The live performers for this year’s Mercury Prize ceremony were recently announced with Sam Fender, Wet Leg, Self Esteem among those set to perform at next month’s ceremony in London. Formerly called the Mercury Music Prize, it is an annual music prize awarded for the best album released in the United Kingdom by a British or Irish act. Last month (July 26), the 12 albums that have been shortlisted for the Album Of The Year award were announced, the list included Harry Styles’ Harry’s House, Little Simz’s Sometimes I Might be Introvert, Sam Fender’s Seventeen Going Under, Wet Leg’s self-titled album and Yard Act’s The Overload.
So far 11 of the 12 nominees have now been confirmed to perform live at the September 8 ceremony at London’s Eventim Apollo in Hammersmith. Only Harry Styles is unable to attend as he is currently on tour in the US and will instead pre-record a special performance that will be broadcast at the ceremony. Last year, Arlo Parks walked away with the 2021 Mercury Prize for her album ‘Collapsed In Sunbeams’ and you can see the performance of her track “Too Good” below.
The 2022 Mercury Prize ceremony will be hosted by Lauren Laverne and broadcast on BBC Four from 9 pm-10.15 pm BST. Radio coverage will also be available on BBC Radio 6 Music from 7 pm-midnight. Both programmes will feature live performances from the shortlisted artists as they lead up to the live announcement of this year’s overall winner, followed by playing the winner’s album out in full.
The Mercury Prize also has a new headline sponsor Free Now the booking app. The sponsorship is part of a multi-year commitment from Free Now to support British music while Amazon Music is the digital music partner of the 2022 Mercury Prize. The music streaming service will be supporting the Mercury Prize shortlisted artists with playlists and programming from the launch of the shortlist until the Awards Show. British premium audio brand, Bowers & Wilkins, continues as the official audio partner of the Mercury Prize.
Tickets for the ceremony are available here and you can view the full list of nominations below.
The 2022 Mercury Prize Albums Of The Year nominations:
- Fergus McCreadie, Forest Floor
- Gwenno, Tresor
- Harry Styles, Harry’s House
- Jessie Buckley & Bernard Butler, For All Our Days That Tear the Heart
- Joy Crookes, Skin
- Kojey Radical, Reason to Smile
- Little Simz, Sometimes I Might Be Introvert
- Nova Twins, Supernova
- Sam Fender, Seventeen Going Under
- Self Esteem, Prioritise Pleasure
- Wet Leg, Wet Leg
- Yard Act, The Overload
