The BandLab NME Awards return for 2022, with Halsey, Sam Fender, Griff and Rina Sawayama in attendance at the wildest night in music.
After a huge comeback in 2020 and a one-year hiatus due to the pandemic, our Awards will return to London’s O2 Academy Brixton on Wednesday, March 2, 2022 to celebrate the best in music and entertainment from around the globe. Tickets to the event are on sale now.
Sponsored by leading social music creation platform BandLab, the night will see epic performances, big-name guests and some pretty unpredictable moments as we honour the music, films, TV and video games that shaped pop culture over the past year.
The BandLab NME Awards 2022 will also see the introduction of award categories specific to Asia, following 2020’s Australian categories and furthering NME’s global reach with dedicated editions in Australia and Asia.
With many more names to be announced over the coming weeks, today we can confirm that Sam Fender, Griff and Rina Sawayama will all be gracing the hallowed Brixton stage on the night, while Halsey will be at the show to accept the Innovation Award.
Off the back of their acclaimed 2021 album If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power, pop sensation Halsey will be recognized as a trailblazing artist who pushes musical boundaries and speaks her truth as she continues to raise the bar by merging music, fashion, art and film.
Speaking to NME for their forthcoming Big Read story, due out this Friday, Halsey said: “The BandLab NME Awards 2022 seems more about a celebration of a bunch of people who are contemporaries rooting each other on. I don’t get many opportunities to celebrate with my peers and look around and be like, ‘Wow, this was a great year for music’ and that’s why we do this – we love it, y’know?”
Following performances at NME Awards 2020 from the likes of The 1975, FKA Twigs, AJ Tracey, Yungblud, Beabadoobee, Slowthai and Mura Masa, fans can look forward to another stacked roster of live sets.
Sam Fender will be bringing a taste of his Number One album Seventeen Going Under, as well as his thrilling stage presence for a barnstorming live performance on the night.
Meanwhile, Griff will be on the O2 Academy Brixton stage to give fans a taste of the future following her “flawless” debut mixtape One Foot In Front Of The Other.
The genre-bending, game-changing sensation that is Rina Sawayama will also be following up on her recent “dazzling” five-star tour with a live set at the BandLab NME Awards 2022.
“I can’t wait to perform at the BandLab NME Awards next year,” she said. “It’s such an honor to be asked and I am beyond excited.”
NME has today also announced that Music Venue Trust will be the official charity partner of the BandLab NME Awards 2022, continuing NME’s long-standing relationship and work with the charity. Created in 2014 to protect, secure and improve the UK’s vital grassroots music venues, Music Venue Trust represents over 900 venues across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
The charity’s #SaveOurVenues campaign was instrumental in pushing the UK government into action to save gig spaces during the pandemic, as well as raising millions of pounds and preventing over 400 venues from being lost forever – though the work still continues.