Arctic Monkeys singer Alex Turner used his acceptance speech at this evening’s Brit Awards (February 19) to insist that “rock’n’roll will never die”.
The Sheffield band won two awards at the ceremony at London’s O2 Arena, taking home the gongs for British Group and British Album. “There’s that 15 quid we put on One Direction to win down the drain,” quipped Turner after he and his bandmates collected the first prize but, when picking up the award for British Album for last year’s ‘AM’, he said: “That rock ‘n’roll, eh? That rock’n’roll, it just won’t go away. It might hibernate from time to time, sink back into the swamp. I think the cyclical nature of the universe in which it exists demands that acquiesce to some of its rules.
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“But it’s always waiting there, just around the corner,” he added. “Ready to make its way back through the sludge and smash through the glass ceiling, looking better than ever. Yeah, that rock’n’roll, it seems like it’s faded away sometimes, but it will never die. And there’s nothing you can do about it.” He then told organisers to “invoice me for the microphone if you wanna” before dropping it on the floor.
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.
The Brit Awards 2014 winners are as follows:
Best British Group
Arctic Monkeys
Best British Album
Arctic Monkeys – ‘AM’
Best British Single
Rudimental – ‘Waiting All Night’
Best British Female
Ellie Goulding
Best British Male
David Bowie
British Breakthrough
Bastille
Best International Group
Daft Punk
Best International Male
Bruno Mars
Best International Female
Lorde
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.