PRS for Music Outstanding Contribution to British Music - Richard Ashcroft

Back in 2005, no less an authority than Chris Martin of Coldplay described Richard Ashcroft as “the best singer in the world”. The occasion was the pair’s Live 8 duet of The Verve’s all-time classic Bitter Sweet Symphony but, if anything, Chris undersold things a bit.

Because Ashcroft is not just a brilliant frontman, but also one of the greatest songwriters in the world.

Ashcroft is no stranger to The Ivors, having won Songwriter of the Year in 1998 for The Verve’s Urban Hymns album — from whence Bitter Sweet Symphony and many other classics came. But this award is due recognition for a 30-year songwriting career that has both pushed sonic envelopes and caused almighty singalongs.

Because, while Ashcroft’s early work with The Verve — all starry-eyed passion and neo-psychedelic charm — was out-there enough to earn him the music press nickname “Mad Richard”, he always had the ambition for his songs to reach millions.

That happened big time with Urban Hymns, which went on to become one of the biggest-selling albums in UK chart history. But it’s since he launched his solo career with the Top 3 hit A Song For The Lovers in 2000, that he’s really been able to show his breadth as a writer.

From debut solo album Alone With Everybody through 2002’s Human Conditions, 2006’s Keys To The World, 2010’s United Nations Of Sound project, 2016’s These People and last year’s smash hit return Natural Rebel — which saw him back freaking out BBC Breakfast viewers where he belongs — Ashcroft has the uncommon knack of creating songs that could only have come from his unique brain, but that still connect with anyone who listens. From The Drugs Don’t Work to New York, Break The Night With Colour or Surprised By The Joy, he has been — as one early Verve classic put it — living for history. And this award acknowledges that history is exactly what he’s made. Just ask Chris Martin.