Quiz: How well do you know the Hyundai Mercury Prize?

First started in 1992, the annual prize awards the greatest albums by British and Irish acts. The prize is open to all types of music — you’ll find pop, rock, folk, urban, grime, dance, jazz, blues, electronica and classical in their longlists — which, while nice and inclusive, isn’t going to make this quiz easy for anybody. Let’s see how you do.

Related: Win two VIP tickets to the Hyundai Mercury Prize

1. Who was the very first artist to win the inaugural prize in 1992?

   1. Saint Etienne

   2. Simply Red

   3. Primal Scream

2. 

   Who is the only artist/band to have won the award on more than one occasion?

   1. PJ Harvey

   2. David Bowie

   3. Radiohead

3. Which band has received the most Mercury Prize nominations but never won?

   1. Arctic Monkeys

   2. Radiohead

   3. Pulp

4. Which shortlisted artist for the 2018 Hyundai Mercury Prize guested on the 2016 winning album – Skepta's Konnichiwa?

   1. Novelist

   2. Lily Allen

   3. King Krule

5. Oasis were shortlisted in 1995 for their debut album Definitely Maybe but didn’t win. Who did triumph that year?

   1. Supergrass for I Should Coco

   2. Portishead for Dummy

   3. Elastica for Elastica

6. The other group in the Britpop duel, Blur, were shortlisted in 1994 for their No 1 album, Parklife. Like Oasis in the following year, they lost. But which band and album won in 1994?

   1. M People – Elegant Slumming

   2. Pulp – His 'n' Hers

   3. Take That – Everything Changes

7. 

   Which grime classic won the prize in 2003, triumphing from a shortlist that included Coldplay’s A Rush of Blood to the Head and the Darkness’s Permission to Land?

   1. Kano – Home Sweet Home

   2. Wiley – Treddin' on Thin Ice

   3. Dizzee Rascal – Boy in Da Corner

8. Who was the first artist to be nominated posthumously for the prize?

   1. David Bowie

   2. George Harrison

   3. Joe Cocker

9. Which shortlisted artist for the 2016 Hyundai Mercury Prize had a piece performed at this year’s BBC Proms?

   1. Michael Kiwanuka

   2. Laura Mvula

   3. Jamie Woon

10. Which album nominated for the 2018 Hyundai Mercury Prize features appearances by Damon Albarn, Mark Ronson and the 2017 winner Sampha?

    1. No Shame - Lily Allen

    2. Everything is Recorded – Richard Russell

    3. Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino – Arctic Monkeys

11. Which band won in 1998 – when Massive Attack, Pulp and the Verve were all shortlisted – then gave an acceptance speech that went: "This album was recorded in our dad's garage. It is ridiculous that we are here”?

    1. Gomez

    2. Stereophonics

    3. Elbow

12. Which actor awarded Sampha his 2017 Hyundai Mercury Prize?

    1. Dominic West

    2. Idris Elba

    3. Daniel Craig

Solutions

1:C - The Scottish rock band formed in 1982 by Bobby Gillespie and Jim Beattie won the inaugural Mercury Prize for their 1991 album Screamadelica from a shortlist that included the Jesus and Mary Chain (incidentally, Gillespie’s former home as drummer) and U2. The album brought the band to the attention of the mainstream and included tracks such as Loaded, which is far and away their most played song on house party playlists. You know how it goes., 2:A - The incredible Polly Jean Harvey from Dorset won the award in 2001 for Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea and again in 2011 for Let England Shake. She was also the first female solo artist to win the award at all, and was awarded the prize on 11 September after waking up in a Washington hotel room to the news that the Pentagon was on fire., 3:B - Radiohead have been shortlisted five times without winning – for OK Computer (1997), Amnesiac (2001), Hail to the Thief (2003), In Rainbows (2008) and A Moon Shaped Pool (2016). Arctic Monkeys won in 2006 with Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not, while Pulp won in 1996 with Different Class., 4:A - Novelist (AKA Kojo Kankam) featured on the track Lyrics on Konnichiwa. He is nominated this year for his album Novelist Guy., 5:B - Dummy, the debut album of Bristol electronic band Portishead, won in 1995. One year later, (What's the Story) Morning Glory? lost to Pulp’s Different Class. Liam probably took it well. , 6:A - That’s right, M People. The album had four top 10 UK hits., 7:C - With his debut studio album, Dizzee Rascal brought the mainstream spotlight to the underground world of DIY grime while becoming the UK’s first internationally recognised rap star., 8:A - The "thin white duke" was nominated for the 2016 Hyundai Mercury Prize for his album Blackstar after his death on 10 January 2016. , 9:B - The BBC Singers performed Love Like a Lion by Laura Mvula at the 2018 BBC Proms. Mvula said: "When I first saw the template for the programme, I was so chuffed – I was like: there 's my name next to Vaughan Williams ... this is it, I've arrived.", 10:B - As co-founder of the British independent label XL Recordings, Russell is one of the most influential and well-connected people working in the music industry. He has worked with Damon Albarn before on the album Kinshasa One Two and on the production of Bobby Womack's last record, The Bravest Man in the Universe , 11:A - The indie rock band from Southport recorded their debut album Bring It On in a garage (with some rerecording in Liverpool) and then watched it go platinum., 12:B - The star of Luther and The Wire handed Sampha his trophy and £25,000 cheque at the Eventim Apollo, Hammersmith.

Scores

1. 10 and above.

   Well, you're certainly a Different Class and definitely no Dummy. Congratulations!

2. 0 and above.

   More work is required if you're to get into the top scoring category. Just know that learning is a Process and will take time. Just know that regardless of these results whatever people say, that's what you're not.

3. 4 and above.

   Not bad, but you could do better. At Least For Now this score is OK, but if you dig A Little Deeper you'll be hitting perfect scores in no time.