GREEN DAY, BIFFY CLYRO, FALL OUT BOY, POPPY, BRING ME THE HORIZON, WEEZER AND MORE HONOURED AT THE ANNUAL
KERRANG! AWARDS
GREEN DAY PROCLAIMED KERRANG! ICON
POPPY CROWNED
BEST INTERNATIONAL ACT
BIFFY CLYRO VOTED BEST BRITISH ACT
Thursday 23 June: The most raucous night in the music calendar – the Kerrang! Awards – raged at Shoreditch Town Hall as the world’s biggest alternative and most ground-breaking talent turned out in droves.
An array of artists were honoured on an evening that reinforced Kerrang!’s unparalleled position as the world’s greatest alternative music and culture brand. Legendary acts such as Green Day, Fall Out Boy, Weezer, twenty one pilots and Biffy Clyro rubbed shoulders with WARGASM (UK), Amyl And The Sniffers, Enter Shikari and Mimi Barks at the prestigious bash which returned this year after a pandemic enforced hiatus.
Kerrang! Editor Luke Morton said: “The alternative music scene is more exciting than ever in 2022, and this year’s Kerrang! Awards underlines our commitment to supporting new music and championing the underdogs. I’m so proud to introduce three new categories that strike at the heart of the underground and the alternative community, while also recognising the stadium-conquering legends who have paved the way and make the alt. scene the most inspiring place to be right now. Our world is alive with positive change – get on board.”
Making a pit stop before headlining London’s O2 Academy Brixton, twenty one pilots were in attendance and walked away with Best Live Act presented by Music Venue Trust. The band have consistently impressed with their spectacular performances, from dangling microphones from the ceiling during their early basement gigs to the disappearing acts and crowd-surfing drum solos of their glorious arena shows, the duo have always wowed whatever space they’ve found themselves in.
Scottish heroes Biffy Clyro took on heavyweights Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes, Loathe, Venom Prison and Neck Deep to win the hotly-contested Best British Act presented by Dead Man’s Fingers Rum.
Seminal American rock band Fall Out Boy had their incredible career recognised with the Kerrang! Inspiration Award, making this their sixth Kerrang! Award in total. With a career spanning over 20 years and seven studio albums, Fall Out Boy’s era-defining sound leaves them widely regarded as one of the key influences of many artists.
Poppy was victorious in taking home Best International Act, seeing off the likes of titans Ghost and Eurovision heroes Måneskin. The unstoppable face of a genre-less world has cemented herself as one of the world’s biggest viral phenomena and multimedia artists.
Punk rock royalty Green Day were bestowed with the Kerrang! Icon Award presented by Marshall. The five-time GRAMMY Award winners have had a generation-defining career, spanning 13 studio albums, and the band now join previous Kerrang! Icons Tony Iommi and The Ramones in the esteemed merit-driven category. The award, designed to recognise career-long achievements, is awarded to Green Day to acknowledge over 70 million records sold worldwide and 10 billion cumulative audio/visual streams.
New for 2022 are the The Disruptor Award and The Grassroots Award, both introduced to showcase and celebrate important voices of our time and the wider alternative community. Known for her boundary-breaking trailblazer attitude, doom-trap enigma Mimi Barks secured The Disruptor Award, presented by none other than Bimini Bon Boulash of RuPaul’s Drag Race fame. Feminist activist and crucial figure Janey Starling was awarded The Grassroots Award to shine a light on her important work as co-director of feminist campaign group Level-Up and as a domestic violence expert. The award was presented by Petrol Girls, who collaborated with Janey to release ‘Fight For Our Lives’ on International Women’s Day, raising funds for Level-Up.
The Kerrang! Hall Of Fame welcomed American band Weezer to the fold. Presented by Brit rockers Deaf Havana, the award celebrates the band’s remarkable career of over 35 million records sold worldwide throughout their 30 year tenure, which has defined them as one of the most beloved artists of their generation. Weezer join fellow Kerrang! Award winners Green Day and Fall Out Boy on the UK leg of the Hella Mega Tour starting June 24.
Kerrang!, who has relentlessly championed new talent since the magazine was first published in June 1981, also introduced the New Noise Award presented by Dr. Martens for 2022, which celebrates the vibrant artists making Kerrang!’s world the most exciting place to be right now. WARGASM (UK) took home the accolade, beating Heriot, Pinkshift, Pupil Slicer and Static Dress, all of which highlight the brand’s aim to consistently shine a light on forward-thinking alternative culture and music.
Continuing this theme saw critically acclaimed duo Nova Twins pick up the award for Best British Breakthrough presented by MEATliquor as they look set for their first ever Top 20 album this week with the explosive album ‘Supernova’. Best International Breakthrough presented by Blinding Talent was nabbed by Australian punk band Amyl And The Sniffers, whose stage-shattering sounds have shocked and delighted critics and fans worldwide.
It was an international showdown for Best Song and Best Album, with Bring Me The Horizon picking up the gong for their huge single ‘DiE4u’, beating the likes of Rammstein and FEVER 333, and Bob Vylan winning with the album ‘Bob Vylan Presents The Price Of Life’. Megastars such as Every Time I Die and Halsey were in the running for the hotly contested award.
Last but not least, Best Festival presented by Strongbow Ultra went to last year’s Download Pilot, one of the all-important events that helped carve a route for music events globally to safely come back in the new world we live in. Enter Shikari accepted the award as the event’s Saturday night headliner.
The Kerrang! Awards would like to thank all sponsors for their continued support, Dead Man’s Fingers Rum, Marshall, Dr. Martens, MEATliquor, Drop Dead Clothing, Red Stripe, Strongbow Ultra, Music Venue Trust and Blinding Talent.
Kerrang! Awards – Full Winners List
KERRANG! ICON presented by Marshall
Green Day
BEST LIVE ACT presented by Music Venue Trust
twenty one pilots
NEW NOISE AWARD presented by Dr Martens
WARGASM (UK)
BEST INTERNATIONAL BREAKTHROUGH presented by Blinding Talent
Amyl and the Sniffers
THE DISRUPTOR AWARD
Mimi Barks
KERRANG! HALL OF FAME
Weezer
BEST ALBUM
Bob Vylan
GRASSROOTS AWARD
Janey Starling
BEST BRITISH BREAKTHROUGH presented by MEATliquor
Nova Twins
BEST FESTIVAL presented by Strongbow Ultra
Download Pilot
BEST BRITISH ACT presented by Dead Man’s Fingers Rum
Biffy Clyro
BEST INTERNATIONAL ACT
Poppy
BEST SONG
Bring Me The Horizon
KERRANG! INSPIRATION AWARD
Fall Out Boy