Shirley Manson says longevity is more important than winning awards.
The Garbage singer was handed one of the biggest accolades of the night at the 2018 VO5 NME Awards on Wednesday (14.02.18), the Icon Award, but she admitted the real "prize" is getting to make music and be creative for as long as possible.
The ‘Why Do You Love Me’ hitmaker exclusively told BANG Showbiz: "I always think award shows are a weird amalgamation of love and being in the right place at the right time, and the right people vote for you.
"I don’t really think it means that much in the long term.
"It’s wonderful to win something, but it doesn’t mean anything in the long term.
"The thing that matters is that you have a long and enduring career and you get to be creative for the rest of your life, that is the prize."
The Scottish singer used her speech at the bash to speak up for women in all industries, whilst calling on fellow musicians to "stand up" against the lack of representation of female artists at festivals.
She said: "In all seriousness, thank you so much. I am so thrilled to be here. I have been reading the NME and features in the NME since as far back as the mid-80s."
Whilst also addressing the Hollywood sexual harassment scandal, Shirley continued: "This has been an incredibly sad roll-out in some regards in the last 18 months.
"I think we’re all shocked. Any decent person is shocked by the statistics surrounding not only the harassment that women face, not only the violence that we face, but the lack of representation that we enjoy in an industry.
"The fact that women at my level enjoy under seven per cent representation is unacceptable. I call upon any musician in this room to stand up and really call out festivals for not representing women, in particular women of colour, our black sisters. We need to make a change. It’s vital."
Shirley Manson: Longevity is the prize
