British singer-songwriter James Blunt has a new album called Moon Landing. It's coming out in the U.S. next week. But this isn't about him. Or rather, it shouldn't be. This is James Blake's big moment. See, he just won Britain's prestigiuous Mercury Prize.
The Barclaycard Mercury Prize is one of Britain's most important music awards, given to the top album of the year by a British or Irish artist, as determined by a panel of critics, musicians and music industry executives. Tonight, in a televised announcement on BBC, James Blake's sophomore album, Overgrown, took home the honors.
Before his victory had been announced, though, Blake took the stage to perform, and announcer Lauren Laverne mistakenly introduced him as James Blunt, according to NME. For his part, Blunt seemed pleasantly surprised and eager to claim the award:
So did I win!? @MusicWeekNews: Sounded a lot like @laurenlaverne just introduced @jamesblake as @JamesBlunt #MercuryPrize #giveitsomeBlunty
Alas, it was not to be. Overgrown still, in fact, won. Laverne took to Twitter to correct herself, and she latere confirmed the win, offering her congratulations to the nominees:
Never felt better than I do tonight about artists who have fractionally dissimilar fore and surnames. #MercuryPrize #Irony
Really strong shortlist this year, congratulations to all 12 artists, especially our very worthy winner @jamesblake #MercuryPrize
Check out the full list of nominees below:
Arctic Monkeys: AM
David Bowie: The Next Day
Disclosure: Settle
Foals: Holy Fire
Jake Bugg: Jake Bugg
Jon Hopkins: Immunity
Laura Marling: Once I Was an Eagle
Laura Mvula: Sing to the Moon
Rudimental: Home
Savages: Silence Yourself
Villagers: Awayland
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