The Arctic Monkeys – “”Really Chuffed””

• 7th Sep 2006

The Arctic Monkeys have released a statement expressing their surprise and gratitude at winning the highly prestigious Mercury Music Prize.

And they're giving the money to charity, bless 'em.

We had a fantastic night and we're really chuffed with winning the
award. It was unexpected but it means a lot to us as the competition
was from other musicians we really respect. We strongly believe in the
ethos of the Nationwide Mercury Prize in that it is about the music and
not everything else that goes with it and are therefore really flattered
by the decision.

Regarding the £20,000 cheque, we are going to donate it to a worthy
charity which we would prefer to keep private. We have discussed it
with Andy who played an equal part in the making of the album and he is
happy with our choice.

As for the near future, we are really looking forward to taking a break
to continue writing our new album.

Arctic Monkeys