FKA Twigs absolutely rocked the red carpet
Hero.
Beabadoobee chatted with NME’s roving reporter
Closely followed by fellow performer Beabadoobee
The Big Moon had a right laugh!
The Big Moon are up for Best British Band supported by Pizza Express, as well as Best Band in the World. So perhaps it’s no wonder that Fern Ford fancies a right knees-up?
Yungblud channeled Cher from Clueless
Check, mate! Yungblud arrives at O2 Brixton Academy ahead of his performance
Carl Barât: style icon
Nice shades, Carl Barât
Robyn and Zhala looked fierce
Robyn’s here to collect her Songwriter of the Decade award, along with her Konichiwa labelmate Zhala
And so did Charli XCX
It’s Charli, baby!
It was a successful night for Christine and The Queens
Who got nominated with Charli XCX for Best Collaboration, supported by Brixton Brewery? Christine And The Queens!
Slowthai and Mura Masa kicked things off
The duo performed an incendiary ‘Deal Wiv It’.
Slowthai popped the champers
First prize to whoever can spot a very shocked-looking Christine and The Queens.
Foals’ speech made us feel special
Accepting their award for Best Live Act supported by Copper Dog Whiskey, the band’s frontman Yannis Philippakis said: “It’s so fucking great to have this awards ceremony back… It’s where it should be. It’s been an absolute institution for us growing up.” Aww!
Matty Healy presented Dirty Hit label mate Beabadoobee with her NME Radar Award
A heartwarming moment if ever we’ve seen one.
Yungblud x Charli x Chris
Now that’s a clique you want to join
Krept & Konan here, wearing earphones
Wonder what they’re listening to?
Easy Life serenaded Brixton
Picking up their award for Best New British Act supported by Nordoff Robbins, the band led a Maroon 5 sing-along because, well, why not?
And then Beabadoobee delivered a spine-tingling performance
Next up, it’s Beabadoobee, with ‘She Plays Bass’
An unlikely but brilliant trio: Michael Eavis, Emily Eavis and Yungblud
Sure!
The 1975 were nice lads
The band pick up their Innovation Award, with Matty Healy paying tribute to “all the incredibly, wonderfully talented people in the room”.
And actual Robert Smith graced us with his presence
The Cure received Best Festival Headliner supported by CanO Water, and Robert Smith said “it means a lot, actually, for getting an award for playing live because it [doesn’t happen] that often.”
FKA Twigs offered a rare moment of hush
The star performed her gorgeous track ‘Cellophane’ and it was an incredibly special moment.
Little Simz was super wholesome
She brought her mum onstage as she collected the Best British Album award for her brilliant ‘GREY Area’. Bless!
Taylor Swift and Billy Bragg shared the stage
Well, you don’t see that every day! The dynamic duo were presenting Emily Eavis with the coveted Godlike Genius award.
Taylor Swift sipped on the chaos
Picking up her award for Best Solo Act in The World, T-Swift drank in the mayhem. “This is the craziest award show I’ve ever been to,” she declared, “and I love it so much.”
Courtney Love made her way to the stage collect her Icon Award
A walking study in demonology.
Her acceptance speech was obviously inspiring
“I first picked up a New Musical Express in 1981,” she said. “I am 18 months sober today. And that’s pretty wild!”
Yungblud smashed it with a two-song show
The Donny don knocked it out of the park with ‘Original Me’ and ‘Braindead!’. Look at that little face!
AJ Tracey was loving it
He was live and direct with an incredible performance of ‘Ladbroke Grove’, our Best British Song supported by Piper-Heidseick.
Chris of Christine & the Queens expressed an interest in the pizza
She took a French fancy to an American Hot.
Whereas Yungblud expressed an interest in Yannis from Foals
Courtney Love and Nick Grimshaw: another unlikely combo
More or less improbable than the Eavises and Yungblud?
Robyn got emosh as Christine and The Queens and Charli XCX paid tribute
‘Gone’ collaborators Charli and Chris took to the stage to present Robyn with her Songwriter of the Decade award, as the pop icon looked on. “She achieved something almost impossible with every song she wrote,” Christine and The Queens said.
Her acceptance speech highlighted emotional precision
“When I was little, and I discovered songs that shaped me, it was because someone put their finger on something that I felt before, but I couldn’t explain,” she said.
And then it was up to Band of the Decade The 1975 to close the show
The band tore into their punk banger ‘People’….
… And rounded off with ‘Love It If We Made It’. What a night!
Head to NME.com for all the latest action from NME Awards 2020