Alex Turner’s BRIT Awards Speech – Debate Lingers On

Was he right or wrong?

It's perhaps telling that the biggest talking point from this year's BRIT Awards was perhaps it's most incoherent.

Accepting the award for Best Album, Arctic Monkeys frontman Alex Turner gave a rambling speech in which he praised the spirit of rock 'n' roll.

"Yeah, that rock'n'roll, it seems like it's faded away sometimes, but it will never die" he said. "And there's nothing you can do about it."

Speaking to the NME, Alex Turner expanded on these comments: "It's not aggressive. It's just about presenting an option that people may or may not know exists. It occurred to me that in that room, or certainly watching it on TV, were people who'd never heard the term 'rock 'n' roll' other than to describe a zip on a Topman jacket."

"I don't see it as a personal victory" he continued, "but it seems in some way a victory for bands and the idea that you can start a band with your mates and eventually go on to move people or whatever you wanna call it. Using rock'n'roll as the most direct way of illustrating that was kinda what I was trying to do."

However not everyone was enamoured with Alex Turner's speech. Fat White Family singer Lias Saoudi slammed the frontman in an interview with the NME: "Words are not enough to describe how much of a fucking buffoon I think that man is. I find it unbelievable that people think of him the way they do. The guy is clearly a moron. He was talking about the universe and cyclical natures and 'invoice me for the microphone'. What are you talking about man? You're a fucking millionaire. His latest record, I fucking hated it."

"I hate that little c**t, he's a fucking joke. It was the least rock'n'roll thing I've ever seen in my fucking life. His speech was horrendously embarrassing. It made me sweat, like when you see something that really makes you cringe. Massive cock. Print that."

Buy Clash Magazine
Get Clash on your mobile, for free: iPhone / Android

-
Join the Clash mailing list for up to the minute music, fashion and film news.