The singer Ed Sheeran was nominated, for the first time in its race, to the British Mercury awards thanks to its last work, Divide . It is a noteworthy nomination because, despite the international success of the British singer, these awards do not usually focus on commercial pop music and, in fact, Sheeran will be measured with rappers like Stormzy, J Hus or Loyle Carner to rise with The award for best album. The list of the twelve nominees, announced today by the organization, is completed by former winners such as the group The xx or Alt-J, plus the indie band Blossoms or the female quartet The Big Moon, among others. Other years, albums such as 25 , by Adele, or In the Lonely Hour , by Sam Smith, were ignored by these recognitions, that look for "to promote the new and underestimated music". But this year the awards have failed to ignore the success of Divide , which has marketed more than two million copies in the United Kingdom, becoming the biggest seller of the year. In addition, the 16 songs of which the disc is composed managed to be placed in the Top 40 of successes in the country.
The nominees were chosen by the jury of the awards, which includes artists such as Marcus Mumford, Jessie Ware, Clara Amfo or Jamie Cullum. Last year he won the 25,000-pound ($ 32,600) prize, rapper Skepta with his Konnichiwa record, prevailing on favorite, the late David Bowie, who opted for posthumous recognition for his latest work, Blackstar . The winner of this edition will be announced on September 14 at a ceremony to be held at the Eventim Apollo in London.
