Beyoncé leads the nominations for The VO5 NME Awards 2017 with five nods.
The 35-year-old R&B superstar has stormed the shortlist for the British ceremony and is up for Best Album for ‘Lemonade’, Hero of the Year, Music Moment of the Year, Best International Female and Best Video for ‘Formation’.
Not far behind are rockers Bastille, who have been voted for a total of four awards; Best British Band, Best Album for ‘Wild World’, Best Track for ‘Good Grief’ and Best Live Band.
The indie group – fronted by Dan Smith – will battle it out with Beyoncé’s ‘Lemonade’, ‘The Life Of Pablo’ by Kanye West, ‘Konnichiwa’ by Skepta, Radiohead’s ‘A Moon Shaped Pool’ and The 1975’s ‘I Like It When You Sleep, For You Are So Beautiful Yet So Unaware of It’.
This year’s Best British Male sees a diverse selection in Skepta, Zayn Malik, Kano, Jamie T, Michael Kiwanuka
and Richard Ashcroft.
And the prestigious Hero of The Year sees late music legend David Bowie – who died in January 2016 from cancer – nominated along with Adele, Millie Bobby Brown, Gary Lineker, Beyoncé, Liam Gallagher.
Music Moment of the Year sees last year’s Inspiration Award winners, Bring Me The Horizon, up for invading Coldplay’s table at the NME Awards in 2016.
The pop rockers – fronted by Oli Sykes – goes up against rivals Coldplay’s Viola Beach tribute at Glastonbury, Beyoncé’s surprise album release of ‘Lemonade’, Skepta winning the Mercury Prize, Pete Doherty reopening The Bataclan venue in Paris following the terrorist attacks in November 2015 and The Stone Roses’ comeback after 20 years with the single ‘All For One’.
‘Follow You’ rockers Bring Me The Horizon are also up for Best Live Band along with Bastille, Slaves, The 1975,
Christine and The Queens and Wolf Alice.
And in the Worst Band category, ‘X Factor’ rapper Honey G is listed along with The Chainsmokers, Clean Bandit, Nickelback, 5 Seconds of Summer and Twenty One Pilots.
Mike Williams, the magazine’s editor-in-chief, said: "Every year we’re bowled over by the enthusiasm of the NME readers, voting in their thousands for their favourite bands, artists, tracks, albums and more. Covering every genre under the sun, this year’s shortlists reflect what an incredible 12 months of music we’ve had, both from returning superstars and brand new artists. We can’t wait to get them together in the O2 Academy Brixton for the most rock ‘n’ roll night of the year, The VO5 NME Awards. Bring it on."
The winners will be announced at a star-studded ceremony at London’s O2 Academy Brixton on February 15.
Voting is open now.
Beyoncé leads NME Award nominations with five nods
