Wolf Alice Named Hyundai Mercury Prize 2018 Winner

20 September 2018, 22:13 | Updated: 21 September 2018, 12:28

The London band have beat off competition from Noel Gallagher, Lily Allen and Arctic Monkeys to win the 2018 award for best album.

The London band, fronted by singer and guitarist Ellie Rowsell, won the award for best album of the past year for their second LP, Visions Of A Life.

Visions Of A Life was released in September 2017 and has spawned the singles Don’t Delete The Kisses and Beautifully Unconventional. Wolf Alice formed back in 2010 around the acoustic duo of Rowsell and guitarist Joff Oddie. An emotional Ellie was brought to tears as she thanked the judges for the prestigious music gong.

Theo Ellis, the group's bass player, told reporters afterwards: "I told a lot of labels to fuck off... It's a bit mad. But they can still fuck off." Adding with a smile, "I think now I need to take it a bit more seriously."

Watch the moment the winner was announced:

The award was given at a glittering ceremony at the Eventim Apollo Hammersmith, which saw live performances from Florence And The Machine, Wolf Alice, Jorja Smith, Everything Everything, Nadine Shah, Lily Allen, King Krule and Novelist. Noel Gallagher was present at the show as his third solo album, Who Built The Moon, was nominated, but he did not perform.

The 12 nominated albums were:

Arctic Monkeys – Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino

Everything Everything – A Fever Dream

Everything is Recorded – Everything is Recorded

Florence + The Machine – High as Hope

Jorja Smith – Lost & Found

King Krule – The Ooz

Lily Allen – No Shame

Nadine Shah – Holiday Destination

Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds – Who Built the Moon?

Novelist – Novelist Guy

Sons of Kemet – Your Queen is a Reptile

Wolf Alice – Visions of a Life

Previous winners have included Primal Scream, Suede, Portishead, Arctic Monkeys and Elbow. The winner of the 2017 prize was Sampha for his debut album Process.