Arctic Monkeys frontman Alex Turner has spoken about his infamous acceptance speech at the 2014 Brit Awards.

Collecting his band’s award for Best Album, Turner declared that rock’n’roll music would never die, saying: “Yeah, that rock’n’roll, it seems like it’s faded away sometimes, but it will never die. And there’s nothing you can do about it.”

Speaking to Rolling Stone two years on, Turner said: “A lot of people thought I was waffling away on drugs, but I wasn’t. I just can’t pretend getting an award was something I’ve dreamed about since I was a kid, because it isn’t.”


His Last Shadow Puppets bandmate Miles Kane said that moments like the Brits speech reflected Turner’s growing confidence and ease in his stardom. “He enjoys being a star more and taking it for what it is,” Kane said. “He’s more comfortable in his own skin.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEVkt0fLWKA

Speaking in 2014, Turner said of his Brits speech : “I’m in a difficult position in the sense that, preposterous as it might sound, I don’t like being the centre of attention. I get up onstage every night and play songs, but I almost feel the songs are the centre of attention. I don’t like opening my birthday presents in front of people, either. But I can’t really see another way round making an acceptance speech.”

He added: “I suppose on some level, in that environment, rightly or wrongly, it almost feels like we were representatives of guitar music, or rock’n’roll. And while I don’t see getting any trophy as a great victory, in some sense it’s a victory for our music. But I can’t go up and gush about how I dreamt about picking up a Brit Award all my life, because it just isn’t the truth.”