David Bowie’s final offering ‘Blackstar’ has bagged him a posthumous place on the shortlist for this year’s Mercury Prize.
The iconic singer released his last album back in January, just one week before his death at the age of 69, with several of the tracks relating to his private battle with pancreatic cancer.
It has now been revealed that he is one of 12 artists featured on the ‘Albums Of The Year’ list compiled by the Mercury Prize, which honours the past year of British music.
Also on the shortlist are grime artists Skepta and Kano for their efforts ‘Konnichiwa’ and ‘Made In The Mirror’ respectively, as well as The 1975, for their exciting but dreadfully-titled ‘I Like It When You Sleep, For You Are... Actually This Album Title Is So Bad We Can’t Bring Ourselves To Finish It Properly’.
Bat For Lashes’ ‘The Bride’ also features, as do Anohni and Laura Mvula.
The judging panel said: “This is music to make sense of our unsettling times - heartfelt, angry, thoughtful and thrilling. The 2016 Hyundai Mercury Prize ‘Albums of the Year’ are marked by their musical ambitions, unexpected instrumentation and breathtaking arrangements.”
Check out the full shortlist below...
- Anohni - ‘Hopelessness’
- Bat For Lashes - ‘The Bride’
- David Bowie - ‘Blackstar’
- Jamie Woon - ‘Making Time’
- Kano - ‘Made in the Manor’
- Laura Mvula - ‘The Dreaming Room’
- Michael Kiwanuka - ‘Love & Hate’
- Radiohead - ‘A Moon Shaped Pool’
- Savages - ‘Adore Life’
- Skepta - ‘Konnichiwa’
- The 1975 - ‘I like it when you sleep, for you are so beautiful yet so unaware of it’
- The Comet Is Coming - ‘Channel the Spirits’
The winner of this year’s Mercury Prize will be decided by a judging panel of music industry experts, at an event on Wednesday 15 September.
Bowie has previously been nominated on two occasions, for his albums ‘Heathen’ and ‘The Next Day’.
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