PJ Harvey Wins The Barclaycard Mercury Prize 2011
The singer does the double by winning twice for the first time...
PJ Harvey has won the 2011 Barclaycard Mercury Prize at a ceremony at London's Grosvenor House Hotel. The winning album was the singer-songwriter's Let England Shake.
The 41-year-old, whose latest offering was inspired by modern conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, beat acts such as chart-topper Adele and Elbow to the £20,000 prize.
Harvey, who had long been the bookies' favourite, last won in 2001 for Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea.
Collecting her prize, she told the audience at London's Grosvenor House Hotel how she had found out about the first award on the day of the September 11 terrorist attacks.
She said: "Thank you for the recognition of my work on this album.
"It's also good to be here this evening. When I last won 10 years ago on September 11, 2001 I was watching the Pentagon burning from my hotel window.
"So much has happened since then. This album took me a long time to write. It was very important to me.
"I wanted to make something meaningful, not just for myself but for other people, and hopefully to make something that would last."
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