Kate has won the prestigious pop award at this year’s South Bank Sky Arts Awards ceremony in London today. Sir Tom Jones presented Kate with her award.
Update: Kate has posted this on her official site:
UPDATE : A message from Kate …
I am so thrilled and honoured that ’50 Words For Snow’ won the South Bank Sky Arts award yesterday. It was a really wonderful event with the most extraordinary collection of artists. I was absolutely delighted to be a part of it and simply stunned by the incredible welcome. Many, many thanks to Melvyn Bragg for such a special day. I wonder if he knows what a total treasure he is?
I have been sent a great long list of comments from you all and I am just completely overwhelmed. Thank you so much for all your kind words and love. You made me cry! I feel so touched and grateful to have you there and I am over the moon!
With love,
A very happy Kate xxxxxxxxx
From the Irish Independent:
“Reclusive singer Kate Bush pipped Adele to a prestigious prize after her latest album was recognised at the South Bank Sky Arts Awards. 50 Words For Snow won the Pop Award at the central London ceremony, beating Adele’s Grammy-winning bestseller 21 and PJ Harvey’s Let England Shake which was also nominated. It is Kate’s first set of completely new songs since 2005 when she released Aerial. The awards at the Dorchester Hotel, on Park Lane, also saw wins for BBC1’s Sherlock, Channel 4’s Fresh Meat and the musical Matilda. The awards were hosted by Melvyn Bragg who said the judges had faced an “impossible decision this year”. He said: “With such a strong and vibrant array of winners, from Kate Bush to Matilda, to the ENO, this is a wonderful opportunity to praise the incredible wealth of artistic brilliance we have in this country.”
Fantastic achievement for Kate! Huge congratulations, we are over-the-moon!! The awards show is televised tonight on Sky Arts HD at 9pm.
Speaking backstage at the South Bank Sky Arts Awards where he presented a gong to Kate Bush, Sir Tom Jones revealed he would like to team up with Kate. He said: “If Kate could come up with a song I would gladly do it with her.”
More coverage: Music Week | Daily Telegraph | BBC News | Independent | Evening Standard | Daily Mail | Daily Mail 2 | Sky News | Daily Express | The Sun | Huffington Post
[youtube width=”640″ height=”360″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjPvh4V-MgI[/youtube]
Zelo Street Blog takes the Mail to task.
Gabriella
lol,!!! that so cool!! congratulation Kate!!!!! ….iam so very proud of you and the music you made for all of us ,..cheers to you sweets!!!
much love your fishy fancy
Gabigirl**
Thomas
FELICITATIONS!!!!!& what a year!…another reason to celebrate and break open the wine this weekend!!!
Congratulations Kate.
All the very best – Tom & Iain xx
Rod
Fantastic. It is well-deserved, because it’s a beautiful album.
Collin Kelley
Hooray! Highly deserved! And she looks lovely.
Barbara
Thank goodness for that – if Adele had won they’d have been accused of chasing the populist vote and if PJ Harvey had won they’d have been accused of rigging it.
clint
Why would they have been accused of rigging if PJ Harvey had won?
Andy Beveridge
Fantastic news. Kate’s music has been an inspiration for so many years. I have purchased every album from the very beginning and still listen to them on a weekly basis. I love the fact that she broke the barriers and penned songs about subjects that others avoided.
arosegrowingold
Sing us a song Kate!
Del palmer
Couldn’t have happened to a more deserving artist!!…
Just goes to show it’s never too late to be an overnight success!!…
Aoife Babooshka Hanrahan
Congratulations Kate Bush…:-) 50 words for snow is an amazing album…:-)
Mandy
I’m so happy for Kate! Well deserved, the album is stunning.
JAMES COLE
Fabulous news, well done Kate! Though I thought Kate had more of a chance in these awards still wasn’t expecting it and am delighted! Great to see a true artist recognised at this stage of their career and of course “50 Words For Snow” is such a creative album.
Rinfy The Gypsy
I’m extremely happy for Kate. It’s nice to see that in this day and age REAL music still counts for something.
Lise Gerrard
Looking great! So well deserved Kate xx
Tony S
Congratulations Kate! Her most beautiful album to date… and Misty is her greatest song ever! What will she come up with next?
Michael
Misty @ Nocturn for me!
Kiki
Congratulations Kate!! Looking happy and beautiful as always – so nice to have new pictures!
Jaakko
Congratulations! Glad to see Kate so beautiful & radiant! More, please 😉
giulio
What a deserved wonderful artistic achievement for Ms Kate Bush !!! 🙂
I love her sophisticated yet natural-looking style.
She looks so real and artistic. Fabulous.
Talent personified.
Once again: thankyou Kate 🙂
zounds
Congratulations Kate!
Alberto Di Costanzo
Such a brilliant news!! I am very happy Kate has won this award, of course she deserved it because she is very talented!!!!
Rod
Just watched it on V+, Kate was very nervous, and gracious, and charming, as usual, and got a well-deserved standing ovation.
Isabelle
Her presence on the screen was mystical and surreal but also very warm and humble.
Congratulations. This award and appearance turned an ordinary day into a wonderful experience. Kate’s loved, so loved. And deserves all the praise.
Julian Moran
Wonderful news, am really pleased for Kate. The album is beautiful. I listen to it ever day, love and Light, Julian
Rob't
Besides her obvious artistic talent, how nice to see her looking like a real person, rather than a lifted, tucked, made-up mess. Proving again how wonderfully she has always separated her image/art from her personal life. My respect for her continues to grow.
andrew L
What a happy day! It was a thrill to me seeing her walking up to the stage and collect this awards. Really looking foward to her music in this decade- hope Bertie does well at school, her mother will be more productive and make more great music!
sandra
Congratulations Kate!
I adore 50 Words for Snow. A brilliant, incredible album and my absolute favourite artist.
Nanette
Good for her! (And a frivolous comment–what marvelous skin she has.)
Millais
It is such a joy to see a unique, true talent recognised by her peers. Kate’s music has always sounded like a gift she has been given and shared, that has changed people’s lives throughout these years, for the better.
Thank you Kate for every little emotion, for each tear of joy, for your voice, your poetic lyrics and your music. Thank you for all the little things you have done for us all. You are cherished and loved.
Eric
So well said.
Barbara
They played more of Lake Tahoe than was shown on the Brits.
corinne
Pure genius. Such a beautiful soul. Love her to bits. Show the young ones how it’s done girl!!! x
Sue
Congratulations Kate! I’ve been a fan since day one, I have every album and the latest is fabulous. The fact that you’ve gained a little weight and you have aged a little makes me love you even more; no one can be eighteen forever. I’m the same age as you and I have certainly gained weight in the years since Wuthering Heights came out. You’re beautiful and always will be.
Michael
Kate
Word’s fail me after all the nice thing’s said about you your music etal all I can say is
Congratulation’s and don’t leave it so long next time x
Susanna
Great to see true talent and artistry rewarded with Adele and PJ excellent nominees also. Kate has inspired so many to seek truth and beauty in their music and this recognition of her relevance today is very heartwarming.
karen
congrats. So happy for you kate and lovely to see you properly….. much love
Teresa
I am delighted to see pure beauty both musically and lyrically recognised. I have loved your music from day one and listen to your music all the time. It lifts me, makes me think question and most of all touches the depths of my soul. Only a beautiful soul can create something so special. Love and light Kate xx
Gursel Ali
MY DARLING MY DARLING MY BEATIFUL BRAUTIFUL KATE!!!! IM SO PROUD AND HAPPY!!! This genius album recognised and then genius appears!!… And so beautiful and plump and proud and happy at 53 and thank you for 50 Words For Snow!!!!! It makes more sense now that I’ve seen you… I hear it better now somehow
Sharka
I have been a fan since I heard “Wuthering Heights” on German radio for the first time in February 1978. Saw Kate live in Hamburg in 1979, and after all those years it’s strangely touching to see her somewhat “in public” again.
She looks lovely, and very much radiates that she is a happy, healthy, down-to-earth person. Congrats, Kate. You still rock my world! 🙂
Julian Moran
Poor Tom Jones, he could barely get the words out. Again Fantastic news Kate , your music has really inspired me and helped me through difficult times. Love and Light Julian x
Christopher Rye
Congratulations, Kate. As we enter summer, ’50 Words’ gets more beautiful. Misty and Among Angels in particular are gorgeous, your voice never more beautiful or emotive, mixing pop with classical phrasings, jazz and rock so effortlessly. Just music, pure and from a quiet place. My partner and I… my husband, why be shy about it… had a Christmas party and we had ’50 Words’ on a loop in a room we call the library all night, together with ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’, with the sound off, on a screen. We didn’t tell people anything about the room. But people slowly gravitated towards it throughout the night, until it was full of people: friends, old and new, young and old, gay and straight, fathers and mothers with young children playing, some with babies. Some just sat, lost in thought. They all said the atmosphere in that room was so beautiful. But really, it was your music. (You sold a few copies that night 🙂 I grew up listening to you, and I always will. Your music makes me listen. You have nothing to be nervous about. You built a whole new world for yourself, and you have every right to live in it. Thanks for letting us be part of it every few years. I think it’s beautiful. And so are you. cxxx
michael
Great word’s Chris and hopefully after last night a few more copies of everything might be sold and then bring on the next one ;0)
As a 50 year old man I cried when I saw her and again when i watched it on You tube today lol
Rob't
Chris, _my_ husband and I want an invation to you your next party! Cheers! Robert (and Stephen)
christopher rye
Well, we’re definitely having another Christmas do…
And the 50 Words… room will be rerun, that’s for sure.
So, come! You’d be very welcome.
Meanwhile, back to Kate….. 🙂
cx
Malcolm Calder
Wonderful news – congratulations Kate! Your music continues to inspire and is still as relevant today as it ever was.
There are a large number of artists out there today who owe you a musical debt, and you deserve all the accolades coming your way…..
Harry Horton
I was really happy to see Kate Bush win this award for this highly artistic and beautiful album 50 Words for Snow. Its great to see here in May 2012, six months after its release, that 50 Words for Snow achieved another milestone in Kate Bush’s career, with a major award as the best album of the year by a pop artist in England in the Sky arts ceremonies and contests. In the future, it will be great to look back on the fact that her creativity is still as strong and vibrant here in her early fifties to score such a wonderful accomplishment. Even twenty years after 1993 when she diminished off her career output, here in 2011-12 another major Kate Bush creative work enters to the world with its own singular and unusual creative essence, and gathers another great award to acknowledge the album: 50 words for Snow.
kennym
I cried too. Kate you are so beautiful. Thanks you for writing such an amazing “suite'” of songs for us.
CrimsonCrow
Congratulations, Kate. Your music inspires and nourishes me, it has for years. I thank you for that. Your choices in your life and your firm refusal to play the corporate shill or go for the glitz and leave the substance behind, your humanness inspires me as well. I thank you for that, too!
douglas webster
It was magical to see your appreciation on receipt of this award Kate and no one deserves it more than you, quietly at your own pace you weave your magic, evoke emotion, phrase, longing, sadness, elation, melancholy, loneliness, love, purity, nature, and life from every sinew of your being into your music to touch our souls. You look a very contented lady who truly understands that the true happiness of life can be found in being at peace with yourself-immersed in nature, the love of family and good friends… I loved the fact you thanked Del as well as Danny and Bertie- there are some people throughout our lives that leave an imprint and truly shape us into becoming the people we are- you look a thoroughly contented, middle aged-( like myself now!) mother- but u never grow old to us Kate, you grow with us Kate and take us with you on your journey through life through your music as we use your music to guide us and console us and move us through our lives- I think 50 Words For Snow is my favorite album so far that you have done- its like you are in the room with me giving your own private concert and has a very “live” feel to it just as Hounds Of Love and especially The Ninth Wave it seems like you are singing inside my head almost..you are an artist in the true sense of the word- may you go on being real, being true to what really counts in this crazy life and continue to inspire me with your wonderful music that forms a backdrop and soundscape to my life… continue to grow Kate as we all know you will… as it says in your song- “do you know what? I love you better now” Thanks Kate u thoroughly deserve this award and thanks for reaching out and touching my heart and my soul on so many occasions- art matters, art connects, art evokes our true emotions, and true art will live on forever- what you have created in your huge body of work Kate Bush is something that will live on and continue to weave magic on all those who listen- long after we have all passed on- feel very proud Kate Bush- you are a unique human being! xxx Love U Loads!!! xxxx
douglas webster
P.S!! It was quite surreal yesterday, my partner has been working away alot recently so yesterday we had a special day back together in our favorite place, in our favorite cafe after walking our dog together on a windy , sunny beach- I looked at him and smiled and said “isn’t this perfect, just us, the cosiness , homeliness warmness of it just us drinking coffee and reading the papers and relaxing together ….. and then who should I see but Kate smiling back at me from the front of the paper! My partner Paul just laughed at me and said thats your perfect day complete! xx
Sabrina
beautiful, beautiful Kate!
Another Swede
Oh Kate, you still look stunning, and that i realy mean.
Lisa
Great to see Kate get an award for such a fabulous piece of work, so well deserved! couldn’t go to a nicer person & still looking absolutley beautiful after all these years. Love you loads!
Gail
Chiming in late here: Wonderful news and well deserved. She’s living her life with admirable integrity, listening to her own heart. Shows through in the music. I’ve been listening raptly since I first saw Kate on SNL, and I love the astonishment I feel with every new release (and I love it that there have been new releases–such a gift!). Thank you, Kate, for “50 Words” and “Aerial.”
Jane Grace
What can I say!!!!! So many of you have said it all! It’s as if I have been reading all of my own thoughts, whilst growing up as a teenager, to adulthood!! I am now 45 and have spent endless hours listening to Kate’s albums over the years! All the albums have so much emotion and spirit. You didn’t just ‘listen’ to them, you would ‘feel’ them! This is what made them so different to everything else! Unique!! Fantastic! Or if to quote the song, WOW!!!
Frances Barrone
I saw Kate perform at the Hammersmith Apollo on Friday night, I was blown away with the magic and emotion. She is a stunningly creative authentic and beautiful performer who adds depth and richness to her movingly personal story telling songs. I hope she will do another concert tour next year. Her concert was profound and I love her more than I did before. I am full of admiration and inspiration from that night.
Frances Barrone
This is the best news- Kate is a legend and a Goddess.