PJ Harvey Wins the Mercury Prize

The speculation is all over. PJ Harvey has won the 2011 Mercury Prize, the annual award for the best album from the UK and Ireland. The singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist claimed the Prize for her 'Let England Shake' record, beating out such competitors as Adele, Anna Calvi and James Blake, Metronomy and Ghostpoet.

With this victory, Harvey becomes the first artist to win the coveted prize twice after taking it home in 2001 for 'Stories From the City, Stories From the Sea.' She was also shortlisted in 1993 and 1995 for 'Rid of Me' and 'To Bring You My Love,' respectively.

"First of all, I'd like to thank you very much for this award and thank you for the recognition of my work on this album," she said after accepting the Prize and its £20,000 bounty. "This album took me a long time to write and was very important to me, and I wanted to make something meaningful, not only for me but for other people, and hopefully something that would last."

The celebration will be a much more joyous occasion this time around, as Harvey faced some somber circumstances the last time she won. "It's also really great to actually be here this evening because when I last won, on September 11, 2001, I was in Washington, D.C., watching the Pentagon burning from my hotel room window."

Enjoy it, PJ!

PJ Harvey's 'Last Living Rose' Video

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