Let’s now complete our summary of the NME Awards, with all the winners in one single, easy-to-digest place. So, as an extension of part two of the NME Poll Winners 1952-1992, here’s the final part!
Best Newcomer
Continuing the list that saw Cliff Richard and The Stone Roses share the limelight previously, these are the more recent newcomers.
Best New Artist
- 1994 – Elastica (Best New Band), Credit to the Nation (Best New Solo Act)
- 1995 – Oasis
- 1996 – Supergrass
- 1997 – Kula Shaker
- 1998 – Embrace
- 1999 – Gomez
- 2000 – Muse
- 2001 – Coldplay
- 2002 – The Strokes
- 2003 – The Libertines
- 2004 – Kings of Leon
- 2005 – Razorlight
- 2006 – Arctic Monkeys
- 2007 – Klaxons
- 2008 – The Enemy
- 2009 – MGMT
- 2010 – Bombay Bicycle Club
- 2011 – Hurts
- 2012 – The Vaccines
- 2013 – Palma Violets
- 2014 – Drenge
- 2015 – Royal Blood
- 2016 – Rat Boy
- 2017 – Dua Lipa
- 2018 – Stefflon Don
Philip Hall Under the Radar Award
- 1995 – Gene
- 1996 – Rocket from the Crypt
- 1997 – Super Furry Animals
- 2000 – Terris
- 2001 – Starsailor
- 2002 – The Coral
- 2003 – Yeah Yeah Yeahs
- 2005 – Kaiser Chiefs
- 2006 – The Long Blondes
- 2007 – The Twang
- 2008 – Glasvegas
- 2009 – The Big Pink
- 2010 – The Drums
- 2011 – The Naked and Famous
- 2012 – The Child of Lov
- 2014 – Fat White Family
- 2018 – Pale Waves
Best Live Music Categories
Most award ceremonies now seem to recognise live music, but the NME Awards have been doing it since way back in the early 1990s.
Best Live Act
- 1995 – Blur
- 1996 – Oasis (Best Live Act), Pulp (NME Live Act of the Year)
- 1997 – Manic Street Preachers
- 2000 – Super Furry Animals (Best Live Act), Mogwai (NME Live Act of the Year)
- 2001 – Moby
- 2002 – U2
- 2003 – The Datsuns
- 2004 – Queens of the Stone Age
- 2005 – Muse
- 2006 – Franz Ferdinand
- 2007 – Kasabian
- 2008 – Muse
- 2009 – Muse
- 2010 – Arctic Monkeys
- 2011 – Biffy Clyro
- 2012 – Arctic Monkeys
- 2013 – The Rolling Stones
- 2014 – Arctic Monkeys
- 2015 – Royal Blood
- 2016 – Wolf Alice
- 2017 – The 1975
- 2018 – Kasabian
Best Festival Headliner
- 2017 – Adele
- 2018 – Muse
Best Live Event
- 1994 – Megadog
- 1995 – Orbital at Glastonbury Festival
- 1996 – Glastonbury Festival
- 1997 – Oasis at Knebworth (Best Musical Event)
- 1998 – Glastonbury Festival (Best Musical Event)
- 1999 – Glastonbury Festival (Best Musical Event)
- 2000 – Glastonbury Festival (Best Musical Event)
- 2001 – Carling Weekend – Reading and Leeds (Best Musical Event)
- 2002 – Ozzfest (Best Musical Event)
- 2003 – Carling Weekend – Reading and Leeds (Best Musical Event)
- 2005 – Glastonbury Festival
- 2006 – Carling Weekend – Reading and Leeds (Best Musical Event)
- 2007 – Carling Weekend – Reading and Leeds
- 2008 – Carling Weekend – Reading and Leeds
- 2009 – Glastonbury Festival
- 2010 – Blur at Hyde Park
Best Festival
- 2010 – Glastonbury Festival
- 2011 – Glastonbury Festival
- 2012 – Glastonbury Festival
- 2013 – Carling Weekend – Reading and Leeds
- 2014 – Glastonbury Festival
- 2015 – Glastonbury Festival
- 2016 – Glastonbury Festival
- 2017 – Glastonbury Festival
- 2018 – Glastonbury Festival
Best Small Festival
- 2011 – RockNess
- 2012 – RockNess
- 2013 – Festival No. 6
- 2014 – Sŵn
- 2015 – Liverpool Psych Fest
- 2016 – End of the Road
- 2017 – End of the Road
- 2018 – Festival No. 6
Radio Session of the Year
- 1997 – Suede (Radio 1 Evening Session of the Year)
- 1998 – Radiohead (Radio 1 Evening Session of the Year)
- 1999 – Junior Carter (Breezeblock Mix of the Year)
- 2000 – Supergrass (Radio 1 Session of the Year), Ooberman (Best NME Premier Show Performance)
- 2001 – Coldplay (Radio 1 Session of the Year)
- 2002 – The Charlatans (Radio 1 Session of the Year)
Best Club / Live Venue
- 1994 – The Forum
- 1995 – Brixton Academy
- 1996 – Brixton Academy
- 1997 – Brixton Academy
- 1998 – Brixton Academy
- 1999 – Brixton Academy
- 2000 – Brixton Academy
- 2001 – Cream
- 2003 – London Astoria
- 2004 – Brixton Academy
- 2005 – Brixton Academy
- 2006 – Brixton Academy
- 2007 – Brixton Academy
- 2008 – Wembley Stadium
Tour Award
- 2001 – Amen / JJ72 / Alfie
- 2002 – Lostprophets / Andrew WK / The Coral
Genre-Specific Artist Categories
These are just a selection of the artist categories that relate to a particular genre of music.
Best Dance Act
- 1994 – Orbital
- 1996 – The Prodigy (Best Dance Act), Goldie (Vibes Award for Best Dance Act)
- 1997 – The Prodigy (Best Dance Act), Orbital (Vibes Award for Best Dance Act)
- 1998 – The Prodigy
- 1999 – Fatboy Slim
- 2000 – The Chemical Brothers (Best Dance Act), Death in Vegas (On the Decks Award for Best Dance Act)
- 2001 – Fatboy Slim
- 2002 – Basement Jaxx
Best Hip Hop / Rap Act
- 1994 – Cypress Hill
- 1995 – Warren G
- 2001 – Eminem
- 2002 – Missy Elliott
Best Metal Act
- 2001 – Marilyn Manson
- 2002 – Lostprophets
Best Rock Act
- 2001 – U2
Best Pop Act
- 2001 – All Saints
- 2002 – Kylie Minogue
Best R&B / SOUL Act
- 2001 – Kelis
- 2002 – Aaliyah
One-off awards
There are a whole load of odd, eclectic, and occasionally wonderful one-off awards. Here are all the ones I could find.
One-off Awards
- 1996 – Special Award for Services Beyond the Call of Duty – Tony Crean
- 1999 – Brain That Should Be Kept Alive for Posterity – Nicky Wire
- 1999 – Would Make the Best Drugs Czar – Shaun Ryder
- 1999 – Would To See On A Blind Date – Marilyn Manson and Billie Piper
- 1999 – Would Most Like as Your Doctor – Natalie Imbruglia
- 1999 – Would Most Like to Go Shopping with – Brian Molko
- 1999 – Would Most Like to Cook You a Meal – Tiny Woods
- 1999 – Would Most Like to Be Marooned on a Desert Island with – Louise
- 1999 – Would Most Like as Prime Minister – Nicky Wire
- 1999 – Most Like as Your Driving Instructor – Jay Kay
- 1999 – Most Like to See in a Ring with Mike Tyson – Billie Piper
- 2004 – Fight of the Year – Jack White vs. Jason von Bondie
- 2004 – Living Legend – Arthur Lee
- 2004 – Most Missed – Johnny Cash
- 2005 – Special Award for Lifelong Service to Music – John Peel
- 2010 – Giving it Back Fan Award – Lily Allen
- 2014 – Songwriters’ Songwriter – Paul McCartney
- 2016 – Best Actor – Idris Elba
- 2016 – Best Actress – Vicky McClure
- 2016 – Vlogger of the Year – KSI
Best Solo Artist
In earlier decades, this award had been split pretty arbitrarily, and this continues. I’ve grouped these into British and International, since this is what they are currently going with, but we’re actually looking at about six different award categories here.
Best British Solo Artist
- 1995 – Paul Weller (Best Solo Artist)
- 1996 – Paul Weller (Best Solo Artist)
- 1999 – Robbie Williams (Best Solo Artist)
- 2001 – Badly Drawn Boy (Best Solo Artist)
- 2002 – Ian Brown (Best Solo Artist)
- 2005 – Graham Coxon (Best Solo Artist)
- 2007 – Jamie T (Best Solo Artist)
- 2008 – Kate Nash (Best Solo Artist)
- 2009 – Pete Doherty (Best Solo Artist)
- 2010 – Jamie T (Best Solo Artist)
- 2011 – Laura Marling (Best Solo Artist)
- 2012 – Florence + the Machine (Best Solo Artist)
- 2013 – Florence + the Machine (Best Solo Artist)
- 2014 – Lily Allen (Best Solo Artist)
- 2015 – Jake Bugg (Best Solo Artist)
- 2016 – Charlie XCX
- 2017 – M.I.A. (Female), Skepta (Male)
- 2018 – Loyle Carner
Best International Solo Artist
- 1994 – Björk (Best Solo Artist)
- 1997, 1998, 2000 – Beck (Best Solo Artist)
- 2003-2004 – Ryan Adams (Best Solo Artist)
- 2006 – Kanye West (Best Solo Artist)
- 2016 – Taylor Swift
- 2017 – Christine and the Queens (Female), Frank Ocean (Male)
- 2018 – Lorde
Best DJ
- 2000 – Fatboy Slim
- 2001 – Carl Cox
Best Group
Next, here are the categories for best group – of which there are still many.
Best British Band
- 1994 – Suede (Best Band)
- 1995 – Blur (Best Band)
- 1996-1997 – Oasis (Best Band)
- 1998 – The Verve (Best Band)
- 1999 – Manic Street Preachers (Best Band)
- 2000 – Blur (Best Band), Travis (NME Band of the Year)
- 2001 – Radiohead (Best Band)
- 2003 – Oasis (Best British Band and NME Band of the Year)
- 2004-2005 – The Libertines
- 2006 – Arctic Monkeys
- 2007 – Muse
- 2008 – Arctic Monkeys
- 2009 – Oasis
- 2010-2011 – Muse
- 2012 – Kasabian
- 2013 – Biffy Clyro
- 2014 – Arctic Monkeys
- 2015 – Kasabian
- 2016 – The Maccabees
- 2017 – Biffy Clyro
- 2018 – Alt-J
Best International Band
- 2002 – The Strokes (Best Band)
- 2003 – The Hives
- 2004 – Kings of Leon
- 2005 – The Killers
- 2006 – The Strokes
- 2007 – My Chemical Romance
- 2008-2009 – The Killers
- 2010 – Paramore
- 2011 – My Chemical Romance
- 2012 – Foo Fighters
- 2013 – The Killers
- 2014 – Haim
- 2015 – Foo Fighters
- 2016 – Run the Jewels
- 2017 – Metallica
- 2018 – Haim
Best Band Ever
- 2000 – The Beatles
Worst Band
- 1997 – Oasis
- 2003 – Nickelback
- 2005 – Insane Clown Posse
- 2006 – Son of Dork
- 2007 – Panic! At the Disco
- 2008 – The Hoosiers
- 2009-2011 – Jonas Brothers
- 2012-2013 – One Direction
- 2014 – The 1975
- 2015-2017 – 5 Seconds of Summer
Best Collaboration
- 2018 – Craig David and Bastille
Most Dedicated Fans / Best Fan Community
- 2012-2013 – Muse
- 2014 – Arctic Monkeys
- 2015 – Muse
- 2016 – The Libertines
Best of All Time Awards
Finally, NME introduced the Godlike Genius Award in 1994, and have therefore followed with a suite of “best of all time” awards.
Godlike Genius Award
- 1994 – John Peel
- 1995 – Alan McGee
- 1996 – Michael Eavis
- 1997 – Mark E. Smith
- 1999 – Massive Attack
- 2000 – Shaun Ryder
- 2001 – U2
- 2002 – Nick Kent and Pennie Smith
- 2005 – New Order and Joy Division
- 2006 – Ian Brown
- 2007 – Primal Scream
- 2008 – Manic Street Preachers
- 2009 – The Cure
- 2010 – Paul Weller
- 2011 – Dave Grohl
- 2012 – Noel Gallagher
- 2013 – Johnny Marr
- 2014 – Blondie
- 2015 – Suede
- 2016 – Coldplay
- 2017 – Pet Shop Boys
- 2018 – Liam Gallagher
Outstanding Contribution to Music
- 2002 – The Charlatans
- 2009 – Elbow
- 2010 – The Specials
- 2011 – PJ Harvey
- 2012 – Pulp
- 2013 – The Cribs
- 2014 – Belle and Sebastian
- 2017 – WIley
The Fuck Me! / John Peel Award for Innovation / NME Innovation Award
- 2003 – The Polyphonic Spree
- 2004 – Dizzee Rascal
- 2005 – The Others
- 2006 – Gorillaz
- 2007 – Enter Shikari
- 2008 – Radiohead
- 2011 – Crystal Castles
- 2014 – Damon Albarn
- 2018 – Boy Better Know
NME Icon
- 2018 – Shirley Manson
And that concludes the results of the NME Polls and Awards, from 1954 to 2018. Join us in 2019 for another new ceremony!
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