aaamusic | On 01, Mar 2012

The crème de la crème of the music world were out in force yesterday as the 2012 NME Awards took place at London’s O2 Academy Brixton. Big winners included Florence + The Machine, Kasabian, Foo Fighters, Pulp and Noel Gallagher, an incredible ten million votes were cast making this the biggest NME Awards yet.

Renowned as one of the most important and influential nights in the music calendar, the NME Awards 2012 did not disappoint. Hosted by comedian Jack Whitehall, some of the industry’s most important players took to the red carpet to celebrate the past year in music.

Kasabian opened the awards with a storming performance of ‘Switchblade Smiles’ and ‘Days Are Forgotten’ before picking up the prestigious title of Best British Band, beating off tough competition from Muse, Arctic Monkeys, Bombay Bicycle Club and The Horrors.

Florence + The Machine shined tonight receiving two awards including Best Solo Artist and Best Track for ‘Shake It Out’, which she performed on the night. Florence also teamed up with The Horrors for an incredible performance of ‘Still Life’, taken from the band’s 2011 Top Five album ‘Skying’ which won Best Album.

The Foo Fighters landed Best International Band, and also picked up Best Music Film for their documentary ‘Back and Forth’. The much sought after Best New Band accolade went to The Vaccines – despite stiff competition from woman of the moment Lana Del Rey, Tribes, Foster The People and Wu Lyf – and was presented by Graham Coxon and Alexa Chung. The Vaccines also treated guests to a performance of ‘Wreckin’ Bar’ and one of their biggest hits, ‘If You Wanna’.

One of the highlights of the night was Pulp, who were presented with the very special accolade of Teenage Cancer Trust Outstanding Contribution to Music by Sir Peter Blake. It was followed by an incredible performance which delighted the crowd.

The award for Godlike Genius was presented to Noel Gallagher by legendary Smiths guitarist, Johnny Marr.  Noel stole the show with a sensational closing performance of seven tracks – a mix of Oasis songs and tracks from his ‘Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds’ album..

Arctic Monkeys may have lost out to Kasabian in the Best British Band category but they won Best Live Band, while Hurts picked up Best Video for ‘Sunday’, beating Lana Del Rey, Arctic Monkeys, Beyonce and Tyler, The Creator. The Maccabees then took to the stage for a rousing performance of ‘Pelican’.

Music Moment of the Year went to the Stone Roses for their reunion announcement, whilst Hero of the Year was presented to Muse front man Matt Bellamy.  Justin Bieber was crowned Villain of the Year. It was a double blow for Bieber, as he also won Worst Album for ‘Under The Mistletoe’ (the second year in a row he’s received this award). The dreaded Worst Band title went to One Direction.

Other winners included Katy B who picked up Best Dance Floor Filler for ‘Broken Record’, Azealia Banks took home the Philip Hall Radar Award and Best Re-Issue was given to The Smiths for their Complete Re-issues. 30 Seconds to Mars’ Jared Leto won in the Hottest Man stakes, while Paramore’s Hayley Williams won Hottest Woman.

The mighty Glastonbury won Best Festival for the third year running, and Rockness was awarded Best Small Festival. Best Fan Community went to Muse’s fans, while Best Band Blog or Twitter went to the untouchable Lady Gaga for her twitter account (@ladygaga) which has amassed close to 20 million followers.

Best TV Show went to Channel 4’s Fresh Meat, and Best Film was given to British cult hit Submarine, the music for which was produced by Arctic Monkey’s front man Alex Turner.

Noel Fielding picked up the award for Best Book, for his beautifully produced art based ‘The Scribblings of a Madcap Shambleton’, and Best Album Artwork went to Friendly Fires for ‘Pala’.

Catch all the highlights of the show on T4 at 9.25am on 3 March
The full NME Awards 2012 will be shown at 11.55pm on 3 March

FULL WINNERS LIST:

Best British Band supported by Sonos
Kasabian

Best International Band supported by T4
Foo Fighters

Best New Band supported by Boxfresh
The Vaccines

Best Solo Artist supported by Rekorderlig
Florence + the Machine

Best Live Band supported by Carling
Arctic Monkeys

Best Album supported by HMV
Horrors, Skying

Best Track supported by Fender
Florence + The Machine, Shake It Out

Best Video supported by NMEVideo.com
Hurts, Sunday

Best Festival
Glastonbury

Dancefloor Anthem supported by NME Radio
Katy B, Broken Record

Best TV Show
Fresh Meat

Best Film
Submarine

Hero Of The Year
Matt Bellamy

Villain Of The Year
Justin Bieber

Worst Album
Justin Bieber, Under The Mistletoe

Worst Band
One Direction

Hottest Male
Jared Leto, 30 Seconds To Mars

Hottest Female
Hayley Williams, Paramore

Best Album Artwork
Friendly Fires, Pala

Best Band Blog or Twitter
Lady Gaga, @ladygaga

Best Book
Noel Fielding, The Scribblings of a Madcap Shambleton

Best Small Festival
Rockness

Most Dedicated Fans
Muse

Best Music Film
Foo Fighters, Back and Forth

Greatest Music Moment
Stone Roses re-unite

Best Re-issue
The Smiths, Complete re-issues

Philip Hall Radar Award
Azealia Banks