Mercury Prize's Monkey Business

As his act collected the Mercury Music Prize for its Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not album, Arctic Monkey Alex Turner joked, “Someone call 999 – Richard Hawley has been robbed.” He admitted to being surprised about the win because normally the prize doesn’t go to an act that has sold as many records as Arctic Monkeys.

The Sheffield-based band’s album in February became the fastest-selling debut in the U.K. and was a very strong favourite to take the award.

Collecting the prize at a September 5 ceremony at London’s Grosvenor House Hotel rounded off a remarkable year for Arctic Monkeys, which is famed for the way it rode to success on the back of self-promotion and the Internet.

It’s only a year since the “I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor” single reached No. 1 in the U.K.

The album became the fastest-selling debut in chart history, shifting more than 360,000 copies in its first week.

Among the other acts on the shortlist were Muse, Editors, The Guillemots, Scritti Politti, Richard Hawley – evidently Turner’s personal choice to win – and Thom Yorke.

The Mercury Music Prize is voted for by a panel of industry experts, journalists and artists, and is said to reward originality and creativity rather than sales success.

It was first awarded in 1992 and past winners include Primal Scream, Suede, Pulp, Franz Ferdinand, and Antony & The Johnsons.

As is traditional with Mercury winners, the act will donate the £20,000 prize to a charity of its choice.