Just won a fucking @IvorsAcademy award for best song musically and lyrically. I couldn’t breathe. pic.twitter.com/tM8InHRmR3

— Sam Fender (@samfendermusic) May 20, 2022

Taking to Twitter, the singer said “I couldn’t breathe” in regards to taking home the award. With fellow nominees Adele, Rag’n’Bone Man, Holly Humberstone, Ella Henderson, and Tom Grennan, you can see why as competition was tough on the night. However, once his name was called Fender seemed composed, delivering a touching acceptance speech dedicated to a friend that had sadly died the previous week. Detailed in a recent NME article covering the event, Fender said: “A very good friend of mine passed away last week. He was my very first boss and employer. He gave me a job when both me and my mum were unemployed. He used to always hit me over the head with a newspaper for being a shit barman.” Going on he credited his late friend with being instrumental in him having a career in music: “I was always playing guitar in front of people instead of serving the customers, until one day he said, ‘Go get your guitar out and sit in that corner’. That was because my future manager, who was up and coming at the time, had just come in the pub. Without that man then none of this would have happened, so thank you so much.”. 

Characteristically honest and forthcoming, his speech can be seen as an example of why the nation has taken to him so much over the last couple of years. With equal sincerity and vulnerability showcased consistently in his music, the sky seems to be the limit for Sam as we all watch on with vested interest.

You can check out the now Ivor Novello Award winning single here below:

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IFPI’s website provides the following statement concerning the number one album, “The album continues its record-breaking streak by topping all three of IFPI’s Global Album Charts – the Global Album All Format Chart (introduced last year and won by 2021’s Global Artist Of The Year, BTS), Global Album Sales Chart and the first-ever Global Vinyl Album Chart. Following its release in November 2021, 30 surpassed over five million physical album equivalent units in 2021 alone, in under two months.”

The 33-year-old singer’s winning album was released on 19th November 2021 and served as an official notice of Adele’s return to music. The singer’s fourth studio album was released after a six-year hiatus from the spotlight. The album spent multiple consecutive weeks at number one within the UK album charts and debuted at the top spot with the highest opening week sales figures for a female artist, a title which was previously set by Adele for her previous album 25. The album also sired two high charting singles. The lead single “Easy On Me” was released on 15th October 2021 and enjoyed a long run as the UK’s number one single. The second single to be taken from 30 was released on 29th November 2021, “Oh My God” peaked at number two and was accompanied by a music video that was recorded on the release day of “Easy On Me”.

Chief Executive of IFPI, Frances Moore has given the following statement concerning Adele’s success within the published charts, “It has been wonderful to have Adele back and releasing music over the second half of last year. Her dominance of all three IFPI Album Charts speaks to her unique song-writing talent, her iconic voice and unrelenting global popularity. We are thrilled to award Adele and all of her team the IFPI Global Album All Format chart award and send huge congratulations for a stellar year.”

The organisation which announced Adele’s most recent accolade is responsible for representation within the record music industry, IFPI is known as the voice within the industry which acts in the interest of its global members. Their mission encompasses such services as promotion of growth and investment for recorded music, expansion of the commercial uses of member’s music and protection and enforcement for their member’s rights.

The competition was announced back in July and the winner was just recently crowned. The virtual show featured the five finalists from Europe, the Middle East and Africa perform and receive feedback from the judging panel. The judges included British rock star Yungblud, rapper Denzel Curry, Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter Julia Michaels and the founder of 88rising Sean Miyashiro.

Northern Ireland’s Lemonade Shoelace was the first performer, he brought his highly positive experimental psych-pop to the competition. Miyashiro commented on the performance“Tight band, [it’s] music that I would want to listen to, They have a distinct sound. I love it.”

Next up was London-based singer Kenya Grace who shared her enigmatic R&B creations which won praise from Michaels who said “It’s really unique, I loved her voice. She has dynamics in her songs and she can perform them and sing them live, which is rare.” KY’ORION then followed this up with the Birmingham rapper showcasing his melodic, thought-provoking bars. “He’s just gotta keep going cos I like the vibe,” Curry said. “He needs to come up with some crazy patterns.”

Welsh duo Altered Myths then mixed things up with a two-track performance with immense bluesy riffs and blasting drums. Miyashiro enjoyed the performance stating “They’re fusing a lot of different things together and I think that’s really dope to make it their own style, I think the songwriting is great. I think they’re definitely onto something.”

Paris-based electronic musician p-i used samplers and other equipment to build the layers of her music, fusing them together to form hypnotic tracks that grew greater with each layer. YungBlud liked the act saying “I can see them going on after me, not before, It feels very late night. If I was in the dance tent and that came on, fuck yeah I’m there. Big vibes.” You can view all the artists performing below.

After the artists performed, the judges then awarded each of them a mark out of 10, with a final score being worked out from their average scores. At the end of the concert receiving the highest marks is Lemonade Shoelace with a score of 8.3. Micheals said of the winner “You can tell that they’ve put a lot of time and devotion and dedication into their artistry and their craft, and I’m so happy I got to experience that today,”

As a reward for Lemonade Shoelace’s victory he has won a support slot with Yungblud when he embarks on his UK tour in January 2022, as well as Vans products, Kramer gear, global music distribution, Spotify and Apple Music playlisting and more.

He spoke to NME ahead of the Livestream concert, where he said winning “would mean the absolute world to me. I feel like I’ve won already by just being selected as a finalist, which I never thought would happen,”  to which he added. “It’s great to see recognition for my hard work; I produce everything myself and I’m so happy people are enjoying my output.”

The album was released in January to much acclaim as critics praised its compassion and insight into topics like mental health and sexuality. Parks told the BBC she had written the album “about the things I was scared to talk about or the things that moved me” and composed the first song, “Eugene”, “sitting on the floor eating pasta” while she was still at school.

Parks performed “Too Good” at the event in London, with host Lauren Laverne revealing that Parks told her she used to cycle past the venue on her way to school. You can see her perform the track below.

When she received the reward the singer said “I am completely speechless. I don’t have the words. I just want to say a big thank you to my family. My mum and my dad are somewhere in the room today,”

Arlo Parks or Anais Oluwatoyin Estelle Marinho was born in west London to Nigerian and French-Chadian parents. She began writing to escape into a fantasy world, quickly establishing a style combining both emotional directness and rich sensory palate.

She draws much of her inspiration from artists like Elliott Smith, Jill Scott, Frank Ocean and Portishead and was only 17 when she began sending demos to the BBC. Success soon followed with trip-hoppy 2018 debut single “Cola”, which featured heavily in Michaela Coel’s BBC drama I May Destroy You which was written with producer Luca Buccellati and has been streamed over 23 million times on Spotify. You can see her excepting her prize here.

The Mercury Prize, is given to the best British or Irish album of the past 12 months and has been going for 30 years. Previous winners include records such as Primal Scream’s Screamadelica, Pulp’s Different Class and Dave’s Psychodrama.