by Alexandra Pollard | Photos by WENN
The Mercury Prize winners - where are they now?
From the hugely successful to the largely forgotten
2015, Benjamin Clementine: After winning for his debut album, At Least For Now, Clementine toured across the UK and Europe. He played Somerset House earlier this summer, and set to perform at this year’s Progress 1000 party. A far cry from his beginnings as a busker.
2014, Young Fathers: With their brand of confrontational alternative hip hop, Young Fathers were never going to become mainstream successes. They've developed a dedicated following since their win last year though, and followed it up with an equally innovative White Men Are Black Men Too back in April. Gareth Gates isn't a fan though - in fact, their music "offends" him.
2013, James Blake: Two years after he was nominated for his eponymous debut, Blake's second album, Overgrown, managed to clinch the top prize last year. Since then, he's moved in with Chance The Rapper, and announced that his third album will be called Radio Silence. It features collaborations with Bon Iver and Kanye West, but a release date is yet to be confirmed.
2012, Alt-J: Despite their Mercury win, Alt-J's debut album An Awesome Wave still never managed to crack the top ten in the UK, or the top 50 in the US. The band now have a loyal fanbase of millions though, and their second album This Is All Yours (despite the loss of bassist Gwil Sainsbury) went to No.1 in the UK and No.4 in the US.
2011, PJ Harvey: You already know this one. Ten years on from her last win, PJ Harvey did it again with her protest album Let England Shake. Following the win, sales of the album increased by 1,100%, but she probably didn't pay much attention to that. She remains one of the most respected left-field artists around.
2010: The xx: When xx was first released, it received a rather lacklustre fanfare. Thanks to its Mercury win though, and its songs being used in various high-profile TV programmes, the band's debut album became a sleeper hit. It's since been certified Gold in the US and Platinum in the UK. The band's second album, Coexist, was release in 2012, and they spent much of 2014 in Texas working on their third. It's still not materialised though - perhaps because Jamie xx has been busy releasing his own solo output.
2009, Speech Debelle: The little known rapper won the Mercury Prize for her debut album Speech Therapy, beating favourites Florence & the Machine and The Horrors. However, winning the award did little to raise the London rapper's profile, and Speech Therapy only shifted around 15,000 copies. Debelle was last seen in in 2013's series of Celebrity Masterchef.
2008, Elbow: Despite having been together for 18 years before they won the Mercury Prize for The Seldom Seen Kid, Elbow had never enjoyed mainstream success. This changed when they won the coveted award and they have since released two more critically acclaimed albums, and performed at the 2012 Olympics Closing Ceremony. Guy Garvey is currently braced to release his debut solo album, Courting The Squall.
2007, Klaxons: The 'Golden Skans' singers were at the forefront of the reinvigorated nu-rave scene in 2007 and became darlings of the NME after online demos were met with hype by critics and on dancefloors. Their much-anticipated debut album, Myths Of the Near Future, went to No.2 and bagged the Mercury Prize. Their second album, Surfing the Void, failed to make much of an impact though, as did 2014's Love Frequency.
2006, Arctic Monkeys; Alex Turner and co exploded into public consciousness with Whatever You Say I Am, That's What I'm Not, the UK's fastest selling album of all time, spawning unforgettable singles such as When The Sun Goes Down. The band have since headlined Glastonbury twice and released four more critically acclaimed albums. The most recent, AM, became one of the fastest selling albums of 2013.
2005, Antony & The Johnsons: It's a testament to the Mercurys that this beautiful, vulnerable album managed to beat out the likes of more commercially successful acts, such as Bloc Party, Coldplay, Kaiser Chiefs and Maximo Park. Nearly ten years on, Antony Hegarty's band are still quietly devastating, and they recently contributed to the Hunger Games: Catching Fire soundtrack. Lead singer Antony Hegarty is releasing a solo album this year under the moniker Anohni.
2004, Franz Ferdinand: Alex Kapranos, Bob Hardy, Nick McCarthy and Paul Thomson were awarded the Mercury for their eponymous debut, with its infectious lead single 'Take Me Out', and promptly became one of the UK's biggest indie bands. The Glasgow quartet's second album went platinum and even went top 10 in the US. They released a fourth studio album last year, and teamed up with Sparks this year to release an album under the moniker FFS.
2003, Dizzee Rascal: The Bow rapper's Mercury win for Boy In Da Corner- the record that broke Grime into the mainstream - was the real deal; a raw narrative of urban London in the early noughties. The East Londoner went on to release a few more successful albums and became one of the biggest artists in the UK. He's now lost a little of his credibility thanks to collaborations with Jessie J and Robbie Williams, and has gone quiet in the past few years - but he may well be plotting a mini comeback.
2002, Miss Dynamite: The North London rapper was a regular on the UK garage scene, lending her vocals to popular tracks passed around pirate radio stations. She released her Mercury winner debut A Little Deeper soon after, which included hit singles such as 'Dy-na-mi-tee'. The album was critically acclaimed but the rapper fell off the radar after having a baby. She has emerged back on the scene in recent times, collaborating with David Guetta and guesting on Katy B's hit 'Lights On'.
2001, PJ Harvey: Harvey had been a working musician for 18 years when she won the Mercury for her fifth album Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea. Has she been successful since? Well, ten years later, she won again. Her new album, The Hollow Of The Hand, which she recorded as part of a public art installation, is due out this year.
2000, Badly Drawn Boy: The indie singer-songwriter and serial hat wearer, real name Damon Michael Gough, was awarded the Mercury for his album The Hour Of Bewilderbeast. Prior to this, Gough hadn't enjoyed much commercial success, but this album is recognised as the critical and commercial peak of his career. This festival season, he's been playing the album in full, and occasionally having hissy fits on-stage.
1999, Talvin Singh: The Indian producer, affiliated with the Asian Underground electronica movement, beat the likes of Blur and Manic Street Preachers to the Mercury Prize with his album OK. Despite the win, it only sold 90,000 copies, and his fame has only diminished since then. He did win a UK Asian Music Award in 2010 for 'Commitment To Scene' though. (photo: Facebook / Talvin Singh).
1998, Gomez: Following their win, Gomez were chosen to cover The Beatles' 'Come Together' for a $100 million Philips Electronics ad campaign. Despite this, and the fact that their next two albums reached the UK top ten, Gomez's following four efforts failed to make much of an impact. They're still going though, and with a small but dedicated fanbase.
1997, Reprazent: The drum and bass act formed by Roni Size were a new kind of Mercury band - their pioneering drum and bass music was described by critics as a "masterpiece" and the awards judges clearly agreed. Since then, they've released two new albums, but neither quite topped the success of their debut. They disbanded in 2008, but have since reformed and toured some of the biggest European festivals.
1996, Pulp: They released four albums before 1996, but it took Different Class - the album that remains their most iconic - to finally clinch the Mercury, beating out the likes of Oasis and Manic Street Preachers. Despite having not released a new album since 2001, Pulp are still together (aside from a brief hiatus in the 00s) and touring, and remain as popular as they ever were.
1995, Portishead: After the band's brilliant debut album, Dummy, won the Mercury back in 1995, Portishead withdrew from the spotlight for three years before releasing their eponymous second album. Fans had to wait over ten years for their third, which was released in 2008 after a hiatus. They still play occasional tours, and played a stunning headline set at Latitude Festival this summer.
1994, M People: M People's second album, Elegant Slumming, won the Mercury Prize 20 years ago. Following this, the band released two more multi-platinum selling albums, and a greatest hits before taking an extended hiatus in 1998. In 2013, they reunited for an extensive UK tour to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Elegant Slumming, but they've done nothing since.
1993, Suede: 22 years on from their Mercury winning debut, Suede are still going strong. Admittedly, there was a decade long hiatus, but the band released their sixth album, Bloodsports, in 2013, and its commercial and critical success bodes well for its follow-up, Night Thoughts, which is coming in 2016. We should point out that East 17 were nominated in the same year, and it would have been quite brilliant if they'd won.
1992, Primal Scream: The indie band won the very first Mercury for their era-defining debut Screamadelica. Unfortunately, drug abuse and in-band fighting took its toll and their next few releases were not as well-received. However, against all odds Bobby Gillespie and co soldiered on and are still a fixture on the music scene, with great acclaim for their latter releases cementing their status as legends.
In a few minutes' time, Lauren Laverne is set to announce the nominess for this year's Mercury Prize. Whoever goes on to win will receive a week or two of intense media speculation - the rest is up to them.
For some acts, winning a Mercury provides the boost their debut album needed to hit the big time. Other, already-established, acts have capitalised on their win so successfully it's given their career a new lease of life. Some, however, have all but disappeared from the music scene, their win a brief flash in the pan of success.
Here's what happened next, good and bad, to every single Mercury Prize winner since the competition began in 1992.