. with Actual Life 3, jazz ensemble Ezra Collective with Where I’m Meant To Be and the Mercury’s infamous “token” folk nomination – False Lankum by Irish group Lankum, whose new album has been hailed as the OK Computer of modern folk.

Listen to “Go Dig My Grave” from False Lankum:

While Raye’s inclusion on the shortlist brings the most vindication after her 2021 departure from Polydor and subsequent self-release of My 21st Century Blues, Fred Again..’s nomination has left bemusement in its wake, with the Independent describing his selection as “part of a long Mercury Prize tradition of championing at least one eye-rollingly bad album each year”.

A whole number of major pop acts didn’t make the final twelve, with Ed Sheeran, Sam Smith, The 1975, Gorillaz, Lewis Capaldi and Rina Sawayama all missing out on nominations for their eligible albums. Little Simz, who won the award last year after beating stiff competition from the likes of Harry Styles and Sam Fender, also wasn’t shortlisted for her new album No Thank You.

See the full list of nominations below:

Arctic Monkeys – The Car
Ezra Collective – Where I’m Meant to Be
Fred Again.. – Actual Life 3
J Hus – Beautiful and Brutal Yard
Jessie Ware – That! Feels Good!
Jockstrap – I Love You Jennifer B
Lankum – False Lankum
Loyle Carner – Hugo
Olivia Dean – Messy
Raye – My 21st Century Blues
Shygirl – Nymph
Young Fathers – Heavy Heavy

Check out the official shortlist here.