PJ Harvey wins Mercury Award...
PJ Harvey has become the first musician to win the prestigious Mercury Prize twice after scooping the honour for her groundbreaking album Let England Shake.
The singer/songwriter first won the award 10 years ago for her 2000 record Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea.
And last night her war-themed record beat stiff competition from 11 other records, including Adele's 21, rapper Tinie Tempah's Disc-Overy and On a Mission by Katy B.
Harvey is also one of the most nominated acts in the award's history, having made the shortlist in 1993 for Rid of Me and 1995 for To Bring You My Love.
Receiving the £20,000 Mercury Prize at the ceremony, she said: "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... 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."
Harvey made reference to her 2001 triumph, when her victory was announced hours after the Twin Towers attack, while she was caught up in the disaster.
She added: "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."
The Mercury Prize is awarded annually to the most influential British album for the previous 12 months.
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