We're delighted to announce the Shortlist for the 2017 Hyundai Mercury Prize:
alt-j - 'Relaxer'
Blossoms - 'Blossoms'
Dinosaur - 'Together, As One'
Ed Sheeran - '÷'
Glass Animals - 'How to Be a Human Being'
J Hus - 'Common Sense'
Kate Tempest - 'Let Them Eat Chaos'
Loyle Carner - 'Yesterday’s Gone'
Sampha - 'Process'
Stormzy - 'Gang Signs & Prayer'
The Big Moon - 'Love in the 4th Dimension'
The xx - 'I See You'
The Hyundai Mercury Prize ‘Albums of the Year’ celebrates and promotes the best of UK music, recognising artistic achievement across a range of contemporary music genres. The Shortlist was chosen by an independent judging panel and revealed at our Launch event, hosted by BBC Music’s Huw Stephens.
The judges said “This year’s Hyundai Mercury Prize shortlist celebrates the remarkable power of British music. What these artists have in common is an infectious pleasure in music making and an arresting sense of urgency about the music they make. They delight in exploring musical possibilities and refusing to be pinned down by genre conventions.”
You can learn more about our panel of twelve 2017 Hyundai Mercury Prize judges here.
The 2017 Awards Show will take place on Thursday 14 September at the Eventim Apollo, Hammersmith. The event will feature live performances from many of the shortlisted artists and the evening will culminate in the announcement of the overall winner of the 2017 Hyundai Mercury Prize for ‘Album of the Year’. Tickets are on sale here.
The Prize’s broadcast partner, BBC Music, will be providing live television and radio coverage of the event on BBC Four and BBC Radio 6 Music. The BBC Four show will feature performances from the artists on the night, building up to moment the winner is announced, live. Ahead of this, BBC Two will broadcast a 30 minute documentary previewing the shortlisted artists for the 2017 Prize, speaking to artists from the vanguard of grime, performance poetry and guitar rock, as well as past Mercury winners who are shortlisted again this year for the prestigious prize. BBC Radio 6 Music will also be broadcasting live on the night and interviewing the 2017 Hyundai Mercury Prize winner.
Hyundai Motor is very proud to support innovation in British music and will celebrate all the shortlisted artists as we build up to this year’s awards show.