Arctic Monkeys’ Alex Turner: ‘A band’s talent is not proportional to their trophy cabinet’

Frontman 'refuses to put too much importance' on awards and awards ceremonies

Arctic Monkeys frontman Alex Turner has spoken about his feelings on awards ceremonies following his rousing Best Album acceptance speech at The Brit Awards last night (February 19), which served as a rallying cry for rock ‘n’ roll.

Turner and his group picked up two awards on the night: Best Group and Best Album for 2013’s ‘AM’. They were matched in their prize haul only by boyband One Direction, who picked up the awards for Global Success and Best British Video.

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Asked if awards were important to the band, Turner said: “I refuse to put too much importance on these things. I’ve got a lot of respect for these ceremonies, but it’s not what we do it for and it never was.

A band or a group or an artist’s talent is not directly proportional to the size of their trophy cabinet. It’s the opposite of Moto Grand Prix, when that is very much the case.

Asked about Turner’s speech, bassist Nick O’ Malley summed it up succinctly: “He just basically meant, rock ‘n’ roll will never die, and there’s nothing you can do about it. That’s the gist.”

Arctic Monkeys had started off the ceremony by performing their single ‘R U Mine?’ during which pyrotechnics spelled out the initials ‘AM’. Prince, Beyonce, Noel Gallagher, Pharrell Williams and Katy Perry were also all at the event, while Best British Male winner David Bowie sent supermodel Kate Moss to pick up his award. Click here to read NME‘s full report of the evening.

Arctic Monkeys lead the nominations at this year’s NME Awards with Austin, Texas. If you want to be there, tickets for the ceremony are on sale now.

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