The most raucous night in music is back. On February 12, 2020, music’s greats will come together for the NME Awards at London’s O2 Academy Brixton to celebrate the last 12 months of artists, records and performances. The first names announced to perform are two of the most exciting young artists in music right now, Yungblud and Beabadoobee, with many more to be announced in the coming weeks.

After a year off, the NME Awards 2020 returns bigger, louder and more electrifying than ever, featuring performances from some of the most exciting acts around, big-name guests, and a raft of epic unpredictable moments. Music fans have the chance to be in the thick of the action, with tickets for the awards show going on sale tomorrow.

Charlotte Gunn, Editor of NME said:  “We’re excited to announce that, after a fallow year, The NME Awards are back, back, back at the iconic O2 Academy Brixton for 2020. It's been a huge year for music and NME has been there to cover it every step of the way, with our audience growing bigger and faster than ever, so there's plenty to celebrate. We can promise a night like no other, featuring the best new and established acts from around the world; massive characters and even bigger tunes; and the wildest, most unpredictable performances. It’s not been the same without us – so get your tickets now and we'll see you at Brixton in February.”

Yorkshire born Yungblud AKA Dominic Harrison is a 22 year old multi-instrumentalist who plays guitar, bass, piano, and drums, and first picked up a guitar at age two and began writing his own songs at age 10. Arriving out of nowhere with his self-titled debut EP in early-2018, NME praised Yungblud for delivering “the lyrics of a young Alex Turner, the fury of Sex Pistols leader John Lydon, the swagger of hip-hop king Travis Scott and a whole load of spirit that’s all his own.”  His incredible 2019 began with the global hit single ‘11 Minutes’ with Halsey and Travis Barker. His full-length debut album, 21st Century Liability, was released to critical acclaim this summer and was swiftly followed by October’s The Underrated Youth, which entered the UK album chart at number 6, and the announcement of three London O2 Forum shows for next spring. That month he was the subject of NME’s prestigious Big Read, which said: “He's gobby, he's hyperactive, he's outspoken, he's fearless, he feels sexy in a dress, and he's a new breed of rock star.” 

Born in the Philippines and raised in London, Bea Kristi began recording music as Beabadoobee in 2017. At just 19 years old, Beabadoobee has built her huge, dedicated Gen-Z fan base with her flawless output of confessional bedroom pop songs and DIY aesthetic. Her first track, ‘Coffee’ gathered hundreds of thousands of streams in a matter of days, through a fan-uploaded video. Since then, her songs have amassed millions of streams between her own self-released recordings and her trio of acclaimed EPs, Space Cadet, Patched Up and Loveworm, all released within just 12 months of each other. Fresh from a US tour with Clairo, Bea is currently leading the Dirty Hit UK label tour around the UK with No Rome and Oscar Lang, and will join other labelmates The 1975 on their UK arena tour in February-March 2020. In October, Bea landed an NME Big Read which christened her “ an icon for a generation of kids crying out for a new breed of guitar hero,” and last month she was one of three artists shortlisted for the BRITs Rising Star Award, predicting bright things for 2020.

Beabadoobee says of performing: “I love NME and I’m really excited to be performing for them at the NME Awards! It’s going to be a great night, I hope you all are ready”.

What you need to know

Where? O2 Academy Brixton

When? February 12

Why? You don’t want to miss out on the biggest night of the year.

How do I get in? Tickets available via nme.com Friday 13 December 9am

Visit nme.com/awards for more.